Let the sun shine: a 1960s dress

Hi! How are you? The 1960s is one of my favourite decades, without a shadow of a doubt. I love the silhouettes and colours, and the fact that the youth movement was so important during those years. In London, stores like BIBA were a success among young people. In Argentina, we had the DI TELLA Institute, where young artists and fashion designers could experiment with new ideas and materials. There´s a lot to write about this fascinating decade.

But let´s go to the point: as a 1960s lover, I just had to own a dress from that time period. So, having in mind the minidress in the picture below...

A young lady in a car fair, in 1968.

Via The Swinging Sixties

I found this lovely sparkling dress in a vintage store called AlmaZenArte, in Buenos Aires. I don´t look as glamorous as the girl above, but well, I do my best!!!

Look at the stunning embroidery in the collar...  

And in the cuff...

Maybe in the 1960s, this frock was very usual. But nowadays, it´s a kind of an statement piece of clothing. I can tell because some time ago, I wore it to the office (I work downtown, at the Buenos Aires Stock Exchange), and nobody could believe its eyes... "Where did you get that dress?", I was asked during the whole day. And not many people realized that the frock was vintage.

Well, that is the clue for a good vintage piece: looking astonishing and unusual, but not old-fashioned... 

I hope you have enjoyed the post. See you soon!

xoxo, Mariana

A chain of inspiration: the tunic

Hi, how are you? I´m an avid fan of tunics, so the other day I was thinking about the chain of inspiration that has led me to my love for this piece of clothing.

First of all, I'm fond of the oriental look in western fashion, a trend that was born at the beginning of the 20th century, when the Russian ballet companies made their debut in France. 

I think that the oriental look is never out of style... Look at this stunning photoshoot in British Vogue October 1965, photographed by Henry Clarke:     

via Youthquakers

Don't you believe that these outfits look amazing? Let´s think that this photoshoot took place in 1965, some time before The Beatles brought the music and fashion from India to the Western world.

via Youthquakers

Secondly, I love the glamour of 1970s evening fashion, which included tunics like this:

via Super Seventies

I think that tunics are really flattering to female bodies. They are comfortable and fresh, and in spite of the fact that they never go out of style, they have this sort of vintage air from the Middle East.

This is a cotton tunic I got in Salon Müaré, an ex-costume producer in Buenos Aires (sorry for my sleepy face!):

And these are some pics from Salón Müaré blog: its owners no longer produce costumes, they devote themselves to advise their clients now. So, lately, they have been selling all their vintage collection at incredible low prices.

Do you fancy the oriental look? I would love to read your comments... I hope you will have a nice week-end!!!

xoxo, Mariana

A place to stop by: Alto Pirulo Vintage

Hi!!! In this post I woul love to show you a vintage store called "Alto Pirulo Vintage", which is located in a place with beautiful landscapes and next to the river, Lomas de San Isidro, in Greater Buenos Aires (25 km away from Buenos Aires).

This store opened last year, and it is owned by a mother and her daugther, who have great taste and a very nice colourful selection of clothes, some vintage pieces and some modern pieces (previously owned by someone else) made by  well known designers and brands (everything in very good condition). This is an option when you cannot afford expensive clothes: you go to Alto Pirulo and get a wonderful coat by Maria Cher o Las Pepas (Argentine brands) for half (or rather less) its real price. It´s an appealing idea, isn´t it?

The relaxing atmosphere in the store will make you go back again and again!

I bought the following three pieces of clothing in Alto Pirulo:

 

A wonderful cardigan from late 80s/ early 90s.

A flattering gown from late 70s/early 80s.

A very unusual vest woven with basketwork thread. It gives an ethnic look, doesn´t it?

The following photos are published in Alto Pirulo´s blog. This is the kind of clothes you can find there...

This is just the very beginning... I will show you many other places in BA where you can find unique treasures.

Thank you very much Jessica from "American Gipsy Living" and Roz from "Clothes, Cameras and Coffee" (one of my favourite blogs!) for their words about my previous post. They were the first comments I´ve got!!!

xoxo, Mariana 

The feline in me

Hi! How are you?! Lately, one of my biggest obsessions has been collecting vintage animal jewelry (especially felines and snakes), which is not a very easy task here in my city, as there are not many pieces available.

Up to now, my collection is rather small, but I´m sure that with pacience and perseverance it will grow.

I´m a Leo girl (born on August 20th), so as you may imagine, I love felines and gold, although I used to hate golden things when I was younger. I have a soft spot for everything that shines.

I adore felines´ attitude and smartness. I can spend hours looking at my Persian cat, Fara, who is so adorable (you can see her photo on the sidebar). Cats´eyes have a sort of mistery that really attracts my Leo soul, that´s why I think it´s a good idea to always carry a feline on my coat´s lapel. In fact, the feline motive in decoration was born at the beginning of the 20th century, and it was taken by Cartier to create a jewelry line in 1915. But the panther motive turned really famous in 1948, when the Duke of Windsor asked Cartier to create a panther brooch for his wife.

This is my very favorite piece, a beautiful golden panther which I got from a vintage store,  called Bimba, in Buenos Aires.

I love its body, especially the paws. It seems as if it were about to attack...

I found this pair of earrings in a flea market, in a church. The panthers look amazing in spite of the fact that they are so tiny!

My last two feline brooches: I got the lion in Juan Pérez, a vintage store in Buenos Aires, which opened in 1998, and I found the little panther in a flea market in San Telmo neighborhood, in BA as well. The lion looks stunning, believe me. The golden layer is very good quality.

To tell you the truth, Buenos Aires is a good place for vintage lovers and collectors: the prices are very competitive, and you can get very interesting pieces. Anyway, the vintage market in BA has not developed as much as in Europe and the US yet, but I´m sure it will in the next future.

I know this is a very new blog, but if you happen ti visit it, I would be delighted to read your comments. Thank you!!

xoxo, Mariana

My wiggle dress

Once upon a time, in the late fifties, there used to be offices downtown with beautiful secretaries in wiggle dresses. They would type and type the whole day while their male bosses discussed very important matters on the phone. In the old days, secretaries were not as competitive as executive secretaries nowadays, but they had an asset: The wiggle dress.

Made to make the woman look curvy, the wiggle dress was born in the late fifties and worn during the early sixties, until the “A” shaped silhouette and the mini skirt turned up in the fashion history.

Of course we all have in mind the actress Christina Hendricks and her gorgeous wiggle dresses in “Mad Men”.

Well, early this year, I had a kind of obsession with this type of dress, and fortunately I found one in my size in the vintage store “AlmaZenArte”, in San Telmo neighborhood, in Buenos Aires. In San Telmo everything is vintage, I will post some photos some day for you to see. 

 

Made with beautiful pink broderie, this dress makes me feel as a real secretary from the fifties, not as curvy and cute as Christina, but it does not matter…I live my own dream…

I hope you have liked the post. See you soon!!!

xoxo, Mariana

Two lovely vintage bags

Hi! I will do my best to upload some posts during this week, so that  you can have something to read if you happen to find this blog in the net. It´s not nice to have an empty blog, but this is what happens at the very beginning. I hope I will feel encouraged enough to post more and more!

I´ve had another blog in Spanish for over a year (Sensación Vintage), and early this year a lovely reader contacted me to tell me that she had two beautiful vintage purses to sell. She sent some photos and I was delighted: one of the bags was clearly from the late '30s/ early '40´s, and the other one could be from the late '40s or '50s:

This is the first one.

The craftwork is just beautiful...

The gold hardware is really stunning...

The inside of the bag is in perfect condition, and it has a little purse to carry coins.

These bags belonged to an Argentine piano player who passed away last year (she was 90 something), and she was fond of attending concerts. I suppose she carried these bags with her in very few ocassions, as the bags have no damages at all.

"Made in Argentina".

I bought both bags, of course, it was a great opportunity. Up to now, I have worn the second bag to a wedding party. It looked terrific with my blue gown and silver heels.

When you want to start wearing vintage and you don't know what the clues are, you can begin by wearing a vintage bag: it´s not a huge risk and it´s something that will not make you feel or look weird. Take into account that vintage bags are generally too small to carry many things, except very iconic bags like the Speedy by Louis Vuitton or the wonderful Kelly and Birkin by Hermès.

I hope you have enjoyed the post, see you soon!

xoxo, Mariana 

Something to begin with: My own vintage experience

Hi and welcome! I have been wondering if it would be a good idea to begin with a vintage fashion blog in English (I have had another blog written in my mother tongue, "Sensación Vintage", for over a year), and I´m sure it is.

Firstly, I´m an avid reader of blogs from Europe and the US. Secondly, I know that vintage style has grown very fast and it´s now a real fashion trend in those places, but, I have to admit, it is still not so accepted in Latin America. Last but not least, I would love to get in touch with vintage fans from all over the world. That´s why I´m sure that I will enjoy the experience of posting in English. A bit hard at the very beginning, but with lots of surprises in the future, I hope. 

"Juan Pérez", a well-known vintage store in Buenos Aires.

When did I first get the idea of the vintage style? In the 1990's, when I was 20 something. But, in those days, the word "vintage" was not used. There used to be lots of thrift shops in my city, and there you could buy "worn" and "old" clothes, not in a very good condition. At that time, not many people thought real vintage clothes, in excellent conditions, could be a great investment. 

The shop window of "AlmaZenArte", another vintage store in BA.

But, what is vintage? Vintage are those clothes, accesories or whatever you can find which have lasted for over 20 years or more. Some versions say that these articles of clothing must be over 40 years of age, but I don´t agree. The point is that these fashion products have to be really iconic and symbolize an era. But the good vintage can be worn nowadays: you can show off with a vintage Halston gown and nobody will think that it is out of style! Good vintage pieces catch people´s attention not for looking old-fashioned, but for looking stunning and desirable!

This is me wearing a vintage dress from the late '70s/early '80s.

I hope you will feel like joining me in this trip to vintage experiences in my beloved city, Buenos Aires.

xoxo, Mariana.