Lethal Weapons for Ladies

So many hats, so little time. Quite besides that, some of my vintage hats do perplex me: how on earth did women get them to stay on their heads – especially when it was howling a gale out there? Or maybe they didn’t go out in the wind?

The answer is old-fashioned hatpins of course. After having a little look at a myriad online, I dithered, unable to choose. Fortuitously I came across this little one in a charity shop, decorated with pretty glass pearls in delicate shades of mint and celadon. It has quite a spike on it. In fact, you could have someone’s eye out with that if you weren’t careful.

Now I have two additional problems: 1) ruining said vintage hats by sticking the pin through them, and 2) ruining my head by sticking the pin into it. 

A Room Like a Wedding Cake

Locked in the back room of a Greville Street vintage boutique ostensibly to try on a dress that lamentably proves too marred by rust stains to purchase, I snap furiously at all these gorgeous vintage textiles.

A Chinese silk robe singing with flowers and herons; a nineteenth century French chemise trimmed with hand-crocheted lace; a sari embroidered in metallic thread; a 50s seafoam green taffeta dress trimmed with sprigs of hyacinths; a 60s sheath encrusted with guipure lace thick like swirls of marzipan in robin’s egg blue; and finally a red wool hat swathed in tattered net.

It’s just like being inside a wedding cake.

The owner knocks and opens the door; I barely have a chance to hide my phone. She asks how I’m going. I smile sweetly and answer, just as though I have not secretly been stealing the souls of her dresses. I leave with my hands empty but my spirit full. 

What I Actually Wore #0038

Serial #: 0039
Date: 13/01/2010
Weather: forecast 23°
Time Allowed: 5 minutes

This was a super-easy outfit to put together. LWD + shoes = what could be simpler?

It was a mild summer’s day, and I was heading out to the ‘country’ (Berwick, a 40 minute train trip from where I live in the inner city) for lunch with my three sisters. It’s a rare occasion when the four of us get together, as one of my sisters lives interstate.

The white Mango dress is covered in white embroidery; such a summery look. I love the bell sleeves and loose shape: so cooling on hot days. I like white with wholesome tan leather, so I picked out a pair of wooden heeled mules that are also embroidered in matching thread. Perfect!

As I walked to the train station, I was amused and taken aback when a young woman – admittedly rather dowdily dressed – read me a lecture on wearing such high heels. To give her credit, at the culmination of her homily she had to reluctantly admit they were good-looking shoes. Thanks mum.

Items:

Dress: Mango
Earrings: Moyou
Rings: Roun
Watch: Kenneth Cole
Shoes: Zoe Wittner
Dog: Pepito, cavoodle (now available in blonde too!)

Accessories With Pizzazz

Grey Veronika Maine top; vintage 40s bandeau hat trimmed with beads; pearl grape cluster earrings; vintage chiffon gloves with pearlised button closures. It’s impossible to button the second glove whilst wearing the slippery things! Button first, then slide on carefully.

What makes an eye-catching outfit? Sometimes it is a single outstanding garment, such as an amazing dress, through cut or colour (or both). These might be the garments we wear on momentous occasions: weddings, anniversary celebrations, holiday events.

But what about the every day? Few of us would own enough statement-making garments to wear week in, week out – let alone have the space to store them.

This is a 1920s sleeping hair-band. It was hand-sewn and dyed in a pretty mix of teal, green, blue and plum. Presumably one wore it on the head to protect one’s hair from getting mussed. It makes a cute collar or necktie: perfect for chilly nights and a much more pleasant barrier to vampires than a necklace of garlic.

From day to day we are likely to be mixing and matching basic separates, with a few non-basic ones tossed in to leaven the neutrals. Here is where the extraordinary accessory comes into play and lifts a perfectly respectable ensemble into truly stylish territory.

Shoes and bags

Well, we need to wear these anyway
so we may as well have some fun
with them.

I don’t know about you but I seldom change my bag during the week; it is far too much bother to transfer the contents. I like to have a weekday bag of neutral hue that complements many outfits. Currently I am adoring a black patent leather bag. When I travel further afield, I take a large white leather tote (it fits my Wacom tablet), with a smaller bag inside to carry at lunchtime: jade-green lizardskin.

Invest in some unique shoes that will perk up your basic wardrobe. I often buy fab new pairs at sample sales as well as end-of-season sales, and secondhand or vintage numbers – all at shoestring-budget-friendly prices.

…the extraordinary accessory comes into play and lifts a perfectly respectable ensemble into truly
stylish territory.

Another little vintage 50s bandeau hat, sculpted into an origami shape from pleated grosgrain ribbon. It’s a little worn, but still so pretty. The Deadly Poppy Field headband is by Alannah Hill, and retailed for $79 – I paid $35 on eBay. On, it looks almost like a hand-woven circlet of real flowers.

But wait, there’s more

Cream cotton is encrusted with pearlised seed beads, opalescent sequins and oblong seashell beads to create a sumptuous looking belt. Unearthed in an opshop.Don’t forget there are also belts, scarves, hats and headbands, gloves and jewellery – even umbrellas! – to add to your arsenal. That’s the fun part about this bitterly cold winter Melbourne has suffered through: so many opportunities to layer.

There’s a time and place for sleek and minimal pieces, but why not have some fun with some really unique finds – new or vintage. Etsy and eBay are fantastic sources for
new and old, or go for a treasure hunt in local vintage stores and eccentric boutiques that stock items from far-flung corners
of the world.

Colour matters

My friend Rapunzel knitted this chain scarf for my birthday. She thought it would be a good idea to throw it into the machine and put it through a hot wash. And it was: it came out nicely felted.

Worried about looking too over-the-top? The secret is balance. Reduce your colour palette to two or three, with one or two of those neutral or subdued shades: black or grey, brown or beige, white or cream. Additional pops of colour can work if they are small items, such as a ring or a pair of coloured gloves.

For more daring fashionistas, go wild and bright with clashing colour by all means (without looking like a clown), but be prepared for the extra attention! Sometimes it is all about context too. For example, I recently wore a bright red swirling coat and a vintage 50s turquoise feather bandeau to the Queen Victoria market to do my grocery shopping. I stood out from a sea of black and navy, and received quite a few compliments, including one from the lady at the cheese stall who told me I looked ‘so glamorous today’. It’s a win-win situation: I livened up her morning, and she made me happy.

The key is not to look fussy and over-done, like an extra from a period film.

The Chanel Imperative

I never wear this many at once. (I did when I was an art student, and distinctly recall the moment when I suddenly realised I looked like a cross between a hippy chick and an old lady wearing the entire contents of her jewellery box at once. I never did it again.) From left: pearl and white gold ring by Autore; chyrsoprase stone and sterling silver ring from Dittoday; mabe shell and sterling silver ring from the National Gallery of Victoria’s giftshop; blue resin rose ring from Etsy.

Coco told us to take a good long look in the mirror and take one thing off before we leave the house. Considering she was fond of wearing yards of costume jewels slung like ropes around her neck, I don’t think she was a puritan about the matter.

However, in the spirit of that sentiment, consider the big picture: big picture hat? Maybe take off the enormous feather boa. It’s the same principle as proportion in clothing – when you wear wide-leg pants you pair them with a slim top: giant earrings shine when your hair is sleekly styled. The key is not to look fussy and over-done, like an extra from a period film.

So go on: experiment and have some fun with accessories. Don’t forget though: your best ones – no matter what you wear – are self-confidence and a smile. 

Things little girls daydream will be in their wardrobe when they are grown-up and a princess: a silver spangled sash. I bought this at the Williamstown Vintage Fair last year. It had no fastening so I grabbed the first ribbon I could lay my hands on: pale pink and extremely long to tie into a big bow at the small of the back. Just to be more princessy still.

Dramatic Lines

All images from British ’Vogue‘.

Bold. Striking. Strong lines. Graphic shapes. Rich texture. Minimalist colour palette. All add up to a luscious illustration by the Swiss-born François Berthoud.

The sensuous lines and textured layers are beautiful and so tactile, and Berthoud creates them through an unconventional medium. The Fashion Book (Phaidon, 1998) says: ‘Berthoud uses linocuts and woodcuts for his melodramatic work. They are brave and unusual methods for fashion illustration, which usually demands flowing lines. But these approaches suit the sharp contours of contemporary fashion, lending strength and drama to the simplest garment.’

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Born in Switzerland, Berthoud graduated in graphic design in Lausanne in 1982. A stint at Condé Nast in Milan followed, after which he began working for himself, developing an enviable and inimitable style of fashion illustration. His work first appeared in Vanity magazine, and a long list of distinguished titles followed: Numero, The NewYorker, Harper's Bazaar, The New York Times Magazine, Mixte, V magazine, Amica, Uomo Vogue, Vogue Italy, Vogue Nippon, Visionaire. 

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I am reminded of René Gruau, a fashion illustrator of the 1940s and 50s. He and Berthoud not only have in common worldwide renown for their work, but each sign their illustrations with a single initial: Gruau with a painterly G, and Berthoud an inverted F inscribed within a circle.

Both are artists to inspire, as well as aspire to.