Bustles, and Vests and Hats, Oh My!

 



It's such a treat here to get to handle wonderful antique fashions. I never get tired of beautiful things, whether it's the construction, the fabric or the color. Getting to enjoy the reminders of the past and experience them is what has kept me going in this business for 21 years. I am glad I enjoy this. So many of the sellers I knew when I came into this business are gone now. Much less

Back to Work at Long Last

It's been a busy autumn at Past Perfect Vintage. We had a great a shopping run through the Northeast, then came home to a time intensive costume project in opera. It was great, it was successful and now it's done. So the break is over, and we have added a lot of new inventory to Past Perfect Vintage this week. Let's look at some of the older fashions up now.  



First, a lovely,

Colonials, Victorians, Edwardians and Flappers, Oh My

 



I haven't written up a 'New at Past Past Vintage' post in weeks. But it was worth waiting for. We are offering a 1770s Silk Open Robe, and separately a 1770s skirt, both shown here, a large size 1900 Black Silk Tea Gown in the Grand Style, a stunning 1904 Wedding Dress and another larger size 1910s White Linen Walking Suit with fine cutwork and embroidery.



 



 

Past Perfect

Vintage Clothing Does Come in Larger Sizes

One of the misconceptions about vintage clothing is that, without exception, It Is Tiny. Clothing for modern sz 0 -2. Granted, much is too small for the average American woman, who is taller than her predecessors, and correspondingly wider in the shoulders. And yes, the average size today is much larger than the average size of women in the 1930s - 60s, much less the Victorian and

A few Thoughts and new Vintage Fashions

 





Sometimes in the Vintage Fashion business, we can get too caught up in designer pieces and their labels. There are those who feel important designers of the 20th Century are the only thing worth buying. Now if you are buying investment grade only, then a case for that approach could be made. But of the vintage fashions I have personally acquired over the years, it wasn't the designer

We Have Brought The Pretty

Our blog posts have thinned down due to an opera project (The Merry Widow for the KY Opera Association, opening Feb. 17!) and will therefore be sparse for just a while longer. But we just updated the Past Perfect Vintage website with some pretty, pretty things and we couldn't postpone showing off  The Pretty, aka the Eye Candy. 
We have a really nice group of Victorian and Edwardian pieces added

New Pretties in December? Oh yes.

 
In our largest monthly updates yet, we just added some 31 vintage and antique pieces at Past Perfect Vintage, covering a 140 year span. Not bad, I think. Today let's look at the Victorian and Edwardian pieces. We are showing an 1840s print cotton wrapper/house dress, an 1860s brown silk damask 2 piece dress, an 1870s to early 1880s natural silk 2 piece bustle dress with wonderful buttons and

The First of The Collection comes to Past Perfect

 
We have recently been so pleased to be asked to handle a partial de-accession of a private collection. Like many long time collectors, our client is weeding through and focusing in on certain areas.After all, many of us start out acquiring randomly, pretty much anything that is pretty or for those vintage collectors who wear their pieces - anything that fits! I've done it myself, and not that

Wonderful Mystery Photos, Victorian Edition

 
Mystery family. That's who I think these are. Sorting through research files and photos this morning, I came across these two again. They first showed up when my aunt and uncle's house was emptied out. They had  a lot of family photos, which my cousin kindly put on discs and sent everyone. No one knows who these two are. We showed them to my 90+ aunties, and they both said: 'oh yes we've seen

Bustles in The Queen: 1875

We acquired 3 bound volumes of  The Queen, the Lady's Magazine, an English periodical, some time ago. I am just getting around to looking at these. They are huge. They are heavy. And they are full of news and stories, weddings, announcements, illustrations of peoples from around the world, everything. And lots of illustrations. More lace patterns, children's clothing, bonnets and hairstyles than

Civil War Red, White and Blue

Take my word for it the stripes in this blue woven silk are red and white. There's also a touch of green, but still - how often do you see a red, white and blue late 1850s silk dress from Tennessee?This lovely gown came out of a Tennessee estate auction we hit this past fall. The dress has the fringed peplum, horizontal stripes, dropped shoulders, sleeve wings and balloon sleeves one would

At Long Last - The Return to Vintage

No, I don't mean fashion magazines, red carpet queens, or the fickle designers who need a 'new' look. I don't even mean the customers - although they seem to be back, bless them!Who do I mean? Me. Oh yes, it's been a bit of a break here as other creative projects have called. But now we are back. We have been prepping lots of vintage dresses and hats, some great stuff. So here is some Past

A Bustle Fiesta, Part Tres

Last fall, we were lucky enough to acquire a grand lot of 1880s Victorian bustle dresses. As you readers know, this is a weakness of ours.What makes this lot so grand is that they are all from the estate of one woman and saved by her granddaughter who passed away recently at at advanced age. We just don't see these collections come out of local estates much anymore. They are a rarity now.These

Fresh off the Victorian Press at Past Perfect Vintage

We are delighted to post these new additions to our Victorian and Edwardian Catgeory:Fantastic late 19th C. Handmade Lace Shawl - wonderful lace!c. 1918 Wedding Dress with Pearl Starburts with Perry County, KY Provenance1906 4 pc. Silk Shantung Wedding Set by Mme Grunder with Louisville, KY Provenance c. 1895 Victorian Gown with Leg-O'-Mutton Sleeves in Cinnamon Faille

Serendipity = 1880s Bustle Dresses

I tell you - you just never know in the vintage clothing game. People ask me where I find things, I am am not being evasive when I say: " you never know". Wonderful things can crop up anytime and anywhere. Long story short, we were supposed to go out of town and had to cancel. Disappointmnet reigned.So we did an errand, and got doughnuts. I know - terrible. But they were very fresh and tasty.

A Schizophrenic Vintage Life

When asked, what my favorite period of clothing is, I automatically freeze up. There was a time when I had a favorite, but that was long ago. I have given up such delusions of youth. I have developed an appreciation for fine construction and nice lines. I do have a soft spot for good fabric. After that, all bets are off. I have yet to come to love the 1980s, but I was an adult then and buying

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

Everyone Needs 1890s Glamour

I seem drawn to transitional styles. You can also call them cuspers. Those periods in between the big fashion movements, as one silhoette morphs into another. The late 40s into 50s, the 20s into 30s, the 1870s into 1880s. And then there's the 1880s bustle as it segues into the Gay 1890s leg o' mutton.For example, this dress and hat we have just added to our website. The fabrics are a rich