An online mag devoted to vintage?

Yes, it does exist. The Fashion Birdcage is an online zine dedicated to art and fashion and the latest edition is completely devoted to vintage clothing. Check it out for an eye full of vintage clothing from a variety of eras and vintage retailers from far and wide. Louise Sleigh, of Catwalk Creative Vintage interviews fellow vintage seller Amy Mayberry from Viva Vintage Clothing, and here is my favourite quote:

"even with vintage, trends may come and go, but a great cotton or classic cocktail dress, or a garment with unique construction or fun detailing is always going to catch my eye, so that's a lot of what I sell."

Amy's words echo my own feelings about buying vintage. I love being able to choose from a huge variety of different styles, colours and prints, rather than what the narrowly defined current look is in the boutiques and department stores. Plus I know that there are certain styles that always suit me, regardless of whether or not they are currently in vogue.

Louise rounds out the issue with an article entitled Learning to be a Vintage Clothing Connoisseur that contains lots of tips on how to shop for vintage (including how to stay on the good side of vintage sellers). Check it out.

Purple-tastic Frocks of the Week

Each time Cate B steps onto the red-carpet, I'm convinced the world becomes a bit nicer. Okay, maybe not the world, but certainly the blogosphere, as followers of fashion across the globe gush over her beauty and sartorial perfection. Cate's outing this week in this Armani Prive gown is certainly no exception. The Sydney Theatre Company's production of A Streetcar Named Desire, in which Cate plays Blanche, is about to premiere in New York after a sell-out season here in Sydney. One day it looked like I was about to get my hands on tickets and then just as quickly they slipped through my fingers. That was a sad day.
Cate has the figure and the innate grace that is just made for couture, and this deceptively simple dress couldn't be more flattering. The colour looks fab against her porcelain skin.

Runner up for this week is the always delightfully dressed English actress Thandie Newton, who is looking super chic in a lilac strapless Vivienne Westwood Red Label dress. This look makes me think of 1950's Balenciaga; I love the tapered and ruched skirt and the sexy deep decollatage. Great necklace too.

I don't think I've posted much Thandie Newton before, but she is one of a handful of actresses that I consistently admire in the style stakes. She is always feminine but bold and isn't afraid of colour (or vintage). Thanks to Red Carpet Fashion Awards for the pic.

Vintage Men

A Life Magazine photo-gallery of the sexiest men of the 50's, 60's and 70's has inspired me to post on my third obsession after frocks and books; beautiful men (yes, yes ... at times I can be deeply shallow). Lucky for me, I have now found my own beautiful man - hopefully for keeps -but that doesn't stop me casting admiring glances at other gorgeous guys (although not in his company, of course). My number one celebrity crush in the past and now and on and on forever is the drop dead beautiful Paul Newman. Paul had blue eyes that could melt your soul, a kind and giving nature, was pretty tops in the acting department and knew how to make a mean tomato sauce. It is no mistake that I've posted two pictures of Paul sans shirt.

Paul Newman deservedly makes an appearance on the Life Magazine list, as does the eternal dreamboat Elvis.

And the near perfect Montgomery Clift. How hot is this photo??

Check out the list and see what you think, but to me there were a couple of omissions that I just had to post about here. One is 1950's romantic lead Rock Hudson. Lucky Elizabeth Taylor got to be the love interest in a James Dean/Rock Hudson triangle in the rather long, but definitely worth it flick Giant. Rock was also equally fabulous opposite Doris Day in romantic comedy mode, and as the brooding sex god type in Douglas Sirk's masterpieces Magnificent Obsession and All That Heaven Allows. Seriously ladies, who wouldn't love to wake up next to this face?

And something a little bit more out of left field for those of you who know him mainly from his role in the Austin Powers series, is a young Robert Wagner. Robert was positively scrumptious back in his day and he caught my eye as a young GI in the wonderful film A Song in My Heart. His eyes seem both innocent and cheeky at the same time.

Robert was married to the equally genetically blessed Natalie Wood twice and they were on their second marriage when Natalie sadly drowned in a freak accident. Poor guy.

The young Robert actually reminds me of photographs of my late Opa, who was known for being a bit of a fox in his youth. I sometimes think I may have inherited my partiality for beautiful boys from my Oma. Can I possibly blame her for all the trouble I've got into over the years?

And for anyone who hasn't seen Susan Hayward playing singer Jane Froman in the biopic With a Song in My Heart, I highly recommend it. Susan's performance is phenomenal and the story is a really intriguing one, with plenty of drama, great songs and some pretty frocks to boot.

And speaking of Jean Desses ...

I've long been reading about Kerry Taylor Auctions , which is apparently the leading auction house for antique and vintage fashion; Vogue magazine declares that I can pick up a piece of classic couture from Kerry for a steal. However today is the first opportunity I've had to actually look through the whole on-line catalogue for an upcoming auction. All I can say is WOW.

I was drooling over Marisa Tomei's shocking pink 1950's Jean Desses frock this week, and Kerry Taylor has a number of stunning and singular 1950's and 1960's Jean Desses creations on offer, guaranteed to make your eyes water. For anyone who is not a struggling arts publicist in the midst of planning a wedding, perhaps you'd like to consider one of these ...

I think the two-tone blue draped cocktail frock is my favourite, but I'd be quite happy to receive any or all of them as a gift. For those of you who are a fan of the label, it is worth jumping onto the site to see the frocks from all angles. The last sparkly blue number features a low back and generous bow detail.

The current auction - scheduled for December 8 - is entitled Passion for Fashion & Fine Textiles including an important Audrey Hepburn Collection. There is a plethora of understated but chic Givenchy and Valentino items that the style icon herself owned, wore and in some instances lovingly bequeathed to friends.

There is also this beautiful ball-gown, which was not owned by Audrey and is also not a Jean Desses, but is in fact a 1950's Paquin creation that I just had to include in this post because it is so sublime. And lo and behold it features beaded tulle. Sigh.

Over the Top

Lovely blogger Greetz from Tiz (her blog is divine and very much up my alley) has just awarded me with my very first blog award. How exciting! I am now meant to answer the following 35 questions - one word answers only - and nominate ten other bloggers, to accept the award. So here goes:

1. Where is your phone? Drawers
2. Your hair? New
3. Your Mother? Compassionate
4. Your Father? Dedicated
5. Your favourite food? Cheese
6. Your dream last night? Disaster
7. Your favourite drink? Milk
8. Your dream/goal? Truth
9. What room are you in? Lounge
10. Your hobby? Reading
11. Your fear? Heights
12. Where do you want to be in six years? Healthy
13. Where were you last night? Movie
14. Something that you’re not? Fair-weather
15. Muffins? Blueberry
16. Wish-list item? Antiques
17. Where did you grow up? Sydney
18. Last thing you did? Vacuum
19. What are you wearing? Lingerie
20. Your TV? News
21. Your pets? Elsie
22. Friends? Lovely
23. Your life? Changing
24. Your mood? Reasonable
25. Missing someone? Expats
26. Vehicle? Feet
27. Something you’re not wearing? Pants!
28. Your favourite store? Coco Repose
29. Your favourite colour? Pink
30. When was the last time you laughed? Yesterday
31. The last time you cried? Recently
32. Your best friend? Loyal
33. One place that I go to over and over? Beach
34. Facebook? Usually
35. Favourite place to eat? Home
I give this award to... Blonde Episodes; Couture Allure; Dotti's Dots; Frances Baker; The Lady-Bird; Natasha Bailie; The Frivolous Flapper; Huzzah Vintage; Millie Deel and Shadow Dance Vintage.

What a nice way to learn about new blogs.

Oh, and in case you are worried about my lack of pants and lounging around in my lingerie, it just happens to be super hot and steamy at the moment. The forecast for tomorrow and Saturday is 33 degrees Celsius (which is 91 degrees for those on the Fahrenheit system). Ice cream and breezy cotton dresses are definitely in order.

Gasp! Vintage Jean Desses at 12 o'clock.

I know it isn't Frock of the Week time yet, but I just had to share this lovely vision in pink as soon as I clapped eyes on it. Marisa Tomei wore this 1950's haute couture Jean Desses gown to the MOCA 30th Anniversary party in LA. What I wouldn't give to see this dress up close and personal.
This piece of fashion history is from Decades, one of the premier high end vintage retailers in the US. Marisa is certainly no stranger to wearing vintage on the red-carpet. I'd be more than happy to play her shopping buddy!
Apart from this gorgeous frock, some seriously stunning contemporary ones also put in appearances at the same event. You can check them all out at Red-Carpet Fashion Awards.

Aussie Pin-Ups of the Past

The ever fashionable Lady Melbourne just blogged about the publication of a new book called Our Girls, Aussie Pinups of the 40's and 50's. The book was launched this week at a party in Melbourne with a number of the original, and still gorgeous, pin up girls in attendance. The event even included a parade of genuine pinup girl style, compiled by Circa Vintage.

Reading about this new book, I was reminded of a thoroughly enjoyable SBS doco that the betrothed and I watched recently about Australian World War II pinups. The boy is such a huge documentary fan that he has our TIVO set to automatically tape every single one that airs, meaning that we are never bored on those lazy Sunday afternoons. It turns out the doco, Paper Dolls, was actually based on a PhD by Madeleine Hamilton, the author of Our Girls. So the similarities are perfectly explicable. The doco featured interviews with many of the pinups and was a fascinating insight into the social mores of the time, as well as trends in fashion and photography. Many of the pinups received hundreds of letters from Aussie boys at war, and some of those letters were truly heartbreaking ... I think many of the scribes felt better able to express their loneliness and fear to a stranger - who reminded them of the normalcy and happiness of home - than to their own friends and family.

If you are a history buff and haven't checked out the doco, it is well worthwhile.

I'll be looking out for Our Girls next time I'm at my local bookshop as I do love these images of gorgeous, natural looking women that remind me of a time before cosmetic enhancements, photo-shop and gym memberships revolutionised the pinup girl and it became something entirely different.