The Original Boyfriend Jacket

I’ve always wanted to own a classic varsity jacket, but they are not easy to come by in Australia. A couple of months ago however, I attended a Unique Vintage warehouse sale with a friend. Their ad stated that varsity jackets were amongst their huge collection of vintage items imported from America, and I was determined to snaffle one if I could.

We arrived half an hour after the sale had opened, and already the warehouse was crowded with bargain-hunters. I immediately dived into the scrum gathered around the precious – and very small – rack of varsity and baseball jackets.

I was quick enough that there was still a good selection, and I snatched up the one I liked the most: a navy wool jacket that buttoned with real buttons, not snaps. It was clearly a baseball jacket, rather than a varsity jacket, but I liked the shape and the felt logo emblazoned across the front. I’m really into navy at the moment too. It also looked like one of the oldest, the best quality and condition.

The Letter A, from James Worthy, Rowing Crew and Collections Catalog, c. 1920sVarsity or letterman jackets have of course been worn by students for a long time, and to be dating a guy who had one bestowed enormous cachet on a girl, especially if she got to wear it too when she was cold!

Cool girl from the 1940sSporting her boyfriend's jacket

Now, I know zip about baseball, and I couldn’t begin to guess how old this jacket could be. Some Googling uncovered the information that Brooklyn’s baseball team, the Dodgers, had moved to Los Angeles in 1958. Possibly the jacket predates that move, taking into account the fabric and detailing, and the design of the label, which reads Empire Sporting Goods, New York, Union-made. That company operated from 1925 to 2012.

A cute look from a Polish artistI’ve worn the jacket out a couple of times, and I can asseverate that it is extremely warm. Admittedly it is a little big for me, being an extra large, but I pretend I’ve borrowed it from my (non-existent) boyfriend. I joked to my sister that maybe one day a future boyfriend can borrow it from me and call it his girlfriend jacket!

Fashion Notes

I’m wearing the jacket with a Claude Maus striped wool jumper, Calvin Klein jeans and a Jasper Conran wool cap – all second-hand too.

~

Photo: August 2016
NB The background is actually a vintage photo of the old Yankee Stadium, and was sourced from an article on its history at Stuff Nobody Cares About.

Coach 1941 brings back the varsity jacket for Fall 2016!

Audreyesque

Recently my niece Bluejay and I decided to have a Twin Peaks marathon, ahead of the new series being released next year, especially because we had done one nearly twenty years ago (Bluejay is only four years younger than me). Yesterday we had our first session, managing to get through the entire first season. It was so much fun!

As far as style goes, Audrey Horne is – as she probably is for many others – my favourite character. Her cute, preppy look has become iconic over time. As Bluejay asked yesterday evening, “How is it that though Audrey wears the same kind of clothes as everyone else, she looks much sexier?” I laughed, and we decided that it’s because her clothes are closer-fitting, and her sweaters are mostly plain, rather than emblazoned with hideous 80s patterns. Any hint of subversiveness lies more in her character than in the demure clothes she wears.

“How is it that though Audrey wears the same kind of clothes as everyone else, she looks much sexier?”

The iconic Audrey Horne of David Lynch's Twin PeaksIt was very entertaining to see the fashions everyone was wearing – so sloppy and dowdy! So many enormous sweaters in earthy, muted tones. And the big hair! I asked Bluejay in astonishment, “Did we think they were dowdy back then?” I couldn’t remember wearing such clothes – I was at art school when Twin Peaks was first aired in Australia. “We didn’t dress like that,” Bluejay answered, “it was weird.” Well of course the whole show was weird! The fashion just gave it an extra dimension of strangeness.

The fashion just gave [Twin Peaks] an extra dimension of strangeness.

I’ve managed to put together an Audrey-esque outfit from existing items in my closet: I actually own a great many plaid pleated skirts, although I wouldn’t say I dress preppy at all! However, I do have a sneaking fondness for the look. Nor do I currently own any brogues or penny loafers – I had to make do with a pair of very high brogue-inspired heels.

Bobbysoxers are just so darned cute! Click the image to find out more about bobbysoxers and their entertaining origins.Interestingly, earlier in the week while researching 1950s daywear, I came across another section in my book Fashion: The Whole Story (Marnie Fogg, Thames & Hudson, 2013) about bobbysoxers of the 1940s, who wore skirts with sweaters, and the eponymous bobby socks with loafers. These rebellious teens were surely the inspiration behind Audrey’s look, along with shades of the 50s and 80s.

I was amused to note the first close-up of Audrey’s penny loafers as she enters her father’s chauffeur-driven car to go to school: black and white, and worn without socks – a saucier rendition of the look.

Her hair and makeup are also reminiscent of the 40s (the lack of bangs and side part) and 50s (the short curls). I pinned up my hair at the back and curled the shorter layers to emulate Audrey’s do, but her hairstyle is giving me some much-needed inspiration.

I can’t wait to see what David Lynch has in store for us – narratively and sartorially – in the new series!

Photos: This week

Sporting the Colours

Today is one of Australia’s big sporting days, with the grand finale of the Australian Football League season played at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, a sporting venue that is very close to where I live. Thus, even when I don’t attend a game, I can experience the roar of the crowd, albeit at a distance.

I’m a nominal football fan these days, and my team (Essendon) wasn’t playing, so who to nominally support? It was the Western Bulldogs v the Sydney Swans. The choice should be easy after all: a Victorian team (the state in which I live) versus a New South Welsh team. But that would be too obvious. Then there were their mascots: bulldogs and swans; I definitely prefer swans – they are such amusing birds, and I see them every day in the botanic gardens across the road.

there was something of even greater – and more fashionable – interest to me: THE COLOURS.

But there was something of even greater – and more fashionable – interest to me: THE COLOURS. I decided my allegiance would attach to my favourite colour combination. The Doggies, with blue and white and red, and the Swans with simple red and white. Both classic colour combinations; both incorporating stripes of some sort (on jerseys or socks); and both having nautical connections. This would be tricky! Because I adore both, as evidenced already on these pages (click those links above).

In the end, although I didn’t attend the game, and only watched the final quarter on TV, I gallivanted around town in a subtle variant of the Bulldogs’ colours. And in the end, it was the right choice, because the Doggies won the flag after an exciting last quarter, ending a 62-year drought. It’s always nice to be on the winning side if one possibly can.

Fashion Notes

I’m wearing a mix of new and vintage, notably a 1940s red velvet hat, and a 1970s ribbed cardigan.

Photo: Yesterday

What I Actually Wore #121

Serial #: 0121
Date: 18/05/2013
Weather: 15°C / 59°F
Time Allowed: 15 minutes

The silk kimono dress! My Puss in Boots outfit! Yes, this is how I dress up to go to dinner and the theatre. As you can imagine, the cat ears attract a lot of attention from other patrons – two of whom I work with (at a different theatre) who exclaimed over them.

I remember it was actually a very chilly evening, the kind when you breathe out you see your breath in a puff. I managed to find a pale grey wool top to wear under the dress; it was low-cut enough that it didn’t ruin the neckline of the dress; the black tights are wool too. On top I wore a vintage 60s velvet coat with a warm fur collar, and also vintage eggshell blue leather gloves that I bought on Etsy.

The cat ear headband came from a costume jewellery store that sells cheap, cheerful and very trendy pieces, some of which are simply playful like this headband. Matching perfectly, the little round rhinestone earrings are vintage 40s, and also came from Etsy.

Those tan over the knee lace-up boots were a fantastic bargain I made a few years ago; the original price was around $400, but I managed to snag them for only $75! The other items are usual suspects from closet that I use often and have featured on the pages of this journal many times – testament to the need for good and trusty basics: my black 60s patent handbag, the silver oval shell ring, the round bead silver bracelet, and of course the coat.

Items:

Dress: Luella
Knit: Kookaï
Tights: Columbine
Headband: Diva
Coat: vintage 60s
Gloves: vintage 50s
Earrings: vintage 40s
Bracelet: eBay
Ring: NGV gallery shop
Bag: vintage 60s
Boots: Wittner

Photos: September 2013

The Politics of Accessories and Elegance

Time was that to be truly fashionable, a lady’s accessories all had to match, and the materials they were made from had to be appropriate for the occasion and time of day. Happily, we no longer live in such restrictive times, and today looking matchy-matchy is a horrible insult, a death knell to any pretentions to style.

Looking backwards to the hey-dey of matchy-matchiness, the 1940s and 50s, I can do no better than to quote Genevieve Anotine Dariaux, French style guru, once derectrice at Nina Ricci, and author of the famous book A Guide to Elegance, first published in 1964:

‘The accessories worn with an outfit – gloves, hat, shoes, and handbag – are among the most important elements of an elegant appearance. A modest dress or suit can triple its face value when it is worn with an elegant hat, bag, gloves, and shoes, while a designer’s original can lose much of its prestige if its accessories have been carelessly selected.’

Quite the opposite is true today, when every fashionista rich or poor mixes new with vintage, high with low, with seemingly at times a particular delight in clashing as much as possible.

Elegant woman at Longchamp, Anonymous, 1947 (from ‘Parisiennes’, Flammarion 2007)

Seasonal Sets

Dariaux continues to elaborate on accessories, stating it is indispensable to own a complete set of accessories in black, and if possible, also brown plus beige shoes and a beige straw bag for summer. Ideally one would have every set suitable for sport, and the other dressy. Dariaux is filled with dismay when she sees a woman carrying an alligator handbag with a dressy ensemble, simply because she wishes to get good wear out of such an expensive item. (Has Dariaux not heard of the cost per wear equation?) ‘Alligator is strictly for sports or travel, shoes as well as bags, and this respected reptile should be permitted to retire every evening at 5pm.’

bright coloured shoes should only be worn under electric lights with a long or short evening dress

She has similar damning words for bright coloured shoes, which ‘should only be worn under electric lights with a long or short evening dress’.

All White is Not Alright

White shoes should never be seen on a city street – except for a tropical city, and even then only in summer, and only with a white dress. White handbags are impermissible except for the beach and summer resorts, but provincial in the city, even at the height of summer. Today fashion editors love to advocate white for winter, and I love it. Well truthfully, I love white anytime.

White handbags are impermissible except for the beach and summer resorts …

Gloves

But what does Dariaux say of gloves? They are best in neutral shades, and the most elegant of all are glacé kid. Suede and antelope are her second choices. Surprisingly, she gives good-quality thicker nylon gloves the thumbs-up.

She also believes gloves ought to be devoid of trimming, which I don’t at all agree with, while very long black gloves are the most elegant to wear with evening gowns. I own dozens of pairs in many colours and materials, even own a pair or two of crocheted lace and transparent nylon, which are both particularly despicable to Dariaux. Stylishly trimmed gloves I think are fun, and even an elegant woman can have fun sometimes!

The entrance to the Paris Ritz on place Vendôme, Anonymous, c. 1948 (from ‘Parisiennes’, Flammarion 2007)

The Politics of Fashion and Elegance

Today of course most of us don’t wear any of our accessories in our day-to-day lives because they are ‘proper’ or traditional, but simply because we enjoy them. And of course the definition of elegance has changed slightly from Dariaux’s day when it was a stifling; it still means timeless chic in most lexicons, but there is a little more leeway for wit and daring, especially when it is employed with restraint.

In 1958, Claire McCardell, an American designer of the same era as Genevieve Dariaux, says:

‘Accessories are the signatures of your special tastes, clues to the type of woman you like being. Each is an idea in itself and you will quickly learn that you can’t wear too many ideas at the same time.’

This is permission to experiment a little more generous than that of Dariaux. The latter’s restrictive rules seem ludicrous to modern ears, but it wasn’t she who laid the law down: those fashion bills were passed with Christian Dior’s New Look in 1947, and the entire world imposed them on women who held any pretension to elegance, glamour – and worse than that: womanliness.

Unpublished variant of a cover image for American Vogue, bu Erwen Blumenfeld, 1950

Marnie Fogg, editor of Fashion: The Whole Story (Thames and Hudson, 2013) in the section ‘Daytime Decorum’ explains in a nutshell:

‘It was a perfect storm of events that resulted in the housewife of the 1950s becoming deified. Targeted by government policies, the fashion industry and advertisers, both she and her home were buffed, groomed and venerated. Liberated from the privations of wartime rationing, her clothing celebrated femininity with strict fashion discipline. A façade of perfection had to be upheld at all costs; to leave the house without a hat was little short of insurrection.’

Alligator is correctly worn for travel or sport, according to Genevieve Dariaux. Wenda Rogerson, by Norman Parkinson, Vogue 1951Women’s liberation stalled after World War II, when American politicians advocated the return of women to their former role of homemakers so that homecoming servicemen would have jobs to return to. Instead, it was a woman’s job to be the perfect housewife. The social, moral and economic stability of the United States was entirely ‘dependent on men returning to their role as head of the household. Fashion played a significant role in this process by restoring the notion of traditional feminine clothing and making the business of dressing complex, with style diktats for every social and domestic function.’ [Ibid] It would take the next generation to change the world in the 1960s, when the fashion industry was turned on its head.

Matching v. Monochromatic

While I feel quite passé if my accessories match too well, I do think it fun to wear an entirely monochromatic outfit, especially all white. Black is my only exception for I find it dreary if it is not leavened with at least one other neutral. Kim Kardashian as we all know is very fond of wearing all beige, but I think it’s just because she likes that it makes her look naked.

Monochromatic outfits can be quite startling and eye-catching when one has become accustomed to the current popular trend for mismatching, which, with the encouragement of the fashion industry, many positively gorge on and glory in. Clash your prints! Mix and match! These are the clarion cries of this movement, and so often it is not done sympathetically. Wearing all one colour can in fact be soothing to the eye for just that reason.

I do not dispute that there were beautiful fashions in the post-war era, but today we have many more options than such rigorous and stifling rules and regulations. We can have fun, experiment – matchy-matchy or not according to personal preference – for even if we do commit some grave sartorial error we can take heart: the Fashion Police still can’t put us in jail for insurrection.

Photos: April 2016