Author Archives: liztregenza

Fashion meets the challenge of war

Posted in 1940s, cc41, WW2 by

A few weeks ago I did a talk about fashion during WW2 and whilst researching for it I  came across this amazing piece from Vogue November 1939 (i had scanned it whilst working at Hampshire Museums service and forgotten I had it!) Not only is it very informative as to attitudes towards war, but also the writing style is incredibly interesting. As someone who studied English at A-level I couldn’t stop myself from “lexical device spotting” as I read it.


Fashion meets the challenge of war
London, all set in September for a fresh fashion season of wasp waists and fragility, now, with the brilliance of an acrobatic somersault, turns a new fashion face towards the future. There’s immense chic in restrained evening elegance. There’s immense charm in the robustness and shrewd common sense of day clothes. New factors-new fashions. Playtime hours are 5pm to 11pm instead of 8pm to 2a.m. The Berkley has launched tea dances (shades of 1916). Afternoon dresses and hats are booming. Not black, with khaki- which conditions colour as clan tartans at peace-time balls. Besides, we’ve had enough black with black-outs. Instead raspberry, prune, cocoa and sage.
Cut off from the continent, isolated in our island, we have suddenly swung round to continental technique and, in London, dress more like Parisians than ever in Paris…For restaurant dining and dancing, we’re women of the world. If we dress at night, we dress down. Bright wool for warmth; jersey in silk or wool- supreme among fabrics- clinging to throat, wrist, ankle. Each diner dress with its own short jacket. Already a picture gown looks as démodé as a picture hat.
Town clothes tend towards the tweed end of the fabric scale. Nutria replaces Persia lamb. Coats are caught to swallow up suits without trace; loose sleeves, loose backs. Suits have an air of imperturbable ease. They don’t look lost the moment they leave town. They don’t look like country cousins up for the day. They are tough but not rough; chic but not slick.
Country clothes look as if at any moment they might bestride a bicycle, or walk over the hill to see a neighbour.
In town we walk- not totter, but neither stride- in solid-soled square heeled shoes; the curse has been taken away from the word “sensible” Shoes are built for business- and have therby acquires an integrity denied to the skeleton sandal of the summer.
Hats have put away foolishness- and fit. It’s part of a campaign for common sense- as distinct from dowdiness. A flighty hat, tugged by the wind, is as incongruous in town, with gas mask satchel and flat shoes, as it ever was in the country. Even fur hats (lively survivals of the pre-war mode) clasp the head with snoods.
We must have warmth. There is nothing so plain as a bluenose. We keep snug, even when fuel is rationed, with fleece line ankle-boots, cosy hoods, fur mitts, coddling the extremes.
“Fashion, like the woman it clothes, is proving no good-time girl, thrown into confusion by the shock of war, but a staunch support, an invaluable ally”

Iris Apfel and Tavi Gevinson at the Met

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A couple of weeks ago, whilst I was in New York, I was luck enough to go to a talk with the amazing Iris Apfel and Tavi Gevinison called Impossible conversations: Ugly Chic”. Here are some of the incredibly interesting thoughts on style and how these two women young and old dress.
(Terribly blurry pic from the talk, apologies)
 To find out more about the legendary Iris Apfel you can read my blog post about her here
Iris:  “ I am organised only in my own way. I don’t intellectualise about clothes, I can’t give any can’t give any rules. I  think they’ll go together and I throw them on”
Iris” I am the worlds oldest living teenager’
Tavi: “ A lot of my clothes have some kind of motif or print. Getting dresses is a form of play- it should be great fun.”
Iris: ‘When the fun goes out of it you might as well be dead. You shouldn’t work with rules and regulations. Persue your own style”
Tavi: ” Taste and style are like a sense of humour. What you find funny is what you find funny. I wish people had more of a sense of humour about style. There is now a more acceptable kind of weird- the vintage, cutsey look”.
Iris: “ Much more freedom today. I remember when I was wearing old clothes not vintage. Terrible time with my husband when he stated I can afford to buy new clothes, why do you want old things.”
Iris: “Personal style evolves for yourself, and personal style is all about curiosity of oneself. Not give a damn about what anyone else thinks.
Tavi: “Fashion is about fantasy, You have to have self confidence or you can’t pull it off. Fantasy is powerful”
Iris: ‘ In the 40s I was one of the first women to wear jeans. My outfit was a gingham turban, crisp shirt and blue jeans. I had this idea in my head and I HAD to get a pair of jeans. I tried the Army and Navy store and they stated, “ don’t you know that young ladies don’t wear jeans”. Eventually after persistence I managed to get a pair of boys jeans to wear.
Iris : “I’m not a rebel. The New look was smashing. I don’t live to be trendy. You can’t be trendy and have personal style. Nobody can wear everything, and every designer has a particular person in mind”
Iris: My favourite designers at the moment are Ralph Rucci and Dries Van Noten. I like architectural clothing that can be embellished with jewellery”.
Tavi: My favourite designers are Medham Kirchoff, Rodarte and Prada. Their clothes exist in a vacuum. I like that for Medham Kirchoff music is so important`. I also think Alexander McQueen is important. His was mutant fashion. He was a mad scientist of fashion, but Schiaparelli was the mother of all of this.
Iris: “Schiaparelli worked on a womans body. Hers was intellectual rather than just fashion. Her designs were practical and could be worn. Why pay a fortune and look like a freak?  Having bumps all over is not the most attractive thought (referencing Comme de Garcons). I can look ugly on my own and it won’t cost me a penny.
Iris Apfel “ There is nothing like a good old bathrobe” (ahem, my former housemates, if Iris Apfel says this I MUST be cool).
Tavi “Getting dressed is a form of performance art. You assume a persona when you get dressed”
Iris “Clothes should not be the primary thing you do. There is more than clothing to life. You should have curiosity about yourself”.
Iris “ There is an undercover revolution of the old. Age does not make you invisible. Just because you are a certain age does not mean you have to walk around in widows weaves. Why should you be stopped because of a number”
Iris “ I never felt constricted because I dressed a certain way. Right now there is no counterculture. The way to be rebellious is to get old”
What I think came from this is that there is a hell of a lot of great and creative fashion going on with older ladies at the moment. You just have to look at advanced style to see this (there were a lot of ladies in the audience who have been featured on this website). There was discussion at the end of the talk that there might well be an exhibition upcoming for advanced style featuring outfits worn by some of these fabulously stylish older ladies.
I think both Iris and Tavi made some great points about style and the way we dress. Most importantly dressing should be about self expression and enjoying what you wear. Don’t get driven by trends, and just dress in a way that makes you happy.

Shopping in New York: Vintage

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Now onto my third post on New York; Vintage.

I will state that overall I didn’t particularly rate the vintage in New York. This was for two reasons 1) It was mostly over priced (I’m talking over $200 for a simple 50s dress in some shops) and 2) a hell of a lot of the vintage stores were more consignment/ thrift stores that had mostly 80s and later stuff. I can see the market for this, but it just really isn’t my scene.
So, here is a little rundown featuring some of the places I visited for vintage in New York:
First off, Brooklyn flea
I LOVED this place. Located in a very pretty leafy and quiet part of Brooklyn this flea market runs on Saturdays and Sundays and features great vintage clothing, homeware and jewellery. There were a few really good sellers there. One selling possibly the most sensational deadstock sunglasses I have ever seen ($125 on average per pair) and another selling lovely clothes mostly from the 40s and 50s including a wonderful range of swimsuits.You can find the sellers blog here. Keep a look out for the shots from the fair and you might just spot me there : )
Williamsburg

(don’t do a me and think, its not that far from Brooklyn to Williamsburg, I’ll walk. In the midday june heat this was a seriously bad idea…get the subway instead)
Williamsburg has a great vibe about it and has a plethora of vintage stores dotted around. The central Bedford avenue also has a great selection of eateries and coffee shops, and on the day I was there lots of street vendors too. To me this had a real air of Brightons Lanes about it. A great place to visit but the well known vintage stores there like Beacons Closet were along the lines of Beyond retro with most pieces dating to the 80s, or in some cases newer.
Lower East side and East village

I whiled away a few hours wandering around the streets here and I have to say if you want older vintage to head to Lower East side. There were a few great (although pricey) vintage shops here. Especially on Ludlow Avenue and Orchard Avenue. I did stumble across a great street fair though. Hester street fair, where I picked up my only goodies of the trip. Here there were lots of craft sellers and also vintage sellers and food stalls. My purchases were a great bag and dress from seller Cotillion, who you can see more of on her website (incredibly reasonably priced and some of the nicest hats I have seen in a long time)

I’m sad to say that the dress may have to leave my collection (its a tad big on the bust, and I already have a big enough alteration pile…but i will update if i decide to sell it on!)

So that is my brief rundown of New York vintage, of course there is lots more to visit vintage wise but with only four days in New York I fitted in as much as I could. I have heard great things about Hells Kitchen flea, so I believe this is well worth a trip too, and I will have to make a visit out there on my next trip to the big apple!