Here's something that I'm really digging at the moment, and I'm sure that you've seen it here and there before. I have always loved this picture of the three models in their geometrically patterned dresses. The blue dress on the left was always my favourite. I'd dream of having a dress like that. A few years later I discovered that all three of these dresses were designed by American fashion designer Betsey Johnson in 1966, for her Manhatten boutique, Paraphernalia. One of her gorgeous blue circle print dresses is now kept in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. You can see a better image of the dress here, as well as other dresses by Johnson and other 1960's fashion designers.
As you may have seen on my Twitter, whilst down in Bathurst I came across quite the collection of vintage clothing. The boy and I would be driving through town and I'd been spying out vintage boutiques and charity shops from the passenger seat window, like a PI on the lookout for bandits and fugitives. Can you imagine how I must have looked? Aha! That's one vintage boutique. Position noted. The store was closed as it was the long weekend, but we came back after the public holiday.
All very lovely it was. They had a great collection of items ranging from clothing and accessories to vinyl records and furniture. There was a lot that I wanted to splurge on such as a gorgeous purple 1960's cape and golden Glomesh evening purse in it's original boxing, but I had to restrain myself and think of the plane ride home. We only had carry-on luggage. But me being me, these thoughts were quickly forgotten as soon as I took a walk up stairs to the second level of the store.
Nothing seemed too interesting at first as I traveled through the racks. I wasn't expecting to find much as a sign declared that all up stairs items of clothing were $5.00 each, a lot cheaper than what was downstairs. However, all of a sudden a burst of yellow was seen out of the corner of my eye. And if you know your vintage you'll know that this kind of yellow ain't the kind of yellow that appears in clothing stores today. I followed my vintage hunting instincts and grabbed the item off the rack, my heart skipping a beat as I realized it was a beautifully conditioned 1960's maxi dress. All buttons and zips intact and with a sweet empire waist line. Mine. This process repeated subsequently with more and more eagerness and urgency as each dress was discovered.
I ended up getting an entire bag overflowing with vintage maxi dresses. At $5.00 each, and considering how beautiful they all were, I didn't care. Coming home that afternoon however, I still was not satisfied. I kept dreaming of dresses that I'd left behind, thinking that they wouldn't fit me. I had to go back again. They needed to come home with me.
And so a couple of days later I did. And again, I went overboard and bought every dress from the era they had in stock, as well a cream 1960's suit (I wore the jacket here), a woolen skirt, a blue 1970's blouse with the most amazing sleeves and collar I've ever seen and a beautiful embroidered tunic. The gentleman who owned the store was disappointed when he found out I wasn't a local. I think he knew just how often I'd buy from there if I was.
It wasn't until we began packing for the trip home that I realized how impulsive I'd been. We didn't have any space, but being the determined gal I am I achieved the impossible and packed about half of the load that I bought (which also included quite a few other accessories and such that I haven't shared here). Having to catch a plane the next day and with a ridiculous armful of clothing that wouldn't fit in our luggage I raced around the entire town looking for another carry-on bag. I wasn't having any luck and ended up having to buy a canvas grocery bag to bundle them all up in. As a result of this I think I actually lost one of my dresses at the airport; a beautiful cream 1960's mini with an olive green bow and matching covered buttons. I hope it went to a nice home!
Have you ever taken your vintage hunting to the next level, or gone a bit overboard?
I hope you've all been well whilst I've been without the Internet for the past two weeks. Our trip was pretty fantastic but I'll leave that for another post. Right now I want to talk about The Bootleg Beatles.
If someone introduces me to another person for the first time, without a doubt it will go something along the lines of: "This is Lucy. She loves The Beatles". And it's true. So when I first heard over three years ago that The Bootleg Beatles were coming to town I had to book a ticket to their show. And my goodness, what a show. If you are a die-hard Bealtes fan like me you will see just how much work these four men put into recreating the essence of John, Paul, George and Ringo, and how successfully they do it.
Last night I attended my third Bootleg Beatles show with my younger sister. As some of you may know, it is now 50 years this month since The Beatles toured Australia. Last night half a century ago The Beatles (with Jimmy Nicol replacing Ringo Starr) performed at Centennial Hall in Adelaide, Australia - the city where the fab four greeted a massive crowd of over 300, 000. Although I saw the tribute band locally, I still got right into the spirit of Beatlemania and dressed the part all the while pretending that I was seeing my very favourite band in concert way back in 1964.
Of course, I took my inspiration from Cynthia Lennon circa 1964, who you most probably know by now is one of my biggest style icons. I wore a new skirt and vintage coat that I picked up on our trip.
The show was incredible. We didn't want it to end. We sang, danced and clapped along to every song and kicked into full blown Beatlemania mode. Being two young girls amongst a crowd of people from past generations, we got quite a few smiles from the four boys up on the stage which made us very happy indeed. A great set was played with songs spanning their Beatlemania to Sgt. Pepper's to Let it Be/Abbey Road days. An orchestra was present, which was incredible to hear as we witnessed a live performance of "A Day in the Life". During the show they also performed "In My Life". It was so wonderful that I had tears in my eyes, thinking of John and George and how much the music of The Beatles means to me.
After the show I felt very much like this young girl here, holding her treasured Beatles ticket to her lips and seeming to be bursting with joy and excitement. Two women and a man after the show who had been sitting in front of us asked to take our picture as they were so glad to see young people from this day and age still living the legend that is The Beatles. We all had a good chat. The man had seen both Elvis and The Who back in the 60's, and was also wearing a coat that had once belonged to the great Vince Melouney.
If you have not yet witnessed the talent and accuracy that is The Bootleg Beatles you must watch this video from Delfien Taillieu of Adam Hastings performing "You've Got To Hide Your Love Away" as John Lennon.
For this "There She Goes Again" post, the spot light lies on Pattie Boyd. I have always loved this picture, on the right, of the model and her husband, Beatle George Harrison. It was taken on May 23rd 1968, the day of the opening party for Apple Tailoring. The couple look stunning in their stylish, psychedelic gear. One thing in particular that I always loved about Pattie's outfit was her shoes. Those beautiful green and blue sandals with a block heel. Not long ago I found another picture of her wearing these same shoes. This time in a picture taken on the 17th of May 1968, at the Cannes Film Festival for the World Premiere of "Wonderwall", a film in which George Harrison had composed the soundtrack for.
I know that by these dates given that Pattie only wore these shoes again literally within less than a week, but it still made me smile to see her wearing them again. It was really tough to try and decide upon a modern alternative for those lovely shoes of Pattie's, but I decided upon these Privileged Poppy Green & Blue Colour Block Platform Heels. They were on sale for only $45.00 at Lulus.com but they've now sold out. Oops.
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