I will start out by saying never EVER wear satin shoes in the rain, a) you wreck your shoes and b) your feet get incredibly incredibly wet. Anyway, so i thought i would venture my way to a corner of Yorkshire i have yet to experience, Huddersfield as i heard there was a vintage fair there. GOOD TIMES!
It was a really rather excellent one actually. I was a bit unsure about it as it said it was a home and fashion fair, but it was basically fashion which is always good. I managed to resist going too overboard with my spending for once and resisted the temptation to buy yet more 50’s fashion magazines (they had tons of copies of petit echo de la mode, which i accidentally seem to be collecting). I was quite amused realy as when i walked in the woman taking the entry money went “i’ve met you before, you’ve bought some purses off me” which was completely spot on! I’m finding more and more when i go to the vintage fair in Yorkshire that the stall holders seem to recognise me, i think its because of a) the sheer volume i talk and b) the fact that i go to pretty much every vintage fair i can.
The prices at discover vintage were really reasonable too which is probably why i ended up coming away with two bits rather than one!


Purchase numero uno: FAB FAB FAB i was so proud of my bartering skills on this one, managed to get the dealer down to £25, it is what i think is a cobra skin bag from the 20’s. It has a great little ball clasp to it, proper deco style and the skin has this really elegant slightly purple tone. I love the way with the true 20’s bags that they have al the little sections, like a purse actually attached inside the bag, why can’t stores still make bags properly now!
Purchase numero dos:Pair of eighties moda in pelle flat shoes with a fab Greek looking motif
So, if anyone is in Leeds on the 7th November head up to the next discover vintage fair, i think it is in Headingley( short bus journey out of Leeds) take a visit, you may just find a bargain!

(dress by Charles James 1952 http://www.artsjournal.com/culturegrrl/BrkCost.jpg)
It would have to be Valerie Steele, she is actually the coolest woman ever. She is probably one of the best fashion experts out there and i love the fact that she sees fashion as an intellectual subject as part of our cultural history in the way i do. I first heard of Steele when watching a B.B.C fashion documentary (they just know how to make them) and researched a bit further into her finding out that she has curated numerous amazing exhibitions and written many truly great books. I also really value the way in which she appreciates two of the greatest and often forgotten about designers, Charles James and Vionnet.

I would say that nowadays more people have heard of Vionnet than in the past, partly because more people have become aware of the fact that she was one of the forerunners of bias cutting, but what i love most is her use of little dolls to create her pieces on. Rather than sketching she made her garments up on the dolls first to see if the designs would work, such incredible practicality!

James though, I think, remains too much a designer in the dark, probably one of the true American fashion masters, he ultimately was one of the most skilled in the business in the 50’s, and had talent that could rival the like of Dior or Balenciaga, his main downfall was his lack of business sense, and the fact that in essence he cared too much for his clothes, he would never stop with a garment until he felt it was perfect( or at least near perfect), working and reworking it years later. He is one of the designers that deserves the title “artist”.

(wikipedia.org)
So this weekend my housemates (and seemingly most people i know in leeds) have decided it is the perfect weekend to go away, therefore i am alone, very alone, and i think this means i will be making ALOT of blog entries this weekend.
I’m currently doing a project where i have to create patterns that tesselate and i chose to base my patterns on the work of Leon Bakst. I spent so long desperately trying to find an inspiration point and after trawling WGSN for a bit i came across a trend with some of his imagery, and it’s odd because i had almost forgotten how brilliant he is. The rythym and movement within his imagery is beautiful so much so that you can almost hear the music when you look at his illustrations. Also it is the way that his illustrations( as with so many others of the time) combine the old with the new, the shapes of both the clothing and patterns are backward looking yet forward thinking. you can see the art nouveau influence with the flowing sinuous forms and the prediction through use of costume that womens clothing would soon become less restrictive and more liberating. Along with Poiret and others (one of my all time favourite designers and someone who i will talk more about soon), he helped to revolutionise the way in which we view female beauty and take more influence from the less restrictive eastern world.
I’ll upload some of my own patterns when i get them finished, i’m thinking i’ll paint them in watercolour to keep them very Bakst style, which could be a nightmare as i haven’t used watercolours in about two years…but we will see.