Got the Sex in the City shoe bug that Carrie has been bitten by? Then make sure and wear a perfect fun vintage couture pump once and a while! Just a reminder. Over and Out!
Saturday, July 31, 2010
Friday, July 30, 2010
Just a quick note today. At reputable estate sales you can get great vintage couture handbags for around 40-200 dollars. I just purchased a authentic Prada handbag from an estate today. You need to research and look for the marks such as the serial numbers(although some older ones do not have these), zippers with the brand's label on them, grommets stamped with the label, the name inside the purse, weight and quality (heavier details). L Vuitton bags are the hardest but look for turned straight handles and the mark everywhere on all details of construction.
There are many sites which help you to identify the real versus fake so do so research and then happy hunting. For instance: Real vs Fake Prada.
Even a vintage fake with age sometimes works out as it tends to look more real, but make sure you have an idea of how to tell fake from real. Each brand is different. Heck the LV and Chanel fakes started so early and the vintage ones are sometimes so good its really hard to determine. Vuittons began to be produced in the mid 1800s! A big determiner that is easy to remember is that there have never been suede linings in brown inside Louis Vuitton bags. Alcantara looks like suede but it is grayish never chocolate brown. Here is a link to fashionfile's guide on ebay:LV guide.
With Chanel. Top hook of C on right overlaps the C on the left. In 1984 and beyond the hologram stickers should be there and be very hard to get off. More stiches per inch around 10 are found on higher quality bags. Ebay is very risky for these knockoffs. Here is a link to a quick list of traits for Chanel:Authentic Chanel.
Tactics: Remember to get there an hour early for a good sale. Bring water to drink, cash and check just in case and be prepared to do some fast work. Look at the estate sale site the night before to see exactly what will be there and where they might be located. There are some crazy couture loving divas who frequent these sales, so the fastest wins! You can sign up for local sales by finding out who runs the estate sales in your area- word of mouth, by using craigslist and checking local estate sites often. These sites are usually found under estate sale comma your city name. Check out:
http://www.estatesales.net/ and http://estatesales.org/.
Thursday, July 29, 2010
http://www.pem.org/exhibitions/21-rare_bird_of_fashion_the_irreverent_iris_apfel
Image by Bruce Weber, Iris Apfel. Go to link above for more information.
Iris Apfel as discussed in my first blog on the Fashion Secret is a icon and for all of those who love her or want to learn more information check the link out. The museum link discusses her exhibit, book and has an interactive Iris fashion show where you design looks that you can print using her style. There are wonderful photographs, an online depiction of her show and interviews! Here is to learning something new today.
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
The Dungeness, 1958.Philip E. Gardner, HABS photographer
JEKYLL ISLAND
There are few beaches left in the United States that preserve a sort of untouched appearance and tranquil vibe. The cultures that have influenced this region include the early North American tycoons of the 1920's, the cultures of the south, the local Native American groups, the colonizers, and the isolated populations of the Gullah (descendants of Africans).
The area I speak of is the southeastern coastal marshes, ocean views and islands off the coast of our state of Georgia. Jeykll island provides a landscape in which moss hangs from large old trees, beach goers travel by bike, mid century homes dot the area and one can set back and begin to understand the island's allure. Once the playground exclusively of the rich, those who live year round on the island, which is owned by the government, see it as a snapshot of Americana beckoning back to a simpler time when things moved at a different pace. The two things you cannot miss on the island are the Jekyll island Club (1888-1945) and the driftwood beach featured in the included images. The club is where tycoons such as Morgan, Roosevelt, and many others built this club to be their retreat and meeting grounds. It was said that the 6 most politically and financially powerful people in the world played at the club. Within the grounds there are various personal homes (or “cottages as they called them). The home J.P. Morgan, as some of the others are used for guests. While many are closed you may tour them on a rented beach cruiser aka classic bike. The club is now open to the public, and as a guest you feel as if you are back in time in a place of elegance and tranquility.
THE JEWEL OF THE ISLES
The jewel in the crown of the Georgia Isles is Cumberland island. The park area is government owned and the other point of the island is held by only a few elite families and the Gullah people. The Gullah church on Cumberland is where John F. Kennedy Jr. was married. The Gullah speak a kind of dialect made up of various African languages. They are very private and you have to have permission to cross into this area. This island has made and broken many a person. It has proven itself to be hard to conquer or own. It features, marshes, the Atlantic coast, sounds and little rivers. Wildlife abounds and one quickly realizes how preserved the natural coastline really remains. The home of the Carnegies and Candlers, the remains of their homes such as the Dungeness, the Greyfield, Plum Orchard among others are an amazing testimates to the past. The final Dungeness was built on an indigenous Timucan shell mound and over the former original home of the second Dungeness (1803). In total there were three Dungenesses, the final one built by the Carnegies in the 1880. Both the second and third burnt to the ground. Pictures of the Carnegie Dungeness exist, as it only burnt in 1959. If this seems like an intriguing saga, let me tell you this is only the tip of the iceberg. Lost loves, deaths, a rich history of cultures, colonization, and amazing natural setting all add to the mystic of Cumberland. I quickly realized that a large part of the story was the love affair and obsession between Lucy Carnegie, her Dungeness and the island. Her watchful eye attempted to keep the island as she saw fit, even after her death with the release of her horses. Many of these are the wild horses there today, a beautiful part of the history and debates. If you tour the island, the guide will fill you in on more aspects. However; in terms of the visit you have two choices: a one day stop or camping. You need to plan ahead and get back on the ferry at the appointed time or you are stuck! So again, some people stay and camp, rent a room at the Greyfield Inn or get back on the boat after a day spent on the beautiful island. So, take a chance and enjoy a trip to this special place which has evoked love, obsession or pure dislike. You either love it or hate it. I for one know that this is the beginning of a beautiful relationship between myself and the isles.
CUMBERLAND ISLAND DEBATES:
Should there be horses? Well, since it is hard to prove that some are not Spanish horses mixed with hers that is tough or that we should see everything Carnegie and pre -Carnegie as historic and therefore preservable. Some people believe anything not natural should be allowed to fade back and rot away -aka ecological versus historic preservation. Lease versus owning. Now only some families in the North own, the rest lease and handed it over to the government in an attempt to block development. If interested in the history take the government tour, read some of the books and ask questions. Should there be cars or car tours on the island. I am not sure on this, I would say locals only but educate them. Cumberland is preserved for that reason no cars and tons of people. People donated their homes to the government to try to preserve this place. Should you ride a bike- probably not. Walk it or don't ride it on the beach. There are tons of turtle nests which can be damaged. The infrastructure should be better developed so people can see the whole island in a day. Some of this is our we need it now culture, but I could see more boat access to the other homes or parts of the island. Again, the numbers of visitors per day are restricted as they should be, due to the ecosystem.
ISLAND FASHION
A great beach look I used when there was a vintage 1960's paper thin tunic, paper thin long white sweater and linen pants at night, havianna flip flops, oversized straw hat, canga (beach wrap) and a basic black bikini. Be sure to take shorts for your bike rides around Jekyll island to the driftwood beach.
For more information on the islands, history and cultures:
http://www.nps.gov/cuis/index.htm
Africanisms in the Gullah Dialect: by linguist Lorenzo Dow Turner in 1949. Discusses links between the West Africa and Gullah population of the Georgia Sea Islands.
Seabrook, Charles. Cumberland Island: Strong Women, Wild Horses
Mary R. Bullard, Cumberland Island: A History (Wormsloe Foundation Publication)
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Woman in the Mirror: 1945-2004 [Hardcover]
Richard Avedon (Photographer)
Wasson, Sam: Fifth Avenue, 5 A.M.: Audrey Hepburn, Breakfast at Tiffany's, and the Dawn of the Modern Woman.
Women In Horror Films, 1940s [Paperback]
Gregory William Mank (Author)
Women and Soap Opera: A Study of Prime Time Soaps [Paperback]
Christine Geraghty
Temptress: From the Original Bad Girls to Wom… (Paperback)
by Jane Billinghurst
Women in Film Noir [Paperback]
E.Ann Kaplan (Editor)
Woman, Native, Other: Writing Postcoloniality and Feminism (Midland Books) [Paperback]
Trinh T. Minh-Ha (Author)
Spider Woman's Granddaughters: Traditional Tales and Contemporary Writing by Native American Women [Paperback]
Women [Paperback]
Annie Leibovitz, Susan Sontag (Author)
Women Seeing Women: From the Early Days of Photography to the Present [Hardcover]
Lothar Schirmer (Editor), Naomi Rosenblum (Introduction)
Let me know if you have any suggestions! I will try to put up great book lists periodically!
Monday, July 26, 2010
Women working at North American Button Mfg. Co., Inc., Dinwiddie County. 1950s. Virginia Chamber of Commerce Collection. The Library of Virginia
So I have a question for you: When a business tells a female employee who has consistently high ratings at work that she is too young for a promotion? Does that really mean you are a young woman so unconsciously I feel like you are too young? I have talked to several women who have experienced similar speak in the office when young men all around seem to be rising in the ranks faster. More thoughts on this later. Let me know yours!
With Mad Men's Season 4 premiere all of the men seem to be asking "Who is Don Draper?"
We are asking who are the women of Mad Men?
In terms of the opener and storyline we see the Drapettes or the ad men and women of his new agency trying to figure out how to keep their new agency SCDP going. “Their first job Bikinis or one pieces?” Don to the rescue. This AMC drama has been a truly artistic effort and visual feast through its three season and we all await this next season to unfold. So, what do we have in the first episode of season 4 ? Well business and family as well as SEX. Don seems to spiral into even more -take a guess: sex.
THE WOMEN OF MAD MEN
Their story lines and styles as season 4 opens. January Jone's character lacks depth in her new role as somebody else's arm piece. Why is she there, how does she feel, is she just the symbol for the unhappy woman and housewife of the 50's and 60's? Her innocent American dream like wife image from the first episodes provoked audiences and we began to sympathize with her as Don cheated more and more. Now we see a frozen bad mother in worse suits. Don's scars of never feeling good enough for the American dream family due to his complicated past hung over his wife in past seasons. Now with the secret out she moves in terms of aesthetics from golden girl Grace Kelly to an almost blond Jackie O if Jackie had been less stylish and wore horrible old lady suits.
Now for our hero Peggy. You can't keep a good working girl down, but they have tried in the past with severe bangs and ponytails and her sad man problems/ ugly duckling story lines. Ah, why can't she be on top of the agency, look good and be a serious female lead? Well, what a relief for season 4. In this first episode she seems to be exuding more confidence, sitting on top of a desk in a skirt and heals talking business. Well, sexy yes but again we could have issues with this portrayal as all legs no brain, but honestly I am just happy she seems to be climbing the business ladder without the tragic ponytail. Her bob is a better look for those who love the set and fashion of mad men. Bye Bye bangs hello vixen. Congrats Peggy you look good and can work at the same time.
Joan, thank goodness for her. She seems to embody a real female body and persona. The men of Mad Men are no match for her curves and brains. We hope to see her come back this season with a witty character and a beautiful wardrobe!
This show most certainly focuses on gender issues, sexuality, the broken American dream as well as other socially important commentary. As for this blog we are interested in the portrayal of the women and their imagery as presented in Mad Men. More in depth comments are to come on this subject per episode.
We are asking who are the women of Mad Men?
In terms of the opener and storyline we see the Drapettes or the ad men and women of his new agency trying to figure out how to keep their new agency SCDP going. “Their first job Bikinis or one pieces?” Don to the rescue. This AMC drama has been a truly artistic effort and visual feast through its three season and we all await this next season to unfold. So, what do we have in the first episode of season 4 ? Well business and family as well as SEX. Don seems to spiral into even more -take a guess: sex.
THE WOMEN OF MAD MEN
Their story lines and styles as season 4 opens. January Jone's character lacks depth in her new role as somebody else's arm piece. Why is she there, how does she feel, is she just the symbol for the unhappy woman and housewife of the 50's and 60's? Her innocent American dream like wife image from the first episodes provoked audiences and we began to sympathize with her as Don cheated more and more. Now we see a frozen bad mother in worse suits. Don's scars of never feeling good enough for the American dream family due to his complicated past hung over his wife in past seasons. Now with the secret out she moves in terms of aesthetics from golden girl Grace Kelly to an almost blond Jackie O if Jackie had been less stylish and wore horrible old lady suits.
Now for our hero Peggy. You can't keep a good working girl down, but they have tried in the past with severe bangs and ponytails and her sad man problems/ ugly duckling story lines. Ah, why can't she be on top of the agency, look good and be a serious female lead? Well, what a relief for season 4. In this first episode she seems to be exuding more confidence, sitting on top of a desk in a skirt and heals talking business. Well, sexy yes but again we could have issues with this portrayal as all legs no brain, but honestly I am just happy she seems to be climbing the business ladder without the tragic ponytail. Her bob is a better look for those who love the set and fashion of mad men. Bye Bye bangs hello vixen. Congrats Peggy you look good and can work at the same time.
Joan, thank goodness for her. She seems to embody a real female body and persona. The men of Mad Men are no match for her curves and brains. We hope to see her come back this season with a witty character and a beautiful wardrobe!
This show most certainly focuses on gender issues, sexuality, the broken American dream as well as other socially important commentary. As for this blog we are interested in the portrayal of the women and their imagery as presented in Mad Men. More in depth comments are to come on this subject per episode.
I cannot believe I am going to say this but Martha strikes again! You can't keep a good business woman down. As much as some of you may or may not want to contribute to her woman made empire, you have to check out her new pet line: http://promotions.petsmart.com/landing/martha-stewart/. You can see more of her product images such as this one and others. She just seems to know what works, looks great, is fashionable and affordable for pets. She just released a line of pet products and as a pet owner, I bought or bit. I purchased the great white lacquer-esk feeding bowls. They have the perfect lacquer style finish.
They solved the problem of a messy assortment of mismatched bowls on the floor of my pre war condo. The metal insert feeders are removable for easy cleaning! They also travel with their own lids. Again, a new find for the fashion savvy pet owner. The bowl set runs 24 dollars a mere price compared with some of the urban modern designs available for hundreds.
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