Manhattan Vintage Show

Fun with Old Clothes
A few times a year The Manhattan Vintage Clothing Show and Sale comes to town and deposits thousands of old things at the Metropolitan Pavilion, a huge exhibit space in Chelsea. Vintage addicts come out of the woodwork in search of a great dress, hat, pair of gloves or spectacular necklace. It's easy to burn out quickly in the face of so much color, cloth and clutter, so it pays to be with seasoned show goers, as I was this week.

Jean and Valerie of The Idiosyncratic Fashionistas, see them here, know how to shop. They were joined by our Canadian friend, Shelley, who blogs at Forest City Fashionista, here. She knows how to shop too.

Valerie's sharp eye netted me two bonnets.
 This one, a brown-velour felt with pleated tucks,
should be described with a French word for 
brown, which is marron.
 Interior of felt says "Flechats -- Made in France."

It's a Dajori original from Chandler's in Boston.

 Red-velvet 1940's chapeau with

feather trim. It's handmade with no label.

The young lady from Revival Vintage was a delight as

we all tried on her wares.

Hand-sewn interior,

just like we learned at The Fashion Institute of Technology.

Shelley and Jean.

Valerie models a hat at

Revival Vintage.

Accompanying each Manhattan Vintage Show and Sale is

  an exhibit showcasing a designer.

 This time it was Bonnie Cashin. 

In 2000, The Fashion Institute of Technology museum had an exhibition 

of her clothes and life. Her ideal client was "the woman with something to do." 

Her best designs were casual and practical.

 Bonnie Cashin introduced leather and suede to ready-to-wear.

  She was the first designer for Coach Leatherware.

Bonnie Cashin believed that "invention

and independence were central to the

creative process."

The show brings out the vintage hounds

who often wear rare and wonderful things,

like this charming lady with a fabulous French necklace.

This delightful fille looked

so perfect in this coat that

she had to have it!

It's the karma that connects the

clothes to the woman.

My friends, this is special.

Meet Karen Augusta of Augusta Auction Company,

dealing in vintage fashion and textiles.

Karen frequently appears on Antique Roadshow and recently

appraised outfits brought in by

an American woman who had purchased them from

the Beatles' Apple Boutique in London in 1967.

The pieces, designed by the collective known as The Fool, 

will be auctioned on November 12 in New York.

The Apple Boutique existed for a scant 8 months!

 Marja Samson with her dog, Bibi Chibi.

My sister, Jeanne, with Bibi Chibi.

 I am wearing my Lola Patchwork hat --
I got a million compliments on it,
and my Monica Byrne jacket.

This woman loves Miro!

And so do I.

À Bientôt!

Pictures from the Oysterponds Benefit

All dressed up with 
some place to go.
Each summer, on the first weekend of August, The Oysterponds Historical Society holds its Summer Benefit. It's a marvelous soirée held in Poquatuck Park in the village of Orient. The name "Poquatuck" was coined by the Corchaug Indians who lived in the area beginning in 900 AD. Real estate was considerably cheaper back then and the tomatoes weren't called heirloom. They were just tomatoes.

In 1661, some English families heard about Poquatuck from their town crier  -- Oyez, Oyez. We hear Poquatuck is hot -- and left for the New World. Upon seeing all the oysters and clams washed up upon the beaches, they named the place Oysterponds, which sounded a lot better than Clamponds. Everything was hunky-dory until British troops arrived in 1776 to guard the land for King George III. That's when some of the original families decided they'd rather live in Connecticut.

Eventually some creative types named the area Orient because it was the most Eastern point on the North Fork of Long Island. Now the Oysterponds Historical Society keeps all this history in order and puts on exhibitions with a lot of old stuff from 900 AD to the present.

I did the drawing for the 2013 Summer Benefit invitation,

 and my sister, Jeanne, did the graphic design.

 The handwritten copy idea came from this drawing I did

when I was in Nice, France.

Richard and I arrive in style to the 2013 benefit. 

Reprising an earlier leaning photo, siblings:

Dave, Carol, Jeanne and Susan.

Original leaning sib photo

in our parents' yard in Southold.

Our portrait from the 2014 Benefit.

The Benefit photos are by Holly Mastrangelo.

See her website here.

À Bientôt!

Je peux lire en français

Dreamy French Bookstore
Opens in New York

Bonjour, mes amis.

Il y a une nouvelle librairie française à New York.

There's a new French bookstore in New York. 

It's called "Albertine" after a female character in the
 Marcel Proust work, 

In Search of Lost Time.

Last weekend, Richard and I went uptown in search of Albertine and art. Our first stop was the Jewish Museum to see an exhibition of the work of Lee Krasner and Norman Lewis, two painters working in the late forties and early fifties. Lee Krasner was married to Jackson Pollack.

Ms. Krasner's abstract expressionist paintings were wonderful, and after seeing the show, we took a bus down Fifth Avenue to the French Embassy, between 78th and 79th Streets, to explore their beautiful new French and English bookstore, Albertine.

The entrance to the French Embassy

Albertine has 14,000 titles in

French and English.

The French Embassy is

housed in an elegant Stanford White mansion.

The books have been collected from

30 French-speaking countries.

The decor is quite elegant.

Note the green satin ribbon twisted

around the hanging lamp.

The rooms were designed with

the feeling of a grand

private French library.

The pink covered book,

The Little Girl and the Cigarette

by Benoit Duteurtre,

fascinated me.

So stop by when it's open and

experience la vie française

à New York.

It will be our secret, n'est pas?

After la librairie, we saw this

 magnificent display on the

way to our dinner at Cafe Boulud

in the Surrey Hotel.

The chef sent out this scrumptious

chestnut soup.

Such a pretty color.

A souvenir from this summer,
when dining at 18Bay on
Shelter Island.
Photo by Jeanne Markel

To learn more about Albertine,
look here.

À Bientôt!