Evening Ruffle: Then & Now

Fashion is constantly changing and evolving. Sometimes it goes to an extreme one season and paired down the next. It also varies from era to era with traces of fashion's past always present in today's collections.

1980's

This is how an evening ruffle was done in the 80's - nothing at all understated, major volume, extreme ruffle layers. Nothing was really understated about the 80's, big hair, bold colors and volume/embellished evening wear.

Shop this 1980's 'Bonny Fashion' Gown HERE $150

2018

With the spaghetti straps gone, the ruffle is minimized for cocktail hour with this Badgley Mischka dress

SHOP - $670

So what's your evening ruffle style? EXTREME 80's or Understated 2018?

Mime Your Own Business

As a stylist, clothing and accessories inspire me. To me they are stand alone story tellers. When I came across this gown from the 55,000 Dress Collection I immediately started dreaming. I dreampt of Vintage Paris and Mime's. The Mime; a person who uses mime as a theatrical medium or as a performance art, involving miming, or the acting out a story through body motions, without use of speech. In earlier times, in English, such a performer would typically be referred to as a mummer. Miming is to be distinguished from silent comedy, in which the artist is a seamless character in a film or sketch.

Mime artists Jean Soubeyran and Brigitte Soubeyran in 1950

The performance of mime originates at its earliest in Ancient Greece; the name is taken from a single masked dancer called Pantomimus, although performances were not necessarily silent. In Medieval Europe, early forms of mime such as mummer plays and later dumbshows evolved. In early nineteenth century Paris, Jean-Gaspard Deburau solidified the many attributes that have come to be known in modern times—the silent figure in whiteface." - Wiki 

I have a son who is "non-verbal" and other forms of communication fascinate me. I also love how powerful and underrated silence is. I loved the idea of a glamorous Mime, not just as a Halloween costume but beyond that. I took a series of images to tell a story through the eyes of a millennial mime in an extreme fashion setting. As always I mixed Vintage with contemporary pieces, high and low price points. 

Vintage ruffle gown (SHOP)

Red "Gelsey" Flat in Poison (Available in Black HERE & White HERE)

Vintage Gold Pyramid Necklace with Tassels (Evolution Vintage)

Vintage Men's Satin Bow Tie (Evolution Vintage)

*Available for sale upon request*

Vintage Red Tribal Bracelet (SHOP)

Vintage Black & White Gown (55,000 Dresses)

Vintage Tiger Ring (SHOP)

Vintage Earrings (Evolution Vintage)

Vintage Black Strapless Shaper (Evolution Vintage)

Top Hat (Stylist Prop - NFS)

Red Lace Robe (55,000 Dresses)

*Available for sale upon request*

 Vintage Bowler Hat (Evolution Vintage)

Vintage 80's Fingerless Gloves (Evolution Vintage)

Vintage Black Satin Skirt (55,000 Dresses)

Vintage Sequin Tube Top (Evolution Vintage)

*All items available for sale upon request*

Blue Satin Shoes - SJP Collection (Lousie Sandal)

Imagination is your only limit to your own creativity and style, the rest is up to you. As for everyone else, the critics, haters and everyone in between, they can mime their own business! 

Lisa

X

Dream Dress: Yellow

Linda Evangelista 1995 In John Galliano for DIOR

Every girl has a dream gown, or in my case dream gownS. I wanted to talk about this color of yellow in relation o the now "Vintage" John Galliano gown Supermodel Linda Evangelista wore in his S/S 1995 show and again on the cover of Harpers Bazaar. He let her keep the gown which is now part of the Metropolitan Museum of Art's collection.

 “Oh, my God, this is a fairy-tale dress, and I get to wear it on the cover of and take it to the next level.” (as told to Bazaar)

"I couldn’t have imagined a more beautiful dress. I’m not even a yellow person, but wearing this was one of the most sensational things that has ever happened to me. I loved everything about it. It was sophisticated, it was flirty, it was fun. It was retro, it was modern. I do love a full-on gown where you get to see the ankle. It had every element for me."

Approximately 45 years earlier someone else had their yellow tulle gown moment. This piece if from the collection of collector Paul Brockmann, part of his 55,000 dress collection.

 Now you can have you 1950's Yellow tulle gown moment. Shop this amazing Vintage gown HERE

 Fashion has clear daily functionality but there is also a fantasy component that I have never been able to ignore. 

Grecian Greatness: Dress Edition

Every single Vintage piece has a story. The story of the woman, or women who gave it a past life or the era/decade that the garment was first created.

I love when I come across imagery showcasing a piece that I have available in my eBoutique, EVOLUTION VINTAGE

Seen here in a light shade version on SNL star Jan Hooks during a skit in 1986.

Nora Dunn, the other half of the Sweeney Sisters alongside Jan Hooks - pictured on SNL in October 1986

The mint green Grecian goddess number by by Mister Jay is a draped delight from the 1980's an available via Evolution Vintage. I love the sequin and beaded detail at the waist. SHOP THE DRESS

Images by Tamara Wickstrom