This is an addendum to an earlier post (day 175) I actually found the Gucci bag my mom was so effortlessly sporting in a snowdrift with high heels and a mink coat....I still believe she carried it off beautifully.
35 years later….
Yellow Shantung silk skirt with matching jacket
Ok, this would have been pretty great if it was just a sunshine yellow shantung silk skirt and jacket, but lets take it up a few notches and line that jacket with a glorious tonal floral print. That is the definition of attention to detail, and actually one of the things that I like the most about so many of the pieces that I have inherited. There are often these great details, a hidden pocket or cuff detail, something that elevates the standard to the extraordinary. what a delight that is.
Vintage Black Sequin Sweater
This is a very lovely black cashmere sweater, peppered with sequins of course.... simple, and yet glamourous. When I was in my teens, this was the the type of sweater that I used to love to wear if I felt fancy. I hope my girls will love them too.
Vintage "Reef of Hawaii" maxi dress
I am crazy about this dress. It is a vintage "Reef of Hawaii" maxi gown, the provenance of which is a mystery to me. It could have been from my Mom, Grandma, Aunt or Great Aunt, which makes me love it even more. This dress screams vacation, and yet, in the rose colored glasses of my youth, I really feel like this was the kind of outfit my mom wore to entertain, the very definition of a "hostess dress." I feel like there is a real revival in this kind of dressing and entertaining. My husband and I were never ones to dine out extravagantly, but we have always loved to entertain, and have always felt that if you were dining out, that you should put some effort into your appearance. Why should it be different at home? Actually, I think it is more fun to put on a beautiful and yet comfortable ensemble to entertain. Let's bring it back Vive le hostess dress!!
Here are a few notes on the hostess gown:
"An entertainment gown worn at home by the lady in charge of the festivities."
"noun
a robe or housecoat worn by women for informal entertaining at home."
Or from the venerable New York Times:
Whither the hostess gown? Archaeological study of this now-defunct garment, popular from the 1930s to the 1970s (according to the Vintage Fashion Guild), reveals that the American lady of the house used to greet her dinner guests not in Lululemon yoga pants and a clammy tank top, but a billowing, brightly colored maxi-dress, often with a forgiving waistline, or no waistline — sort of a cross between an evening formal and a bathrobe.
The idea was to balance one’s respect for and command of the occasion with the right to sprawl comfortably in one’s living room on oversize lounging cushions, perhaps leaping up from time to time to rearrange the cheese straws. For hostess gowns had very little to do with actual cooking; indeed, many of the specimens that remain are downright fire hazards, with their tentlike sleeves.
“It was ‘I’m wearing silk jersey in the kitchen, I’m smoking and have three inches of ash,’ ” said Madeline Meyerowitz, of the vintage-clothing Web site Enokiworld and no slouch in the kitchen herself. She theorized that the glorified caftans began to disappear as women discovered Julia Child, Alice Waters et al. and took a personal interest in preparing food."
Bespoke teal and gold floral overcoat
Ok, I thought this was a complete outfit before I found this coat, and then....I truly don't know wether or not that coat was made for this outfit, because you can see from the last post that it did indeed have its own jacket, so, I assumed that it was a standalone piece, but I'll be damned if it is not a perfect match to this outfit. Who's with me?
Teal for two
Teal Silk Ensemble
This is a beautiful teal cocktail dress with matching jacket. What is delightful about this ensemble, is that it is surely something my grandmother had custom made in Hong Kong during her travels, but it is smaller than some others I have, which leads me to believe that some of these may have been made for her daughters. Now as a mother of two daughters, I realize just how complicated it is to disperse things equally to avoid conflict. Sadly, I believe my mother and her sister had real issues with competition, and that they struggled with that all their lives. That is so heartbreaking to me, and so I try very hard to instill love between my two girls, and to make sure that they know that they are each others refuge not each others competitor.
Hazy shade of winter…
Glencoe, Ill 1979
This picture is as classic as it gets, I am in the dorkiest outfit ever, and my mom is dressed to the nines. Did she try and dress me cool, and I resisted? To be honest, I don't remember, isn't that odd? Now in my defense, I am dressed appropriately for playing in the fallout of the great blizzard of 79', but my mother takes the cake. We are standing in several feet of snow, and my mother is wearing, high heeled boots, a black mink coat, a gucci bag, and oh, her hair is perfect. Nice work mom.
The same Gucci bag 35 years later...
The Green Shoe Dairy
Custom dyed emerald green pumps
who doesn't need a pair of emerald green pumps with rhinestones to match their shades of green evening ensemble? Nuf said….
Green with Envy
Celery & Emerald Green Silk Column dress and coat.
This is a stunning, heavy duty silk column dress with a coordinating coat and shoes. Yep, there are just some pieces that are no brainers, I may have no idea where I will ever wear this, but I can't bear to think about getting rid of it. It is also in pretty great shape. I have no photos of my mom in this, I wish I did though, I'm sure she would have looked amazing.
Smiles Everyone...
Vintage Purple and Pink Cabbage Rose dress
This is such a sweet cocktail dress. My mother loved this, and I know that there are pictures of her wearing it, but I have to find them. I do remember her vividly in the dress, though, it was such a lovely color on her, and it brought out the roses in her cheeks. When my mother smiled, she had the greatest cheeks, I know that may sound weird, but I loved the way her checks would raise and her eyes would sparkle. It turns out, there is an actual name for that kind of smile; it is called a 'Duchenne' smile after a French neurologist. Here is a little info that I looked up on it:
"Dr Guillaneume Duchenne further defined the differences in smiles. A true genuine smile stimulates the zygomatic major muscle and lifts the corners of the mouth in an upward movement and the muscles around the eyes (the orbicularis oculi) to wrinkle up, also known as crow's feet, by pulling on the cheeks. Dr Duchenne noticed that "fake" smiles or smiles not attached to any specific emotion, engages the zygomatic muscle but not the orbicular oculi muscle. This is why true, voluntary and intentional smiles are referred to as Duchenne Smiles."
Wow! Who Knew?! I'll take crows feet over a fake smile any day. The pics below are two of my favorites of my mom, it's the smile in both, that makes me love them.
Duchenne Smile
Friends
From the snow globe collection
Recently, I started getting back into the groove with posting. Recovering the satellites so to speak, from what had been a simultaneously wonderful and challenging trip back East to dive into what still remained from a large collection of my mother’s belongings. And then I got a call. My father called to let me know that our neighbor and very dear friend, Gretchen Lengyel, who had been struggling with the same horrible disease as my mother, was now being given palliative care. The news hit me like a punch in the stomach, and I could not contain my tears when I called my father back to talk to him about it. A day later, she was gone.
I got to see Gretchen one last time this summer at my friend Lizzy’s wedding. I was so happy to see her, and she looked wonderful. She had her same wry smile and fantastic sense of humor, but I could tell she was tired. I knew exactly how hard she was fighting. The trajectory of her disease and my mom’s was so similar, and they both fought with such elegance, grace and humor.
Gretchen was loved by all that knew her, you could not help but be drawn to her, she was such a warm, loving and kind woman, with the most wonderfully irreverent sense of humor. I can still hear her laugh, and feel her great big hugs. She always welcomed me into her home and was one of the only people in the world outside of my family allowed to call me “baby Amy.” My parents and the Lengyels were not just neighbors, they were friends. I know how much my mom loved Gretchen and Peter, and I believe the feeling was mutual.
My heart breaks for her incredible children, grandchildren and husband Peter, and I will be there for them in any way I can.
My mother was a collector of a great many things, and one of her largest collections was snow globes. On my last day in Long Island, hours before my flight, I photographed this snow globe on a lark. It is in my old room, on my night table under the window that faces Gretchen and Peters front porch.
The words that are written across the rim of the flower pot are “Friends are like flowers from the garden of life.” Yes. Yes I believe they are.
Love you always Gretchen.
Your Friend-
Amy
Scents and Scents-ability
Coco Knows best
There is nothing more powerful than the feeling a scent can evoke. This was not the only scent my mother wore, but it was certainly one of the biggies. For me, my mother will always be tied to a few key fragrances; Guerlain's 'Shalimar,' YSL's 'Opuim', Estee Lauder's 'Youth Dew' and of course, Chanel #5. As classic fragrances go, these are all heavy hitters, (no pun intended.) If I think about each of the fragrances, they are indeed, all really heady and intense. They would get caught in a sweater or scarf and linger for days, weeks, years...I think about the fragrances I am drawn to, I love light florals; Jo Malone's 'Orange Blossom', 'Antonia's Flowers' Robert Piguet 'Fracas', and yes, when I was I high school the whole family of "Loves" fragrances. But as I am getting older, I find that even though I live in Southern California, I find myself reaching for deeper more intense fragrances, the kind that feel like they envelope you in warmth.
Not long before my mother passed away, my husband and I were visiting Portland, where I had gone to college. I have always loved it there, and I felt very happy to be there with my dear friends. We stopped in a lovely little shop that was selling fragrance oils hand made in town, that is where I found my favorite fragrance, the one that despite it's name (Dark Wave) always brings me comfort. If you ever run across it, give is a sniff, let me know what you think. Here's a link in case you want to know more about it.
http://olofragrance.com/collections/olo
Olofragrance "Dark Wave"
Hand Embroidered Peruvian silk blouse
For sure this must have been my Grandmothers's or, maybe it was a gift for my mother from her. I am so crazy about this top, it looks amazing with the ivory silk maxi skirt, and I think it would be equally great with jeans. That is the thing I like so much about the last three pieces posted, They are all great together, or on their own. There really is so much diversity in this collection. Trust me, I will get to a few pieces that will probably not move into my daily rotation (Opera cape anyone?), but really there are a lot of surprisingly wearable pieces in the mix. I think some take more moxie to pull off than others, but this-this is any easy sell.
How flattering
Vintage Floral Gucci Peau de Soie Flats
Such sweet little flats, I am not sure of the circa on these, but I do know that this pattern was first designed in 1966 for Princess Grace of Monaco, and that in 2013, Gucci resurrected it for another round of spring/summer fashion, Any way, these are perfect for Palm Beach, Long Island in the summer, and of course for LA.
Here's a pic of the suit they did for 2013...I adore it!!!
Gucci 2013
Pleats please
Vintage Silk Pleated Maxi Skirt
I am in love with this skirt, It holds that perfect place between formal and effortless, it is easily something that could be worn with stilettos and a strapless top, or sandals, a tee shirt and a denim jacket. I did not even wait to send this skirt home in a carton, this went straight home in my hanging bag. The hand of the silk is so incredible, very substantial, and yet effortless to wear. So special.
Roar!!!!
Vintage purple and gold leopard top.
This is an eighties hidden treasure. The designer behind this peplum waist silk blouse is Ann May. I have done a fair bit of internet research on her but with the exception of finding one or two vintage websites that have a top listed as hers, she is not a lauded designer, or one that I can find that much about. So all I will say is this top is CLASSIC my mom. Not only is it silk a leopard print blouse, but it is also in tones of deep purple and gold! Huzzah! It was as if the universe aligned to make her a perfect top. I cinched it with my own belt, channeling the "Gap Girls" SNL skit, but mark my words, as all things in fashion cycle back, we are only a heartbeat away from shoulder pads, peplum and purple.
An homage...
Black St. John Knit cardigan circa 1970's
Ah, the St, John knit. If I had to narrow it down, I would have to say that St. John was probably my mothers favorite designer. My mother had a collection of these knits that I believe would rival that of the fashion house itself. My mother began collecting them in the 70's and continued until her passing. That being said, I have inherited a myriad of these pieces, including the St. John ensemble she wore to my wedding, which I may never be able to part with. What I find interesting about this jacket, is what a striking resemblance it bears to a Chanel jacket. I know that this was a piece from the 70's, and I am so intrigued about which one came first- the chicken or the egg?
I need to do more detailed research on the silhouettes, but I did do some research on the knits themselves, in case anyone was curious. It is true, they are very easy to wear, and hold up extremely well.
St. John In order to stretch her own limited wardrobe budget, Marie St. John made her first pure wool knit dress on a flatbed knitting machine in 1962. Her then-fiancé and salesman Bob Gray pitched her designs to department stores and got an order for 84 dresses on his first try. St. John Knits took off quickly, appealing mostly to a clientele of mature career women who preferred a classic look.
Later, Marie Gray wanted to use a new yarn blending wool and rayon and despite the mill’s warning that the blend wouldn’t take colour well she created a successful blend that was resilient and didn’t wrinkle. Her blend was called ‘Santana’ yarn and soon her garments were made of the new blend, eventually accounting for 75% of all sales under the St. John label.
Stay tuned, there will indeed be more from this oeuvre!
Nina Ricci Ensemble
Vintage Nina Ricci Silk dress and jacket
There is not much I can say about this ensemble except "wow" mom, I don't know where you got this, or when you wore it, but I love it. It is SO 80's french. It still looks great today, and yes, this is a keeper! xo
Taking Liberties
Liberty of London Silk Scarf
Ahhh scarves, I believe my mother had a collection to rival that of Stevie Nicks in the scarf department. All shapes, sizes, colors & provenance's. This is a lovely Liberty of London, Fall color floral print. I am wearing it with a ladies dress coat, which I will cover in another post. I would also like to note that at the time this photo was shot, it was 88 degrees, 75% humidity. The things we do for love....
Dotty
Black and white silk polka dot dress with matching jacket
This is a cute little number, with a pretty drape in back, and a sweet little cropped jacket. I love how timeless this dress is, and even if I did not keep it, I believe that I know several friends that this would look great on. That is an option I have been thinking about recently as well, maybe sharing the love with my closest girlfriends. I would rather some things go to people I know, and that I know would love an appreciate them. After my mom passed, I asked one of her closest friends, that was almost my mom's size, if she would want some of her suits. They look so great on my mom's friend, and I am so happy that she has them, and know that my mom would have been happy about that as well. My mother was very generous, it's a lovely trait to have.
