Valentine's Day Dresses

 

1950s Lace Rosette Dress

I know Valentine’s Day has a bad rep (it’s a made-up holiday, it’s cheesy, blah, blah, blah) but I must admit that I’m kind of a sucker for it. In a world where terrible things happen every day, what’s so bad about having a holiday that’s all about love? Plus, it’s a good excuse to get dressed up and go out, whether that means a date night with spending time with friends and family. Here are a few special dresses from the shop that will help you get in the lovin’ mood!  

1950s Black Dress with Satin Bodice

 

 1960s Red Rhinestone Dress

 

1960s Brocade Mini Dress

1970s Pink Jersey Dress

1950s Velvet and Taffeta Dress

1970s Red Shirtdress

1960s Lace Wiggle Dress

1960s Black Lace Cocktail Dress

Vintage Designer: Goldworm

Happy (belated) New Year! I hope everyone enjoyed some time off over the holidays, I certainly did. Now I’m back in action and my first blog post of 2013 is a look at the knitwear line Goldworm. I found a crazy lime green Goldworm dress recently (which will hit the shop soon) and while I’ve heard of the label, I’ve never done much digging on the history of the brand.

Until now! According to the Vintage Fashion Guild, the label was founded in 1928 in New York City by Gertrude Goldworm (yes, Goldworm was her real name!) and remained a family-run business. Gertrude’s son Robert joined the company in 1947 and he was instrumental in bringing Italian craftsmanship to the American company. Despite being a fairly small company, the brand was very influential in the knitwear industry, mostly for their incredible prints and quality craftsmanship.

Here are some of my favorite looks from my research on Goldworm.

Dear Golden

 

Shrimpton Couture

MFA

Thrifted and Modern

via Pinterest

MFA

The Best of 2012

Last year, I had fun rounding up my favorite La Poubelle Vintage pieces from 2011 and so I decided to do it again for this year. As I’m nearing my 1,000th sale, I’m more grateful than ever to my lovely customers for supporting me along the way. Hopefully you’ll want to spend some time taking a trip down memory lane with me!

1. 1950s Wedding Dress

1950s Wedding Dress This year, the boyfriend of one of my best friends bought a house from an elderly woman. I helped him clean it out and of course, dig through all of the clothes. This was the lovely woman’s 1951 wedding dress, we even found her original wedding album with photos of her wearing the dress. This dress fit me like a dream so I was tempted to keep it but decided to set her free.

2. 1950s Blouse

 The very sweetest 1950s floral-print blouse.

3. 1920s Lingerie Set

 It is rare to find a complete lingerie set like this from the '20s so even though this had its flaws, it was still one of my favorite finds this year!

4. 1960s Gown 

 The print and asymmetrical cut of this 1960s gown blows me away!

5. Edwardian Corset Covers

These two Edwardian corset cover finds inspired me to learn more about what the cotton garments were actually used for.

6. 1960s Beaded Dress

This 1960s dress is perfection! And the woman who bought it wore it to her sister's wedding, yay!

7. 1970s Plaid Palazzo Pants

If these pants had fit me they would have been mine, all mine.


8. 1940s Paul Parnes Dress

The beading details on this 1940s Paul Parnes dress was something else!

9. 70s-Does-30s Dress

This dress had me perplexed for quite awhile, the styling and details are very 1930s but the print is likely from the '70s. Either way, the two decades mash up nicely in this cute little bicycle-print dress!

10. 1950s Fur Stole

This 1950s silver mink stole came from a family friend's mother. It was carefully cared for over the years and in amazing condition. I have never felt vintage fur that was so soft and supple!

11. Suzy Perette Cocktail Dress

Suzy Perette was one of the most sought-after dressmakers of the '50s and '60s. This buttercup yellow silk dress of hers is just lovely.

12. 1960s Lace Dress

This 1960s dress was sold to one of my favorite fashion bloggers, Ashley Ording of Fancy Fine!

13. 1940s Veiled Hat

I love this 1940s hat with pearl trim and a delicate mesh veil.

14. 1950s Satin Dress

Quite simply, a beautiful and lush 1950s dress.

15. 1940s Velvet Dress

A beautiful 1940s black velvet dress with white lace embroidery.

16. 1960s Dress

These days you see ombre hair and ombre nails, but how about a 1960s dress made from ombre silk chiffon!

17. Leather Coach Bag

Coach bags never go out of style and I love this pouch-style version.

18. Boho Cotton Dresses

I love this style of dress! I found these two sister dresses together and coincidentally, they both sold to the same person!

19. 1960s Satin Dress

I love the emerald green color and dramatic neckline of this dress.

20. Grenelle Estévez Dress

This dress also inspired me to learn about a new vintage designer, Grenelle Estévez. Similar to this dress, his designs were sleek and simple with interesting lines and cutouts.

21. 1960s Velvet Dress

Pretty much the perfect holiday party dress!

 And on that note, there are several of my favorites from this year that haven't sold yet including a 1970s Pucci dress,  a Mr. John felt fedora, a 1950s cobalt blue dress, and this 1940s cotton dress!

Vintage-Inspired Gucci

 

I used to be really into fashion shows, scrolling through the thousands of photos on Style.com every season. Lately though, I've tired of it a bit. There are so many collections to keep up with now: spring, fall, resort, couture, pre-spring, pre-fall! Anyways, I happened to stumble onto these photos from Gucci's pre-fall collection and loved them. Combining vintage inspiration with modern styling is not easy but Gucci pulls it off. 

All photos from WWD.com

Playing Dress Up

1940s velvet dress...in the shop soon!

Since I started La Poubelle Vintage in 2009, I’ve maintained more or less the same method for photographing the clothes—on a dress form. Mostly this is for convenience, I can photograph items more quickly this way, but I’ve always been interested in using a model since some things just look better on a person. I personally hate being in my own photographs because I’m not terribly photogenic (you’ll notice that I’m not looking straight at the camera in any of these photos!) but I thought I’d give it a shot to try and breathe some new life into items that have been hanging around the shop for awhile. It also gave me an excuse to play dress up this morning which is always fun! Any vintage sellers out there have an opinion about models vs. dress forms? I’d love to hear your thoughts!

 1960s blouse and 1970s necklace.

 1950s silk blouse and 1950s wool circle skirt.

 1950s cotton dress.

1970s sheer blouse and 1960s Mr. John hat.

The Classics

I don't know about other vintage sellers out there, but one of the hardest things for me as a seller is curating my shop properly. Anyone out there can pick up some old dresses from the thrift store, throw them up on Etsy and call it a vintage store, but I think what really sets the great shops apart is a well-edited collection, and that is something that I am still struggling to get a hold of. When people ask me what my shop is like, I always say “It’s all stuff that I like!” but lately, I’ve been trying to edit down my vision for La Poubelle Vintage a bit so that everything feels more cohesive. Though that vision is still evolving, one thing that you really can’t go wrong with is well-made classics. These are pieces that will virtually never go out of style and are so well constructed that they’ll hopefully last a lifetime! I’ve got a few such pieces hitting the shop soon: a Coach saddle bag, a Ralph Lauren wool blazer and a pair of Cole Haan woven leather flats. Look for them in LaPoubelle Vintage this week!