Monday, November 30, 2009

Items for sale from b.vikki vintage

Don't forget to visit b.vikki vintage on Etsy!


Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, and the other wonderful Winter holidays are around the corner! Don't miss out on the chance to score a great gift for the vintage-lover in your life!

Bonus: a few vintage Christmas pictures from the 1950s and 1960s.







Here are the 30 dresses available on Etsy from b.vikki vintage:


This 1960s gingham check romper is adorable! And I found a 1966 Coca Cola ad featuring a girl wearing a romper with a similar collar!

Measurements taken flat and doubled:
Bust: 36"
Waist: 24"
Hips: 46"
Leg: 29"
Length: 36"

Brand: Mister Raphael

Tear under arm.

Short sleeved tan and brown shirt dress with full, pleated skirt. Side zip.

Measurements taken flat and doubled.
Bust: 36"
Waist: 26"
Hip: Full
Length: 41" from shoulder to hem.

Brand: Youth Fair Junior

I found a 1962 Coca Cola ad featuring a woman wearing a similarly styled shirt dress.

Long sleeved, pastel, multi-colored, pleat-front, shirtwaist day dress with full skirt and pearlized button collar closure.

Sleeves have a puff shoulder, which may overpower a smaller frame, but the sleeves can always be removed. Elastic waistband.

The dress has a beautiful silhouette and is the perfect shirt dress for day.

Measurements are taken flat and doubled:
Bust: 34"
Waist: 25-36" (elastic waist at rest and extended)
Hips: Full skirt
Length: 43"

Brand: ACT 1 - New York

Tear on seem under arm.

Betty Draper wore a similar dress in the first season of Mad Men!


Blue and white gingham checked shirtwaist day dress with full skirt.

Measurements taken flat and doubled.
Bust: 39"
Waist: 29"
Hips: open
Length: 41" from shoulder to hem.

Peggy Olson wore a similar dress on Season 2 of Mad Men!

Tear under arm, at waist, and below buttons.

1940s style, diaphanous/sheer, burgundy shirtwaist day dress with indigo necktie, pocket trim & plaid details.

Measurements taken flat and doubled.
Bust: 40"
Waist: 24-36" elastic waistband at rest and extended
Hips: 42"
Length:45"

Peggy Olson wore a similar neck tie on a recent episode of Mad Men!

Sleeveless evening dress with full skirt. Button back. Sapphire, emerald and onyx - jewel toned stripes.

Double skirt. Underlayer is more fitted.

Perfect evening/party dress!
Scoop neck, darling bodice.

Material has some sheen.

Measurements are taken flat and doubled:
Bust: 32"
Waist: 27"
Hips: Full skirt
Length: 48" from shoulder to hem
Size: 5

Brand: Ananas

I BELIEVE this to be an 1980s dress made in a 1950s style

Sky blue short sleeved shift dress with light embroidery and pearl beading.

Measurements taken flat and doubled.
Bust: 36"
Waist: 29"
Hips: 39"
Length: 37"
Size: 8

Brand: Santa Fe by Lim Tremblay

This dress is darling! Perfect for a party or evening out.

Short sleeved roll collar shift dress with Autumn/Fall print and color scheme. Classic mid 1960s style collar.

Nearly imperceptible hole under bust.

Measurements are taken flat and doubled:
Bust: 39"
Waist:39"
Hips:41"
Length: 38" from shoulder to hem

The dress is fairly straight from bust, but would be STUNNING belted. This warm print and colorway are great for Fall.

Cream party dress with brown ruffle ribbon detailing (dainty cream/white floral embroidery on ribbons) on collar, cuff, and hem. Empire waist, full-ish skirt. Long sleeves. Tie in back for better fit. Puffed shoulders. Perfect party dress in the 1950s style. Measurements taken flat and doubled: Bust: 36" Waist: 27" Hips: Full Length (from shoulder to hem): 39" Condition: Excellent. No noted/visible flaws. Tags are in an Asian script, so I don't know what size, brand, or fabric the dress is.


Seafoam green 1960s short sleeved scooter shift dress with high collar. Wide waistband, slight a-line skirt. ILGWU tag. The bodice is ribbed and has lots of stretch. The waist is lined and doesn't have much, if any, give. The color is darling! Measurements taken flat and doubled, where applicable. Bust: 34"-42" Waist: 30" no stretch Hips: 40" Length: 41" Brand: My Latest Leslie Fay

Blue floral novelty print day dress. Bloused bodice & ruffled shoulders. Elastic Waist. Square neckline. Button back. Embossed floral detailing. Hidden elastic waist. 1960s. ILGWU tag. Brand: David Warren New York ILGWU tag Measurements taken flat and doubled, where applicable. Bust: 34" Waist: 22"-34" Hips: 38" Equivalent to a Small or Extra Small.

Black, sleeveless, v-neck wiggle dress. Adorable. Perfectly simple party dress. Cinched, defined waist. Tab waistband across back. 1960s. Measurements taken flat and doubled, where applicable. Bust: 35" Waist: 29" Hips: 42" Length: 41" No tags. May be homesewn. Feels like wool/linen blend.

Red and yellow house dress or day/play dress. Reminds me of ketchup and mustard. Red snap closures and collar tie. If belted or tailored, this could definitely be worn out to run errands as a fun day or play dress! Measurements taken flat and doubled. Bust: 44" Waist: 46" Hips: 53" Length: 41" from shoulder to hem Brand: Norman for At Home, inc Faint discolorations and nearly imperceptible blue stain above heart.


Bateau neck, faux-painted, floral print shift dress. This is a perfect, fitted party dress! And a great way to be sexy and graceful at once.

Measurements taken flat and doubled.
Bust: 35"
Waist: 29"
Hips: 35"
Length: 39"




Royal Blue, shortsleeved, 1960s mod scooter shift dress. Bias contour seaming. White & Blue striped crew collar detail. Blue & white striped faux tabbed 3-button collumn on bust. Brand: "Carol Brent - sold exclusively at Montgomery Ward" Measurements taken flat and doubled, where applicable. Bust: 38" Waist: 40" Hips: 35" Length: 42"






1960s Pale pink, brown and white floral (demi-paisley) mod scooter shift mini dress with roll collar & long sleeves. Great print with raised outline edges. Measurements taken flat and doubled, where applicable. Bust: 38" Waist: 36" Hips: 42" Length: 38"


The Marvelettes

Don't forget to visit b.vikki vintage on Etsy!




This is the first time I've featured a girl group from the 1950s and 1960s, but it won't be the last.

Introducing:

From Wikipedia:

The Marvelettes were an American singing girl group on the Tamla label. Motown's first successful female vocal group, the Marvelettes are most notable for recording the company's first US #1 pop hit, "Please Mr. Postman", and for setting the precedent for later Motown girl groups such as Martha and the Vandellas and The Supremes.

During their eight-year run on the Billboard charts, the group scored nineteen top forty American R&B singles and ten top forty American pop singles. Of these hits, three were top ten pop singles, nine were top ten R&B singles, and one was number one on both charts.


Not only was their music groundbreaking and trendsetting; their sartorial choices defined the archetypal, quintessential mid-century girl-group look.















I'm a sucker for a bright, opaque pair of tights! This look is among my favorites. And those green dresses! They landed on the perfect spot between Kelly and Lime.


The simple pleasures!


My favorite thing about the article above, from a 1961 issue of Jet Magazine, is that it reminds us all that The Marvelettes were just kids!



And so, the mini dress was born!







Some songs from The Marvelettes' catalogue to enjoy:






I absolutely love this song - and love the dresses they're wearing even more! The long sleeves and faux/mock bolero on a wiggle dress silhouette along with the over-sized bows and high hair make for a PERFECT look!

Here's the same look in color:


EDIT/UPDATE: A commenter pointed out something I noticed, but didn't mention: that The Marvelettes sometimes had 3 members and at other times had 4! This isn't at all uncommon in girl groups, now or back then; I loved Destiny's Child growing up and was devastated, confused, bewildered when their lineup changed AGAIN and AGAIN and AGAIN... (any child of the 90s will COMPLETELY understand! How were we supposed to keep up with the posters on our walls if we didn't even know who was still in the group??? It was like a high stakes game of musical chairs.)

Apparently, The Marvelettes had 7 members total during their run on the charts. What's a girl group without drama (and line-up continuity issues)???

Don't forget to visit b.vikki vintage on Etsy!

Wednesday, November 25, 2009

Happy Thanksgiving!

Don't forget to visit b.vikki vintage on Etsy!

I hope all of my readers have a WONDERFUL holiday!

Below, two opposing Thanksgiving images from Jet Magazine, the first from 1968, the second 1955.


Thank you for reading!

Don't forget to visit b.vikki vintage on Etsy!

The Pepsi Generation

Don't forget to visit b.vikki vintage on Etsy!

There were so many disparate movements at work in the 1960s, all converging to define what we now know to be the culture of the era: The youth movement, the hippies, the Civil Rights movement, mod fashions, and of course the dominant culture of the decade fought to preserve the status quo.

Pepsi was obviously a progressive company at the time and knew to appeal to both the teen/youth and Black demographics.




The two ads below were jarring to find. The blocking is nearly IDENTICAL; the ads were probably shot on the same day with the white models and black models shooting one right after the other. That practice is not unheard of (clip in the preceding link from the 1970 movie The Phynx). It's why today there are McDonald's commercials for every target market today.


The two ads above both ran in 1965 - the African-American version in Ebony magazine and the other in more mainstreamed publications.




In either set of ads, it's easy to tell that Pepsi was playing to younger potential customers and selling a lifestyle along with their product. The buttoned-up conservatism of the 1950s was on the way out and the free-wheeling 1960s dictated the way corporations marketed to consumers.

Here are a few Pepsi Generation television commercials from the mid and late 1960s to take a gander at:






And this hilarious article from 1965 demonstrates the pejorative use of the term "Pepsi Generation" as a tongue-in-cheek way to describe restless and delinquent youths.


Click HERE to enlarge.


Don't forget to visit b.vikki vintage on Etsy!