1948, Christian Dior, and The Fashion History Museum

 



Recently, a real treasure, a petrol blue polka dot 2 piece dress from the 1948 Christian Dior Envol line, arrived at Past Perfect Vintage. And I am delighted to announce it has already found a home in The Fashion History Museum of Cambridge, Ontario. It isn’t the first piece the museum has acquired from Past Perfect Vintage, but it is certainly the first Dior.  

Jonathan Walford, the

New on the Website This April

New to Past Perfect Vintage, and all to be found at The 40s & 50s: 



   1940s Rust and Cream Print Crepe Dress Set NY Creation 

This is a nicely sized rust and cream crepe blouse and skirt set  with a button and loop front and nifty appliqued bands with a zig zag edge.







L. 1950s New Look Black Silk Taffeta Ball Gown  R., Brilliantly Colored 1940s Print Faille At Home Dress  

Dresses, Dresses, and Oh Look - Another Dress!

The September additions to Past Perfect Vintage are all in. And my goodness, there's a lot of new inventory. There are hats, suits, and hair combs, but today, it's all about dresses. And a jumpsuit. And a blouse and skirt set. But they look like dresses, so that counts. The date range? 1930s - 1970s. For you Victorian, Teens and 1920s fashion lovers, we have some 60 lovely things on the way.

New at Past Perfect Vintage in August, the 1940s Edition

The new additions, all 19 of them, are live at the website, so here's a taste of the 1940s selection.We recently acquired a number of 1940s dresses in good sizes from an Ohio estate, and will be adding the rest of them next month. Up first is a New York Creation label dress in black crepe, nicely done with a beaded and studded bodice.  These New York dresses are always interesting, and

Our July Collection at Past Perfect Vintage

The July collection of additions just went live at Past Perfect Vintage over the weekend. It's a quite a bit, so I am going to spread  it out here on the blog. After all, if you get too much eye candy, you won't want your dinner. We have quite a mix this time with some late summer vintage cottons, 60s and 70s leather jackets, 50s party dresses and two Edwardian Irish Crochet pieces. Talk about a

New in June at Past Perfect Vintage

Our June additions at Past Perfect Vintage included these summer dresses in cotton, linen and rayon from the 1940s to 1960s.  Also new to the site? A lovely 1920s net lace dress, vintage hats from the Teens and 1940s, and four vintage combs we will feature here in the coming days. Plus even more, as usual!    Early 1940s Cream Crepe Dress with Red Print Sash and Hood
1950s New Look Cotton

Spring & Summer Flowers can take Many,Many Forms

The many varieties of vintage florals. They came out in the Spring and last all Summer, which is the ideal for a blooming plant in my garden. My fondness for these may date to the huge rose print draperies in the guest bedroom at my grandmother's house, a pre-Civil War structure, probably the overseer's home on the old farm. If memory serves, the room was probably 'done' in the 1940s, and it was

New Vintage Dresses - yes, I know that's a contradiction...........

Oh yes, I feel the contradiction every time I mention 'new' vintage clothing. But what else can I say? we have new items up in our Past Perfect Vintage Etsy shop. And they are vintage. So there you have it. The proverbial contradiction in terms. The classic oxymoron. But I will soldier on and show you the goodies:First, a beautiful cream crepe gown c. 1938 - 40 with a zipper front, gold studs

Two Very Disparate 1940s Prints

I racked my brain trying to see what these two garments might have in common. Womenswear? 1940s? Check. Print? Check. Floral? Check. And that is as far as I could get. It's like that some days. The brain won't go as far down a road as one might wish. The dress:Late 1940s rayon with shoulder pads and over skirt in a autumn toned tropical print. Very much a good dress to wear with hat, gloves, big

Rain+ Sunday+ Spring = Vintage Florals

It's a Sunday. A Sunday that can't decide between sunshine and rain. Typical March. Typical Ohio Vally March But the daffodils are still out, the tulips and lilac have buds, and a few trees are starting to have that wonderful green haze.So onto Spring. And it is time! They say florals are hot for spring. Well, Of Course. What else would be? Black wool tweed? We aren't crazy out here you know.

Feeling the Forties Prints

from the www.pastperfectvintage.com archivesThe colder weather and lack of leaves on the trees make these 1940s floral prints look awfully good. What was/is it about rayon that makes it take the prints so well? Regardless, some of the neatest, clearest and most colorful vintage prints were done on rayon. Personal preference are the ones of the 1940s, but there were great prints throughout the

New Inventory Up and Running!

We have new vintage delights up and coming to http://www.pastperfectvintage.etsy.com/. Dresses, sunglasses and more. This is our venue for reasonably priced pieces and accessories, so head over to get a good deal.Photos you query?Of course.As ever, just click on photos for details.One of 3 pair of Big Eye lens sunglasses coming soon1940s Silk Crepe Novelty Print Dress1950s Silk Crepe Blue

White on Vintage White

There is something so crisp and clean about vintage whites. And not just the Victorian cotton lingerie dresses and undergarments, lovely as they are when they are laundered and pressed. There's a wonderful warm tone to vintage white leather and white textiles that new white fabrics and leather don't have. They are stark. Clinical. Vintage is Soft. It Glows.It isn't easy to find vintage whites

July is Here & That Means New Vintage at Past Perfect

We are excited. We just added 16 new (to us) items at Past Perfect Vintage Clothing. We will feature more in the coming days, but here's a small preview :Lovely c. 1910 White Cotton Lingerie Dress in a Wearable Size with pintucks, lace insertion, applique and tiny crocheted buttons, @ pastperfectvintage.com/thevictoriansandedwardians.htm Charming 1940s Floral Taffeta Dress with shirred bust in

New Menswear Additions to Past Perfect

Oh yes, we have added a few new things to Past Perfect Vintage: The Etsy division. This our place to make available tot he public some of the affordable and wearable vintage garments we find along the road. And a it's a braider venue for wearble Vintage Menswear than our main site, www.pastperfectvintage.com. Just another friendly venue from the fine folks here are Past Perfect. Here's a sample:

Designer du Jour: Ben Reig

I have just found my third Ben Reig dress in the last few hunts. This seems to happen to me. I never see a label, then I see it a lot. And then, never again. It’s VERY odd. But I have learned to roll with it. I am starting to enjoy the sequence of events actually. I never know what it will be.So to commemorate the latest finds, here’s a bit about Ben Reig and some of what is out there from this

Oscar's Coming - Get Ready!

The attack of the awards shows has been in progress now for a bit. Way too many young women in big gowns have gone by. Many in the same strapless dress fitted to within an inch of their lives and dragging a huge train behind them . My reaction ? I took a cruise through some favorite websites and found these Vintage Fashion alternatives.So if you are invited to an award show party, or better yet -

Featured Vintage: Adolfo and Flowers

Today's featured vintage find from Past Perfect Vintage is brand new on the website. This neat, neat, neat c. 1970 silk satin print skirt and blouse set is by Adolfo with beautiful blue flowers, dirndl skirt with tucks all round the waist and fur! cuffs. It's very well made, top quality, with a full taffeta skirt lining and self covered buttons. And it has the original Saks price (over $1000)

A First Lady a Day: Bess

Bess Truman was an intensely private woman. She has seen what the press could do. And she was having none of it. She had no intentions of being an activist First Lady like Eleanor Roosevelt. That was one hard act to follow. Bess was an active partner in Harry Truman’s career, she supported him in 1948 when no one thought he could win, she was a shrewd judge of character, and she even helped write

A First Lady a Day

Let’s start with Eleanor Roosevelt. A great lady, generally acclaimed as of the greats of the 20th Century. Way ahead of her time and proven right on so many issues. It is far beyond my poor ability to assess her place in history.But we are talking fashion here. This is superficial. I grant you, she was not considered a stylish gal. Certainly not the prettiest First Lady. She really did have more