Vintage inspiration strikes again!

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 'm love love loving the direct vintage inspiration in the Zac Posen 2013 collection - the first dress shown here in particular. How am I going to get my hands on that piece of perfection? I must know! 

1960s | Happy Mad Men premiere!

Courrèges | House of Dior (Marc Bohan) 

House of Balenciaga | Hubert de Givenchy

House of Balmain | House of Dior

all images here

Along with feeling spring in the air this morning I think I can almost feel a palpable collective excitement for the Mad Men premiere tonight - it's like a fashion girl's holiday! Above are some fine frocks from the late 1960s in similar shapes I am guessing we'll be seeing on this season's Mad Men. I'd wear every one!

1920s coats

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I am totally, utterly, completely goo-goo ga-ga over 1920s coats. Like when I see them my eyes water and I feel filled with both joy and despair. I want to marry them, eat them, live in them - it's intense. And heartbreaking because they are so rare in the world and if ever there is one available for purchase they certainly aren't cheap, to say the least. 

Above are some of my very favorite coats from my 1920s Pinterest  - which one do you like best?

cocktail hour

sources here & here 

The season of the cocktail hour fast is approaching so here's just a little inspiration and whistle-wetting from my 1950s & 1960s Pinterest boards.

Expect some great things to hit the Dear Golden shop next week!

Before there was Mad Men...

From the 1967 film, "How to Succeed in Business Without Even Trying". Consequently, the main character is the same fella who plays Bert Cooper on Mad Men!

W.E. | not a film review

Last night, I watched the film 'W.E.', a calamitous affair to be sure, but if you love 1930s clothing it's a veritable visual feast. It simultaneous follows the story of Wallis Simpson and a fictitious modern day woman living in New York city and that's all the plot synopsis I am offering. I was more than willing to excuse the lameness of the movie because the costumes are just the cat's pajamas, to borrow a phrase. Truth be told, I don't need any more fuel for my vintage clothing obsession, specifically my 1930s vintage clothing obsession, but alas, I've lead myself in the fire with this film. It made me instantly want to run to my closet and shop and pull out all the bias cut silk, crepe and rayon I could snatch from the racks and dance around with a martini in my hand. But we aren't just talking party attire here, the film is chock full of delectable daywear, dress suits, hats and even shoes. My instinct to hoard all 1930s garments has been lit ablaze.

Initially I thought to make a blog post of images from the film, but I have never figured out how to find good film stills to use, so I thought I would just pull things from my Pinterest board | 1930s Fashion that looked Wallis-esque. I went to my board and selected a few images to use and then thought, "hey, I'll just search Wallis Simpson on Pinterest, duh!". When I did I found two photos of her in garments nearly identical to the ones I selected from the 1930s board! As a matter of fact one of the dresses (in the last photo set below, the Mainbocher dress) WAS her actual wedding dress, ha! Ok, so, I KNOW I am tooting my own horn, but come on! I was so proud!

As a side note, I just love Wallis Simpson's quote, "[w]hen the little black dress is right, there is nothing else to wear. ". I love this particularly so because I have a healthy collection of little black dresses in my closet, say, over 30; but do I ever chose those to wear? No, I always choose something way less "little black dress-like" and much more fabulous. :)

Clive Arrowsmith | photographer

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When I was a teenager, I hated the 1970s. A real put-down was to call something "so 1970s", but that is of course probably because I was born in the 1970s. Once I got to college I was totally 1970s wearing this super awesome pair of bell bottom jeans that I made MORE bell bottomed by sewing triangle shaped swatches of fabric from the knee to the hem of my jeans. My love for the 1970s has only grown from there, these Clive Arrowsmith fashion photographs pretty much capture what I really love about 1970s fashion - ethnic & bohemian prints, big shapes, maiden hair, etc;  I think at least one or two of these are Bill Gibb creations, a designer we hear nearly nothing of nowadays which is really a shame. One of my biggest vintage dreams is to find a Bill Gibb dress and make it mine!

Wearing Nothing New

I just watched this short TED TALK with Jessi Arrington and thought it was certainly 

something I needed to share with my vintage-loving friends. 

Spiegel catalog 1979

Recently, at an antique mall, I found this 1979 Spiegel catalog and purchased it without hesitation. I have a real soft spot for this period in fashion. I also kind of hate it. Thing is, it's a real weird time in fashion precisely because there is so much to love right along side pretty detestable things. Let's look at some examples shall we?

So, I love what is going on here. The colors (or lack thereof really), the bolo tie, the hat, the 3-piece suit with stiff Arrow collar? Heck yes! Annie Hall much? Love it. However, I do, personally, I take issue with that skirt length, it does nothing for MOST gals. I know, I know, it's the midi skirt that's semi-popular now (or trying very hard to be popular), but even so, I feel like there is a "sweet spot" for the midi skirt and if you miss it, you're just gonna look like a sister-wife or a frumpfest. As a side note, I do think the point is moot when you add tight and tall boots to the midi-skirt mix, then all bets are on; prance away in your midi and knee-high boots sister, that almost always looks great. 

More I love, more Annie Hall/menswear inspiration, more beige (sorry, I really do love beige)

and the woman on the left is sporting a brooch, word up! 

Yep, I even like these, look at the cute shoes too! Gettin' all Teutonic, get me to the beer tent! I dig it!

Ok, these are great dresses on a summer night, sure. You might get super hot sporting the polyester jersey, 

sure, but at least you won't get all wrinkly. And if you pass out in your dress you will actually be quite comfy. AND THEN, in the bright light of morning you can throw that frock in the washing machine and put your hungover arse back in bed. 

Ok, more good stuff - these caftan dresses are super pretty and the basic black beach attire is a total go. A side note here, there were many pages of swimwear and I kid you not, not one gal has bigger boobs than an A or small B cup.  It was flippin' refreshing. What an anomaly in our world today, swimsuit models with women of my tiny-titties tribe!

And here we turn a corner...the first outfit, cute. The other two? Wow. The green one is particularly heinous. It's nearly Victorian & not in a way I like. I mean, where is her BODY? She looks like a giant triangle and not in a cool avant garde fashion way, but um, again, in a sister-wife way. No, you don't have to show off your body to look great, but this is something entirely ugly. 

Shoes that are cool. Shoes that if I found while thrifting I would consider it a pretty great day. 

Annnnnnd some hideous shoes. Cute & sexy dresses and then really awful white strappy shoes. Notice they are also worn with suntan colored nylons...awwww yeah...

Finally, just some, what I think are, super pretty hairstyles that are blissfully non-fussy. 

Which is more than one can say about those undergarments...

summer glamour

credits: Drury Bynum and Shinecreative TV

photo credit: Jamie Campbell

Another reason to love Instagram, I discover beautiful images like these of Lane Harlan (lanesomedove on Instagram); the natural beauty posts romantic and lovely photos and I am always jealous of her glorious hair. I saw a photo of her in a hotel pool and just had to know more about it. She was nice enough to email me screenshots of a commercial she did for Four Seasons hotel and also some behind the scenes shots. The second image is my favorite.