Vintage Fashion Guild: Etsy VFGteam Featured Seller

Showing posts with label Etsy VFGteam Featured Seller. Show all posts

Monday, June 16, 2014

Etsy VFGteam Featured Seller

Welcome back to our VFG Blog series featuring members of the VFGteam at Etsy!

You will be introduced to a different Team member in each new post. Please check out our Team Gallery page here.

Today's featured seller is Karin and you can visit her shop willynillyart here.
Karin also has another shop, willynillyvintage.

1. When did you first get interested in vintage fashion & why?

I can’t put a finger on it, it just progressed from one thing to the next. As a kid, I loved old movies, especially period ones with lavish costumes. As a teen, on my first visit to London, my mother took me to a vintage shop where she’d bought vintage costume jewelry for her collection before. I hadn’t realized that such a magical place could exist, where one could see 1920s flapper dresses hanging on the wall. After that we started to go to flea markets together. I had just discovered vinyl LPs, was a massive Beatles fan and loved anything 1960s. Besides that I also collected Barbie dolls (and still do today) and was learning a lot about the vintage dolls and their fabulous fashions. A few years later, my best friend introduced me to thrifting, and I was soon looking for vintage clothes at every thrift shop we visited. It was fun, inexpensive and I found clothes I liked and that nobody else had. So I started to learn more, bought books about fashion, went to exhibitions etc. The more I wore vintage, the more I wanted to learn about it.

2. Do you regularly wear vintage?

Yes – almost every day. I’ve learned to look more for every day wearable vintage over the years, and not just glamorous evening and cocktail fashions, which fascinated me most in the beginning. 40s and 50s suit jackets, vintage silk scarves, cotton summer dresses and vintage brooches make up the best part of my everyday vintage.

3. Do you have a Holy Grail?

A dress by Madeleine Vionnet – preferably from the 30s, when she was using bright velvets and unusual color combinations. A pair of pearl and sequin-encrusted Roger Vivier for Dior evening shoes.

4. If you could visit the atelier of any fashion designer (dead or alive), who would it be?

Christian Lacroix. I just love his lavish, imaginative designs and his use of color. I saw his exhibition a few years ago at the Musée des Arts Decoratifs in Paris, where he showed his own designs with vintage and historical ones that were his inspirations. One of the best exhibitions I’ve ever seen, and not one thing in it that I didn’t love.

5. What do you see as the future of vintage?

Its popularity will endure, I’m sure. Things will become vintage that I wouldn’t consider vintage yet – I guess that will be a funny feeling.

6. What is your favorite item in your shop?

Probably this dress pattern:

Such a simple and easy-wearing dress, just what I like! And I love the drawing as well.

Here are a few more items from Karin's shops:

Vintage 1950s Dirndl Dress Pattern B34 Ringier Patterns g 10216

Vintage 60s Collarless Blouse Pattern B34 Ringier Patterns g 42596

1960s Party Dress Mod Cocktail Dress M

Vintage Brooch and Earrings 1930s Enamelled Costume Jewelry

Flower Bouquet Demi Parure

Monday, May 19, 2014

Etsy VFGteam Featured Seller

Welcome back to our VFG Blog series featuring members of the VFGteam at Etsy!

You will be introduced to a different Team member in each new post. Please check out our Team Gallery page here.

Today's featured seller is Tish and you can visit her shop LadyScarletts here.

1. When did you first get interested in vintage fashion & why?

My interest started as young as 6 years old when I received my first Barbie Doll. When I was a young teen my mother had an antique shop and I would collect small bits of clothing and women's accessories. I soon started purchasing items and the collection was born. I pursued my interest by studying fashion and design in college and eventually received my Master's Degree.

2. Do you regularly wear vintage?

Not as much as I used to. Most days are spent in casual wear while at the computer (one of the perks of working from home).
When I go out I usually try and add a vintage piece.

3. Do you have a Holy Grail?

My Holy Grail would be an original Fortuny in the original box!
Or anything by Schiaparelli, preferably her Lobster Dress.

4. If you could visit the atelier of any fashion designer (dead or alive), who would it be?

I'd love to have met Charles Frederick Worth. He was so innovative with his use of fabrics, color and even his merchandising techniques. I have to add Lucile, her designs were so dramatic and feminine. She was also the first English woman designer to achieve world wide success.

5. What do you see as the future of vintage?

When I first became involved in vintage (many moons ago) not many were interested in this field. Since technology has exploded so has the collecting of antique and vintage wear. Great well made vintage will always be in style, but different eras will become hot as the generations change.

6. What is your favorite item in your shop?

My favorite dress is this 1890s wine and cream ensemble:

Here are a few more items from Tish's shop:

1930s Eyelet Dress /White Cotton Blue Eyelet / Garden Party

1950s Dress / 50s strapless Dress / Mint Embroidered Tulle Shelf Bust / S

1960s Hat and Muff / Faux Leopard Pill Box Muff Set

Monday, April 14, 2014

Etsy VFGteam Featured Seller

1. When did you first get interested in vintage fashion & why?

I first became interested in vintage fashion as a small child after seeing and falling in love with movies and music from the past. I was influenced by the clothing worn by the actors, actresses, and musicians.

2. Do you regularly wear vintage?

I do wear vintage regularly. Vintage is my favorite clothing to wear just like purple is my favorite color.

3. Do you have a Holy Grail?

Yes. My Holy Grail would be a ginormous closet full of late 40s to early 50s day dresses, evening gowns, and a few of the finest Barguzin Russian Sable fur coats, jackets, and capes money could buy.

4. If you could visit the atelier of any fashion designer (dead or alive), who would it be?

It’s tough to pick just one because I am torn between two. I would love to go back in time and visit the atelier of Charles Frederick Worth as he made clothing more fitted and fashionable for women. His work was meticulous, luxurious, desired by many, and I would have liked to have been there to see this historical time in fashion history. I would also love to make one more stop on my way back to the present and visit the atelier of Coco Chanel because she made history herself by making clothing that was more comfortable than previously worn corsets and other restrictive clothing, while still making it very desirable, and she paid fine attention to detail so I would love to have been a fly on the wall to witness some of her beautiful designs while they were being constructed.

5. What do you see as the future of vintage?

As our youth gets older and is influenced by what we wear today and what others wore before I see more people loving and appreciating vintage fashion, but it becoming harder to obtain.

6. What is your favorite item in your shop?

This is my favorite dress in my Etsy shop:

Beautiful Vintage 60s Lace Maxi Dress Ecru Les Wilk Wedding Gown S

Here are a few more items from Caryn's shop:

Womens Vintage 1980s Purple Lilac Rhinestone Cocktail Party Dress designed by Tadashi M L

Gorgeous Super Wide and Thick Vintage Marbleized Butterscotch Bakelite Bracelet

Womens Vintage 1960s Shoes Colorblock Ruby High Heels

Monday, March 10, 2014

Etsy VFGteam Featured Seller

1. When did you first get interested in vintage fashion & why?

My love of vintage fashion evolved from being an avid home-sewer. This was in the late 1960s when vintage and re-purposed clothing was exploding as the trend favored by musicians and counter-culture types. I embraced the whole funky, flashy, indie aesthetic and tried to emulate it with my own home-sewn designs, using the leftover material from my mother's dress-making and reupholstering projects.

That influence, coupled with growing-up in Culver City, California - and having MGM Studios in my backyard - made my path to collecting vintage and later, costuming period films, sort of inevitable. In 1970, MGM auctioned off its costume and prop collection. I was still in high school and had no money, but went to the post-auction sale. I was able to purchase a period gown of indescribable beauty - but in less than stellar condition - for 50 cents(!) that I re-purposed for my Renaissance Fair costume. The day I spent rummaging through the dregs of MGM's costume department was the tipping point for me. I was hooked!

2. Do you regularly wear vintage?

Yes, daily! My uniform for decades has consisted of a vintage western shirt, overalls or jeans. In the summer it's a muu muu or Oaxacan dress. When I go out, it's my excuse to wear my vintage dresses, coats, shoes and jewelry. Even if I'm not wearing true vintage, it's at least gently used. Recycling is a lifestyle choice for me. Virtually all my belongings have had a prior life.

3. Do you have a Holy Grail?

Not really. But I do so love the hunt! I still get completely giddy when I find something fabulous and unexpected in a thrift store. It doesn't have to be a valuable piece to make my day.

4. If you could visit the atelier of any fashion designer (dead or alive), who would it be?

Adrian! Again, with the MGM iconography! I've always idolized him. I just love his aesthetic; it was so exaggerated and theatrical.

5. What do you see as the future of vintage?

At its core, I think of vintage fashion as street fashion. The past will always be a source of inspiration for young, creative types expressing individuality. Trying to imagine what will be extracted from the 2000s or this decade as iconic or collectible by future generations is beyond me!

6. What is your favorite item in your shop?

This Picardo Knits maxi dress!

Here are a few more items from Marsha's shop:

Vintage 1960s Dress/ 60s Mr. Dino Mod Op Art Dress / Small - Medium

Vintage 1950s Springolator Shoes / 50s Fuchsia Suede Peep Toe Mules / Size 8 US

Vintage 1960s Dress / 60s Turquoise Cotton Sir James Atomic Age Shift / Medium

Wednesday, February 19, 2014

Etsy VFGteam Featured Seller

1. When did you first get interested in vintage fashion & why?

As a child we always had an old pouffe in the attic that was filled with 'dressing up' clothes - fur stoles, chiffon nightgowns, gypsy skirts and power jackets - my twin sister and I never tired of diving into this treasure trove. My mother also began the collecting long before we were born! I have two identical Laura Ashley dresses suitable for a young lady that were purchased in anticipation of our arrival.

2. Do you regularly wear vintage?

Yes - I tend to mix and match vintage with modern for everyday but when I get the chance, such as singing in a concert, I will always go head to toe vintage if I can - it looks so elegant.

3. Do you have a Holy Grail?

I have a new one each year! But I am lucky enough to have found the Bill Gibb for Homes & Gardens knit set I fell in love with earlier this year.

4. If you could visit the atelier of any fashion designer (dead or alive), who would it be?

Herbert Levine - when Beth Levine was experimenting with exotic imported materials, radical designs and shocking ideas in footwear.

5. What do you see as the future of vintage?

More revival of historical style elements but using both very traditional, and very new materials.

6. What is your favorite item in your shop?

It would be these Clarks shoes for their art deco buckles and decoration.

Here are a few more items from Melanie's shop:

Vintage 1920s slippers / blue & gold brocade with feather trim

Vintage 1950s shoes diamante babydoll pumps

UK 5 EU 38 US 7

Vintage 1980s gold leather desert boots UK 7 EU 40 US 9

Tuesday, January 21, 2014

Etsy VFGteam Featured Seller

Welcome back to our VFG Blog series featuring members of the VFGteam at Etsy!

You will be introduced to a different Team member in each new post. Please check out our Team Gallery page here.

Today's featured seller is Carla Rey Rowe and you can visit her shop CarlaAndCarla here.

1. When did you first get interested in vintage fashion & why?

When I was a young girl my mother ran a small Brooklyn based theater company that did plays by Brooklyn playwrights or set in Brooklyn. Sourcing costumes on the cheap was essential. She rented, bought bags of stuff at Salvation army, borrowed pieces, you name it. An eccentric character or two would regularly drop off bundles of "old clothes" which turned out to be silk flapper dresses and all sorts of Victorian and Edwardian bits and pieces, I got the stuff that wasn't period appropriate for the show!
As a teenager in New York City I shopped at some of the greatest vintage stores imaginable! Canal Jeans, Alice Underground, Kasbah, Antique Boutique, Andy's Cheepies! I loved mixing 30's crepe dresses with boots and fishnets and loads of eyeliner for the classic urban 80's punk girl look.

2. Do you regularly wear vintage?

I wear vintage on a daily basis. I am obsessed with vintage rock T shirts and have quite a collection. My go-to outfit is a leather pencil skirt with a vintage T and engineer boots. Some of the Betsey Johnson pieces I source for the shop never make it and live in my closet. I have quite a sizable turquoise jewelry habit too, especially Navaho pieces!

3. Do you have a Holy Grail?
　
Yes! I am always on the lookout for the dress I wore for my 4th grade class picture in 1978. (Pictured above)
A pale pink rayon jersey 1940's dress with puffed sleeves and about a million buttons up the front. It had pink and purple spots similar to Yin and Yang symbols. I wore it with monster platforms and white tights (pictured!). And of course anything Biba!

4. If you could visit the atelier of any fashion designer (dead or alive), who would it be?

Alexander McQueen, a true artistic genius.

5. What do you see as the future of vintage?

I hope to see more people incorporating vintage into their daily wardrobes rather than purchasing something new. Once people see how easy and how environmentally important it is I think you will see wearing vintage becoming more mainstream. Also I see more and more men wearing and buying vintage as gifts!

6. What is your favorite item in your shop?

Right now I am very much in love with this 1930's bias cut silk floral dress. It's so lovely and romantic, timeless really.

Here are a few more items from Carla's shop:

Vintage 20's fashion / Vintage lingerie / Pale pink silk bias cut nightgown

Vintage 70's dress / Tribal Mandala print silk jersey boho Maxi dress S

Vintage 60's fashion / Brocade winter coat / Mink collar

Monday, September 10, 2012

Etsy VFGteam Featured Seller

1. When did you first get interested in vintage fashion & why?

When I was in the first grade my best friend showed me her mother's cedar closet. It was huge & crammed to the rafters with generations of her family's clothing. We spent many happy hours playing dress-up. So I got hooked at a very early age.

I have had a life-long interest in acting, art & fashion design & my love for vintage just grew naturally from those. Plus, being a bit eccentric, I wanted to look different from everyone else. That led me to thrift & antique shops searching for clothing no one else would have, often accompanied by my mother. She was not only interested in the clothes but was thrilled that my passion saved us a lot of money on my wardrobe! A perfect example is the gorgeous blue silk chiffon early 50s gown I wore to a high school prom, for which I paid less than $10.

My eventual husband shared a lot of my interests, along with his passion for antiques, and we ended up running a brick & mortar vintage shop for 30 years.

2. Do you regularly wear vintage?

Not as much as I used to, as I dressed in head-to-toe vintage when I ran the shop. But I am still very fond of wearing vintage jewelry, and I love my vintage purses & shoes. All of my coats are vintage & when I do get dressed up I am likely to choose vintage dresses or skirts. I also love Hawaiian shirts & tea-timers, Asian tops & 50s men's shirts.

3. Do you have a Holy Grail?

I really like novelty prints so I am always happy to find those. I am also on the lookout for a Helen Bond Carruthers sweater for myself.

And, of course, who doesn't dream of finding that huge vintage cache? The one where you are the only one who knows about it? I have had that happen more than once but I am still hopeful to have it happen again.

4. If you could visit the atelier of any fashion designer (dead or alive), who would it be?

Elsa Schiaparelli. Especially during her 30s pre-war period.

5. What do you see as the future of vintage?

I have been selling vintage since 1969 so I have seen many trends come & go. When we first started out, the Victorian, Edwardian & 20s things were popluar. Then it was 30s, followed by 40s & 50s & finally 60s. When we closed the shop people were asking for 70s & 80s.
As long as fashion designers look to the past for inspiration I think people will still be interested in the originals.

6. What is your favorite item in your shop?

This 70s Malcom Starr circus skirt with the jungle cats.
It's the last one out of a collection I had.

Here are a few more items from TheSpectrum:

Vintage 50s Grey Suede Babydoll Shoes Pumps 5

Vintage 50s 60s Red Beaded Sweater Chinese Lanterns Gene Shelly S

Vintage 50s Embroidered Peacock Reversible Clutch Purse

Vintage 50s Hogan Bolas Modernist Earrings

Just a final note. Many readers will realize I am interviewing myself here, kind of like talking to an empty chair ;>)

This will most likely be the final post in this series featuring VFG Etsy sellers. I did the very first one last October & it has been a pleasure to introduce you to my fellow sellers & to learn more about them.

Monday, August 27, 2012

Etsy VFGteam Featured Seller

Welcome to our VFG Blog series featuring members of the VFGteam at Etsy!

You will be introduced to a different Team member in each new post. Please check out our Team Gallery page here.
Today's featured seller is Terri Brown and you can visit her shop VintageDevotion here.

1. When did you first get interested in vintage fashion & why?

I have always loved all things old; architecture, clothing, décor, people. When I was in college back in the 1970s, I worked at a dancewear shop in town that was right next door to a used clothing shop called “Hand-Me-Downs”. It was run by two gorgeous ladies in their 20’s who always dressed in their vintage finds. Periodically, they would have to run out to an estate to purchase clothing and they would ask me to watch their store while they were gone. It was quite fun darting between the shops which specialized in the two things I loved most, dance and old clothing. When they returned from their jaunt, as a gesture of thanks, they offered me the pick of the lot. Whatever I wanted was mine! Throughout my years there (and beyond) I wore 40’s and 50’s coats, hats and purses, 30’s dresses and Victorian blouses. I still have many of those pieces in my collection. Some are still in great condition, others no longer wearable but all have the essence of a most wonderful time in my life and they are treasured belongings of my past.

2. Do you regularly wear vintage?

In my day-to-day life, my dress is pretty basic and functional; jeans, tee shirt and vintage earrings. However, vintage is my absolute “go-to” for special events and I have a particular affinity for the “New Look” silhouette of the late 40’s into the 50’s.

3. Do you have a Holy Grail?

I absolutely love the creativity, ingenuity and sheer gutsiness of Schiaparelli designs. The closest I have been to experiencing one of her creations in person was on the other side of a glass case at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

4. If you could visit the atelier of any fashion designer (dead or alive), who would it be?

It would probably be Lilly Daché. I recently obtained a most amazing dress from the late 1940’s and was astonished to find the Daché label in it. Though she was notably the top milliner of her time, she is less known for her dress creations which were equally brilliant. Imagine a visit to the “Lilly Daché Building” on E. 56th St in Manhattan which housed her atelier and salon, complete with silver dressing rooms for her brunette clients and gold for her blonde buyers. I can almost feel the softness of the tufted pink satin walls and hear the jingle of her bell-adorned leopard slippers as she approaches…

5. What do you see as the future of vintage?

A really hard question! I feel as if “true” vintage stops at the 1970s era. I know that 80’s and even 90’s is now considered vintage but I have a bit of a hard time with that. Aside from my appreciation of clothing, accessories and jewelry from earlier years, there’s a visceral and emotional connection that just doesn’t exist for me in items from the 1980’s to the present. I don’t keep up with current fashion trends or designers so I don’t know what will be coveted in future years. I would say that a contemporary piece that is beautifully designed, well-constructed and interesting will stand the test of time.

6. What is your favorite item in your shop?

This amazing Vintage 1930s-40s Burgundy EMBROIDERED COAT with BAKELITE Buttons
I love everything about this piece; the dramatic length, the color, the embroidery and the fabulous Bakelite buttons. Is it a robe or a coat? I’m really not sure but it’s just too beautiful to be confined to the home so I vote for coat!

Here are a few more items from Terri's shop:

Vintage 40s 1940s LILLI ANN Jacket Forest Emerald Green Gabardine

Vintage 1920s 20s Dress Flapper Black Silk Chiffon Heavily Beaded

Vintage 50s POODLES with PARASOLS Pink Cotton Full Skirt Novelty Print Dress

Vintage 30s Black Velvet Dress Gold Trim Brass Buttons Matching Belt

Monday, August 13, 2012

Etsy VFGteam Featured Seller

1. When did you first get interested in vintage fashion & why?

I was in the 7th grade when I first started wearing vintage and I used to wear my great grandfather’s tuxedo with tails to school. It is rather funny now thinking about it because I did not wear it because it was vintage but because I liked the look. My art teacher thought it was pretty neat too! In high school, I would wear my grandmother’s cashmere swing coats and three-quarter sleeve curly wool bolero. Again never thinking it was vintage but because I loved the look.

I continued to wear different vintage clothing with matching hats into my 20’s and beyond never realizing that they were considered collectible or labeled as vintage. Then I discovered the internet and, much to my surprise, other people wore vintage clothing. I was astonished when I saw all the things available for sale and went on a major spending spree for myself. I was hooked on vintage at an early age and did not even know that it had a name; I just knew I loved the look, the fabrics and the joy of wearing these pieces of history.

2. Do you regularly wear vintage?

I really am a jeans and T-shirt type of gal but when I do dress up I always try to wear some vintage clothing and jewelry. However, I love vintage hats and wear them whether I am dressed down or up.

3. Do you have a Holy Grail?

Not actually but I absolutely love the early Dorothy O’Hara dresses.

4. If you could visit the atelier of any fashion designer (dead or alive), who would it be?

Although Lilli Ann was a fashion company and not an atelier, I would have loved to visit the business during its early years. The fabrics and construction they used are amazing and the designs are timeless.

5. What do you see as the future of vintage?

Current fashions concern me because we now live in a throw-away society and, due to the quality of many of today’s garments, they will not withstand the test of time. I believe as time goes on there will be less availability and higher prices of items now sold as vintage due to the current trend of reconstruction or severe altering of the textiles available.

6. What is your favorite item in your shop?

Right now I have a limited amount available online but I would have to say I adore the Vintage 1970’s Black Victorian Revival Dress Set in my shop.

Here are a few more items from Maxine's shop:

Vintage 60s 70s Velvet Cocktail Dress XS

Vintage 50s Day Dress S Unworn with Hang Tag

Vintage 70s Fringed Camo Wrap Dress ML

Vintage 50s Rhinestone Button Front Striped Taffeta Dress S

Monday, July 30, 2012

Etsy VFGteam Featured Seller

1. When did you first get interested in vintage fashion & why?

I’ve always been attracted to vintage for as long as I can remember, from fashion to furniture to cars. My first experience with wearing vintage was in the late 80’s when I wore my grandfather's old sharkskin suit jacket with a pair of ripped to shreds Levi’s and my Doc Martens.

2. Do you regularly wear vintage?

Unfortunately, I don’t find much vintage in my modern size but my skinny mini sisters integrate vintage into their wardrobe almost daily, and I enjoy shopping for them.

3. Do you have a Holy Grail?

A Holy Grail for me would be anything that’s going to make me a boatload of money! As for something for myself, I really, really would love a mint condition vintage complete set of the Dansk Kobenstyle line (designed by Jens H. Quistgaard)

4. If you could visit the atelier of any fashion designer (dead or alive), who would it be?

I never thought about it, but I’ve loved every single thing that Bonnie Cashin has ever done. I know she’s considered more ready-to-wear than other designers, but I don’t care – her stuff is completely amazing.

5. What do you see as the future of vintage?

Fashion keeps reinventing itself with little tweaks here and there. Echoes of the previous decades come around time and time again. I’m sure decades from now, vintage Uggs and skinny jeans will be back in some shape or form. If you have the room to store it, it’s always smart to buy quality merchandise, even if it seems so out of style. Eventually, everything comes back and the quality made pieces are the ones that people want the most.

6. What is your favorite item in your shop?

I love this 80’s does 50’s black and white dress with the sweetest bow print

Here are a few more items from Justine's shop:

vintage 60s sequin angora tank by mary sachs l

vintage 70s ethnic animal and floral print quilted jacket xs s

vintage 60s limeade ethnic print maxi dress m

And she has provided a coupon code for the readers of this blog to use in her shop, here are the details:

20% off anything in the shop with the code VFG20 (expires August 30th 2012)