What is Vintage?

'Vintage'.......what a marvellous word. It forms the mouth so sexily on the 'cha' ending sound as it passes through one's teeth. It can encompass such a wide range of things. Vintage wine, vintage cars, vintage antiques.....but to me it instantly means vintage clothing. Outfits and items from a bygone era that I feel at ease in.
They may be older than my Nan, true, but they carry with them an energy that is so delicious that I could be sampling a vintage wine, in short they are in a class all of their own.
The word vintage has become a generic term for all second hand clothing - discarded and unwanted they have been given a new lease of life by those who can see their true hidden potential. It's a much nicer, politer term than 'second hand' clothes or 'used items', which of course they are. They have lived their life with one owner, perhaps several before you find them, claim them and give them a new and loving home. Like adopting a wayward pet from a shelter. We clean them, even repair them and set about bringing out the very best in them. Allowing their fibres to once more feel the warmth of the sun and the cool breeze of air waft through them as they hang off our bodies. We have resuscitated them back into life from the forgotten century from whence they came. I make it sound all rather dramatic, but in essence that is exactly what we are doing. They had a life before us. A woman saw them in a shop, fell in love with and bought 'them'. Perhaps wearing 'them' for a romantic anniversary dinner, a late night show, the theatre, an exotic holiday or perhaps her first date....the possibilities are endless. They are like sharing a past love. I shudder to think how many beautiful vintage clothes went to the shredder or rubbish tip because they're old and used or their 'fashion' era had come to an end.

Vintage clothing for me isn't just about the label. I will never buy something for a label alone. I have to love the piece to buy it and more importantly it has to suit my figure and shape. There's no point in wearing a beautiful garment if it does nothing for you and you for it. It's like a wrongly matched love affair - it will always be doomed from the start.
Those of us who hold tightly to the past do so for our own deep rooted feelings. Perhaps they remind us of a cherished loved one, maybe we inherited a wardrobe, or our bodies are simply suited for a shape cut only in the past? For me, I've never felt that I truly belong in this era. I've always claimed since I was three to my parents that - "I was born too late" and didn't belong here with them. Make of that what you will, but I firmly believe that I don't fit in, nor do I belong in this time frame - as much as I dearly love my husband and children in the here and now, and I DO more than anything in life itself,  I just cannot shake the deep feeling that I feel at odds with the twenty first century in more ways than one. Perhaps subconsciously I still cling to a life past and therefore am in explicitly drawn back to the eras I loved and previously felt alive in. Hence my desire to clothe and surround myself with vintage items.
It is only recently that fashion has been seen as vintage. Clothing in a wearable art form.

Fashion and Textiles Museum, London.

A visionary who also believes this is the legendary iconic fashion designer Zandra Rhodes. Founded by her and located in Bermondsey, London, is the Fashion and Textiles Museum is an iconic place to visit if you want to know about the history of fashion and textiles or you wish to be inspired. We are constantly looking to the past for inspiration, what better place to start than here.
Over time Zandra has collected iconic pieces from British designers to memorialize them both in fashion and textiles for her exhibitions. At the moment they've just had an exhibition on Tommy Nutter : Rebel On The Row and are currently closed until the 18th November when their new exhibition Catwalk To Cover will be showing until the 25th of February 2012. Personally I can't wait for their exhibition on POP! Culture and Fashion 1955 - 1976 which starts the 6th July 2012. It's something I am definitely hoping to go up and see.

Are you a Robe, Gown or Peignoir Girl?

Now the weather has taken on a slight chill I have changed a vital piece of my wardrobe - my dressing gown - from silk to fleece.  This small act started me thinking about the humble dressing gown or robe as some call it. From whence did it originate?

The Medieval female  robe.

Well, according to the word root dictionary, the word robe comes from old English and literally means garment, but it's thought that it originated from the Frankish language (which is an extinct old West Germanic language) from the word 'rouba' . Scholars think this comes from the word 'to rob', meaning of gowns and clothing, because material was very expensive and time consuming to produce in the Middle Ages. Especially if it was of fine quality, it could be worth a lot. This word then has travelled down to our language of today to eventually mean a woman's dress or long wrap, hence the word dressing robe. The distinction of difference being that a robe had long sleeves, as opposed to being a cape or a cloak.

Pattern for 1920's Housecoat.

Over the years there have been many variants on the usage and words associated with robe. There's the dressing robe - which years ago meant a male garment or the dressing gown - a loose garment with a wrap belt worn when one is relaxing about the house usually in bedwear attire.

Then there's the humble bathrobe made of absorbent material to wear after a bath, and the housecoat - worn in the 1930's and becoming very popular in the 1940's. This was not worn for bed or relaxing, but generally about the house as the title suggests. Perhaps it's other commonly referred to name will give you a clue to it's usage, 'the duster' . Longer than an apron, but less coverage than a pinafore, the housecoat was worn to protect the lady of the house's beautiful dresses whilst she bustled about the house doing her daily chores. They were made from a variety of light fabrics and some were even quited for extra warmth. Woman it seems found them so comfy that they started wearing them in longer styles in the evenings for lounging around, making the fashion industry design more stylish numbers. This then is the pre-outfit to our modern dressing gown......but where did it originally originate from in history?

Nicolas Bylston in a green Banyan,
painted 1767.

An aged Sir Issacc Newton in a Banyan,
painted by James Thornhill 1709-12.

It seems that looking back over history the dressing gown or lounge robe, whatever you wish to call it has been with us since the early 17th Century in disguise with a rather peculiar name, the Banyan.

Vintage Male Banyan.

The Banyan originally only worn by men, of course, was a dressing robe - rather like an English Tudor styled nobles robe but with sleeves reaching to the knees and a heady mix from the Persian or Asian style clothes that had begun to influence society. The word Banyan means in Arabic and Portuguese - merchant.
With the Orientalist movement in Art it was only fitting that it moved over into fashion.The exotic oriental style had become the latest fascination for Europe and so the robe took on an exotic matching flavour becoming more flamboyant and resplendent in it's fabrics and colours. It was around this time that it started to become known in our English culture as a morning gown, or robe de chambre - nightgown, becoming a floor length gown and at last it took on the appearance that we feel familiar with today. The range of materials increased to include Indian and Chinese silks and bedtime chic was created in Europe.

Dressing robe for women.

But what of the women? When were we allowed to wear Banyans and nightgowns..........well of course we did but not as extravagant as our male peacocks, that didn't occur until the 18th Century I'm afraid with the introduction of the Japanese Kimono into Western thought.

1920's Kimono styled robe.

1930's Hollywood glamour in black.

Then of course in the 19th Century we had the delectably named Peignoir. What a delightful word, it just simply rolls of the tongue with ease and sophistication and a touch of naughtiness.......peignoir.



1930's robe.



With the Peignoir 'comfort' was the ultimate key word. A woman's comfort in those days was hardly ever thought of in clothing that was so very restrictive in every way shape and form, yet here was a delicate little number that allowed just that.....comfort so women could breathe away from the dreaded laced corset.

Usually made of lace and chiffon, it was light and airy to wear and felt cool against their skin. The word Peignoir comes from the French word 'peigner' to 'comb ones hair' from the Latin pectin/comb. Which is when woman brushed their hair the most - at night. Remember, one hundred stokes girls to make it shiny and lustrous.

Peignoirs were later sold as a whole set of gown, panties and stockings with which to wear to bed. I should think that that appeal alone was enough to men to make the Peignoir an instant hit as the number one saucy Christmas gift of the 19th Century! There is no other era that shows this better than the Hollywood glamour of the 1930's - 1940's with the movie stars and their black and white photography.
The male Banyan developed into the smoking jacket and then sadly both males and female attire seemed to mere into the androgenous terry toweling dressing gown that we see hung on shops rails today. I must say they're jolly comfortable not very glamorous or sexy - what's wrong with a little bit of sexy glamour?! Bring back the peignoir! Of course it's still around and the best places to find them apart from the high street lingerie shops are in the vintage boutiques. Perhaps a peignoir will be on your naughty Christmas list this year? I know it'll be on mine. ;)

A Chinosiere Day With BIG Red Lips!

I managed to power walk my way through Brighton to the Royal Pavilion, without stopping at a single shoe or clothes shop along the way! How's that for will power!!

The Royal Pavilion is a former royal residence of the Prince Regent, later to become King George 1V when he was aged 49.  It was built in three campaigns, beginning in 1787, as a seaside retreat for the Prince. It is built in the Indo-Saracenic ( a British Gothic - Indian style built in India by British architect's), prevalent in India for most of the 19th century, with the most extravagant style, (and I have always loved this word! ) chinoiserie interiors ever executed in the British Isles. Chinosierie is a French term signifying 'Chinese - esque' in style. Considering that none of the designers, artists, craftsman, architect or indeed the Prince Regent himself had ever been to China. All was done from objects brought back from exotic trips to the far east.

I love the Royal Pavilion or Brighton Pavilion as I commonly know it. I love it's eye line on the horizon, I love the sheer extravagance of it and the total originality as it stands out bold as brass like a sore thumb in it's surroundings.

It was the Prince Regent who made Brighton fashionable during the Georgian period. He was a great patron of the arts and donated many collections to this country after his father's death and his death that we are most grateful for, including the British Library. King George 1V was born 12 August 1762 and died the 26th June 1830, just ten years after he was crowned King. He served as Prince Regent during his father King George 111 relapses into mental illness (maddness). People at the time called him a fat, idle and lazy King who squandered all England's money. He was characterized in all the papers as being nothing but a big fat whale. And although he was an utterly useless Monarch who led an extremely extravagant lifestyle at the expense of the country, but I can't help but  rather admire him as a man of impeccable taste. He certainly knew his stuff when it came to design be that in art, architecture or fashion. Of course he took a lot of pointers off the stylish Beau Brummell, until they fell out with Brummell uttering the  famous phrase -"Alvanley, Whose your fat friend?!" at a masquerade ball in 1813, when George 1V snubbed him.
  I even find it amusing that he hated his wife, Caroline of Brunswick - (whom his Father forced him to marry by blackmailing him and paying off his gambling debts), so much he banned her from his own coronation and claimed that "she smelt because she never washed her knickers!!" Consequently they only had one daughter, Princess Charlotte, and he continued to live with his beloved mistress, the widowed and Catholic Mrs Fitzherbert, whom he stayed with for the rest of his life.
George IV's heavy drinking and indulgent lifestyle took its toll on his health and by the late 1820s he was mostly bed bound. His taste for huge banquets and copious amounts of alcohol caused him to become obese, making him the target of ridicule on the rare occasions that he did appear in public. He suffered from gout,arteriosclerosis, dropsy and possibly it is thought porphyria (like his father - which is thought to have caused his maddness). He would spend whole days in bed and suffered spasms of breathlessness that would leave him half-asphyxiated. He died at about half-past three in the morning of 26 June 1830 at Windsor Castle; he called out "Good God, what is this?" clasped his page's hand and said "my boy, this is death."

But enough of the history behind the Palace, what about the Palace itself! Well, we decided to make use of our wonderful ARTFUND pass, so we gained entrance for FREE with free audio tour guides! One fo my favourite words when finding places of education and history. As intended the moment you walking into the Palace you get the immediate WOW factor! The whole Pavilion is sumptuous in design and feel. Everything is over the top with added bling - yet all extremely tastefully done. One thing Georgie Porgie (Yes, he of nursery rhyme fame) had was class and an eye for stylish detail. He brought everything together with his keen eye for quality and taste. 
My eldest daughter was blown away by the Banqueting Room, I think we all were. The dragons that adorned the walls, ceilings, fireplace and furniture were equisite. The Silver Dragon holding the Chandelier was the Queen of Dragons, resplendant in her shinning scales.

Sadly photograpghy wasn't allowed inside and I couldn't flaunt their rules long enough to get a good enough picture of the dragon ceiling.

Each room was just as splendid, and full of mannequins with regency costumes along the way for the exhibition 'Dress for Excess' fashion in Regency England. It is an exhibition to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the Regency Act (the Parliamentary act that allowed George to act as Prince Regent and gave birth to the Regency period). The clothes were divine. Elegant, simplistic and to die for gorgeous. It was like walking into Mr Darcy and Elizabeth Bennet's dressing rooms. I wanted to try every single one on, but had to make do just looking at them from behind a fancy gold braided rope. I will admit that I was leaning over so far at one point, there was a chance I could fall.
The music room was one of the most divinely hand painted murial walls I have ever, ever seen!! The sign before we entered said : 'Please remove stillettos before walking on the carpet' - the shag carpet was that deep!!
The bedrooms weren't as OTT as the downstairs, but the metal bamboo staircase up to them was very novel. I was fascinated by the secret passageways for the servants to disappear down and when you walked down them, they had a delicious energy all of their own.
Our youngest girl loved the kitchens and the massive range. Did you know that at his banquets the Prince Regent would have 32 courses served!! The jelly and blamange moulds ranged from tiny weeny scallop shells and castles to huge monstrous copper things that you could wear as a helmet. Another fact I learnt today was that the Prince Regent was the first to have and serve ice-cream in this country, and the first steam table with piped steam to keep dishes warm before serving. A sort of hot plate of today. He even had his bath plumbed to the sea so he could bath in sea water at the Pavilion to save him the bother of going down to the seafront. He certainly was a trend setter and fashionable mover shaker with his ideas and quirky 'must have's'.

Cherry red lips Mwahhhh!!

After a brief walk around the protected gardens we wandered into the Brighton Museum and Gallery. Home to artist Salvador Dali's famous Mae West's Lips sofa, which I couldn't wait to show the girls, as I haven't been here since I was a student many moons ago. They now even have a mini sofa to have photos taken on! As you can tell from the photo below the girls couldn't understand my bubbling excitement at the Big Red Lips sofa. I have always loved and desired this sofa and stood for a good minute in front of it demanding to have my photo taken whilst passing German visitors frowed at the mad little lady unable to contain herself took to hopping on the spot in the black and white spotty dress!

Tribal spirit costume.

We got to see one of my favourite designer's chairs - Rennie Mackintosh, trace the history of Brighton and see authentic Punch and Judy dolls and stands, travel through the world in the World Art exhibitions and see a tribal spirit costume - which absolutely fascinated me!

The upstairs fashion show through time was torturous as there were so many costumes that I would love to wear, including a Regency and Chinese inspired white dress by Zandra Rhodes, an Ozzie Clark little yellow number and a very delicate 1940's ballerina embroidered chemise - topped off with lots of period shoes, especially red ones! My embarrassed youngest did have to pull me off the glass at one - no, I will be honest here, several times today - as I plastered myself in front of certain items of clothing and the words "Must have dress" puffed out from my lips.