Vintage Clothing Blog

What is resort fashion, anyway? From what I can tell on the runways, resort can mean anything from a stylish swimsuit and cover up, to a crisp yellow suit (straight from Balmain's 2013 resort collection!) Resort fashion is alternatively called, "cruise wear", which I take to include anything you can wear on vacation. No matter where your destination, beach or mountain, land or sea, city or country, resort wear is all about fun, leisure, and good times.

On the runway for the 2013 resort collections, we saw so many of the trends hot right now, in 2012: jumpsuits, pastels, and leather were popular across the board, as well as peplum, which made a huge comeback in stores this spring, and seems to be sticking around in our wardrobes well into the new year. In this summer's installment of "Runway to Retro", I've put the creations of haute couturiers like Balmain (as mentioned), and Tsumori Chisato up against their vintage versions, from some of our favorite online vintage shops. Runway to Retro: Resort 2013 is all about how to recreate run-a-way looks with retro fashions. It is, after all, vacation season!

It's the rare occasion that I'm surrounded by vintage clothing and don't feel the need to dig for treasures. Anyone who shops vintage knows that a certain amount of patience, energy, and curiosity is required to find even one piece perfect for you when you're confronted by tons of options, all distinct, all special, and all antique. Normally, I love this game. But one Sunday afternoon, summer of 2011, I was at one of the biggest vintage clothing sales in town, and I didn't feel like shopping. I sat on a bar stool close to the dressing room and watched my friends try on piece after piece, doing that vintage shopping dance of finding something great, trying it on, realizing it doesn't fit, or the fabric's weird, then trying again, until...eureka!! You have found the perfect cocktail dress, high-waisted jean, or rock tee.

As I sat wondering where my shopping mojo had gone, my eye kept wandering to a headless mannequin just across the room, sporting the loudest neon 80's bikini top I had ever seen. The shop owner advised me that it was the only top she had left, and that it wasn't being sold with a bottom. An idea sparked. All I had to do was find a few cheap, plain bikini bottoms and that one top, with its rainbow of candy colors, could outfit a week of sunbathing, at least. The mannequin was left topless, and an obsession with vintage swimsuits was born. Read More...

The printed sundress is  summer wardrobe staple. We all want to be feminine and flirty, which automatically brings to mind florals. But your summer swagger should go beyond that. In vintage you'll find big, bold graphics from the 80's, the best in bohemian chic ethnic prints from the 70's, and slick, modernist color blocks from the 70's. I, for one, have a soft spot for loud 90's chain link prints. The type of thing typical in the track suit jackets of the day. This brings us to the subject of this post--how to wear vintage prints this summer. From the recycled tribal prints of contemporary designer, Novella Royale, to the out-all-night appeal of a vintage kimono jacket,  8 Ways to Wear Prints teaches vintage style, new tricks. Anymore ideas for vintage summertime print wearing? Tell us in the comments section below!

If you've you've been toying with the idea of going vintage for a while, and don't know where to start, we've got the perfect point of entry: handbags. From eco-luxe clutches to designer 'it' bags, vintage shops have the best options when it comes to quality bags at affordable prices. Of course, a Hermes Birkin bag will always be the price of a month's rent in a major city center, vintage or not, but 60's or 70's Chanel and Gucci print bags, for instance, can be found for less than the price of a gourmet meal for 1! As an avid handbag lover and collector, I'm always looking for colors, prints, and shapes that no one else will be wearing. So, some of my earliest (and best!) purchases were vintage! Wear your style on your sleeve this spring/summer season. Check out our list of Vintage Bags for Every Occasion, where, and what to wear them with. Weigh in in our comments section. Have you ever bought a vintage bag? What was your experience?

Have you started stocking your Spring/Summer 2012 wardrobe yet? With brights, pastels, maxi dresses, and last but not least, pin up style frocks (as pictured)? If not, we've got some ideas and options that are both unique and on trend at the same time. Oh, right, and they're vintage! There's absolutely nothing better than a great spring vintage dress. Remember to look for materials that breathe, and won't make you sweat. And just at the opening of the warmest part of the year, I wouldn't invest in pieces that need lots of alteration--especially if you are known to procrastinate. It'll be cold again before you've had a chance to shorten that hem, or get rid of that stain. Then again, you can always throw on a chunky cardigan and take these very dresses on our list of  Spring's Best Vintage Dresses, and rock them through the fall!

*Photo by Wear It Again on Etsy

Friends (re)united in the fields for a few days of music-fueled fun. The coolest new bands singing out to the stars. Beverages flowing. Lighters waving in the air as night falls. And everyone in vintage! Yes, summer music festival season has officially begun! As we noted last year on this blog, festivals (and really, ALL outdoor music events!) have their own style vocabulary. More often than not, that vocabulary hinges on vintage. It could be that the most famous music festival of all time, Woodstock, left it's stamp on all that came after. Could also just be that when you're faced with a social event at which the entire world will be present, you want to stand out in the crowd. Whatever your reason for turning towards vintage, I've compiled a list of 10 pieces to take you through festival season. Check out Summer Music Festival Style, and let me know which vintage, or vintage-style pieces you'll be rocking out with this summer! See you in the tents!

*Photo: Kate Bosworth at Coachella 2012, Vogue UK

Prom night is one you'll remember for the rest of your life. From the limousine to the last dance, you'll replay each moment multiple times before the summer before college ends, at least. And special nights call for special dresses. Not when you can buy unique, sometimes designer vintage dresses, often at great prices. On the red carpet this year, we saw some resurgence of the designer vintage trend of a few seasons back. Most notably was Natalie Portman's red polka dotted Dior.  Vintage Prom Dresses 101 takes you through on trend vintage dresses, as well as daring new options that will have your friends talking even way after the graduation march has sounded and those black hats are tossed in the air!

This season's obsession with peplum signals the return of glamour and the hourglass shape. And it's just in time to work full on glamour with the ubiquitous red lip. As seen on the spring 2012 runways of Badgley Mischka, Marc by Marc Jacobs, Thakoon, Jason Wu--and the list goes on!--the ultra-feminine nipped then skirted at the waist shape has been part of the Western fashion lexicon since before Cleopatra seduced Alexander the Great. The ancient greeks were onto something...

In December of 2011, Gossip Girl Blake Lively, pictured above, inaugurated this season in peplum on the red carpet, at the launch of Jason Wu's Target Collection. The sleeved, black peplum dress actually IS available in the collection. Or should I say WAS available! Looking for great, quality options and alternatives to what everyone else will be wearing? Check out our list of vintage peplum--jackets, tops, dresses, even skirts--in And Pair It With Peplum!

New MVP's!! (Most Vintage Personalities, that is!)

There isn't a best-dressed, style, or trendsetter list in France that does not include the two young women making bookends of this photo: Lou Doillon and Charlotte Gainsbourg. Doillon and Gainsbourg are the two most fashionable daughters of  legendary French singer/songwriter Serge Gainsbourg, and Jane Birkin (also pictured above). As a young actress, singer, and style icon-in-the-making herself, Birkin's effortless cool, risk-taking allure, and boyish sex appeal turned the head of not only Serge Gainsbourg, but most of the fashion and film worlds. It was after her that Hermes named its iconic "Birkin" bag! She's since passed her sartorial superiority on to her two daughters, Charlotte, and Doillon, who mix vintage, menswear-inspired, and some of that good old Gainsbourg/Birkin rock and roll sex appeal to carry on the tradition of great style! First, get some background on the life and times of the trendsetting trio in The House of Gainsbourg-Birkin. Then check out our step-by-step guide to getting the ultimate vintage-inspired style of Gainsbourg-Birkin-Doillon!

Menswear-inspired looks added some much needed testosterone to the runways recently, from butterfly collar suits at Louis Vuitton to Marc by Marc Jacobs' tweedy "professor" trenches and masculine booties. But beyond being trendy, masculine-inspired looks are always helpful for the 9-5 set. The boardroom set. The "how can I look appropriate and feminine at the same time" set...

Alas vintage clothing is not normally considered work wear. It's more for unique night looks and quirky brunch fashion. Enter the shirt dress. Essentially a mens' shirt long enough to cover your goods, and feminine enough to call a dress, the shirt dress is a guaranteed "kill too birds with one stone" look. Just take a look at Botticelli babe, Christina Hendricks as Joanie from popular AMC show, Mad Men, in this wicked, electric blue shirt dress. Check out the quintessential list of office-friendly options in Work, Work, Work! 9 Vintage Shirt Dresses.