What a fabulous Sunday afternoon I had. I not only got to see some of the most amazing clothes from the 1850's to the 1980's but it was all for free since I am a student. I honestly didn't even know that the expo was happening, my husband found it on http://losangeles.going.com/ and then surprised me with the afternoon trip. He knows I am absolutely bananas for vintage clothes. I have almost everything my mother and Aunt Faye wore through the 60's and 70's plus I always find great dresses at Wasteland in Santa Monica (the one on Melrose usually has slim-pickings because well…its on Melrose). I also go to a lot garage sales and thrift stores on the weekends. I love to look through the old dresses and imagine the parties, the scandals, the love, the life that they've seen (if this dress could talk ;-). At times I have found some real winners, in fact I am having a late 60's Hawaiian mini-dress I found reproduced in different fabric with altered sleeves. Digging in the crates of fashion is not for everybody. It is a time consuming process that yields maybe one or two special pieces that fit for every thousand seen. For some people it can be exciting but for those of you who haven't the time to search for that perfect dress and want to find great things all at once The Expo is for you. 
About three times a year fashion aficionados in Los Angeles march down to the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium for the Vintage Fashion Expo http://vintageexpo.com/. One can find everything from feather boas and mink stoles to cowboy boots and Manolo Blahniks. The booths fill up every available nook and cranny of the auditorium. We stumbled upon a lady in a dark corner with a little table filled with Vintage ties, which is her specialty. She told us that many people looking for vintage ties expect them to be bright colorful and shiny. But in reality most ties worn throughout the 20th century were pretty subdued and ordinary. I asked why this was and she said that the men who wore the flashy ties were entertainers and gangsters, the men who had their pictures taken the most. She said in the future people looking for vintage clothes from the 1990's and 2000's are going to want big gold chains and the styles they see on our current entertainers. It must be funny to be a little old person and see some kid walk by looking like Al Capone.
Wandering past the tables, my husband stopped at a table and picked up an extremely rare and expensive pair of Rene Caovila pumps. He knew the name because, aside from being stylish himself, Coavilla shoes are manufactured in Fiesso d'Artico, Italy close to where he is from.
Look at the website http://www.renecaovilla.com/ and feast your eyes on some of the most beautiful shoes on earth. I especially love the first pair you see on their home page made out of black lace. They would look so good on my feet, they belong on my feet! Alas they start at $1,000 and that, unfortunately is temporarily out of the Suprema budget. As you can see the pair we found at the expo are gorgeous. Gold, black, bejewled and strappy I couldn't try them on because I wear a size 40 shoe (US size 10) and they were a 36. Come to think of it I've never actually found a pair of vintage shoes in my size *sigh* . It is said that, on average, human beings are larger nowadays, which is quite evident when you dig through vintage clothes. My mother was the tallest woman in her graduating class in 1966 at 5'7 and I wasn't even close to being the tallest in school standing 5'11" in my bare feet. Yada yada yada, pardon the digression, the dealer was willing to let them go for $150 but since I have these skis I couldn't grab what could've been my first pair of Caovillas.
One of the best things about these events are the characters who frequent them. Immediately after entering the building a teeny tiny older woman slinked by my husband with a treacherous swivel to her hips, rocking a proper beehive and seamed stockings, he looked at me with an amused look - we both knew that this lady, in her prime, was definitely a man-killer. Turning the corner I almost tripped over a little kid because what I saw was so funny. A man about 40 years old wearing an animal print silk smoking jacket, 2 sizes too small for his belly, over a white t-shirt and jeans, he looked like a plumber dressed as Hugh Hefner for Halloween. The next person I thought was interesting was an Asian lady looking beautiful in a swing era, perfectly tailored, forest green dress along with a green p
illbox hat and veil. She carried a matching handbag and finished her look off with velvet pumps - all in green of course. Truthfully it was almost green overkill but green, specifically forest green is my second favourite colour so go on with your bad self Asian lady.
About three times a year fashion aficionados in Los Angeles march down to the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium for the Vintage Fashion Expo http://vintageexpo.com/. One can find everything from feather boas and mink stoles to cowboy boots and Manolo Blahniks. The booths fill up every available nook and cranny of the auditorium. We stumbled upon a lady in a dark corner with a little table filled with Vintage ties, which is her specialty. She told us that many people looking for vintage ties expect them to be bright colorful and shiny. But in reality most ties worn throughout the 20th century were pretty subdued and ordinary. I asked why this was and she said that the men who wore the flashy ties were entertainers and gangsters, the men who had their pictures taken the most. She said in the future people looking for vintage clothes from the 1990's and 2000's are going to want big gold chains and the styles they see on our current entertainers. It must be funny to be a little old person and see some kid walk by looking like Al Capone.
Wandering past the tables, my husband stopped at a table and picked up an extremely rare and expensive pair of Rene Caovila pumps. He knew the name because, aside from being stylish himself, Coavilla shoes are manufactured in Fiesso d'Artico, Italy close to where he is from.
Look at the website http://www.renecaovilla.com/ and feast your eyes on some of the most beautiful shoes on earth. I especially love the first pair you see on their home page made out of black lace. They would look so good on my feet, they belong on my feet! Alas they start at $1,000 and that, unfortunately is temporarily out of the Suprema budget. As you can see the pair we found at the expo are gorgeous. Gold, black, bejewled and strappy I couldn't try them on because I wear a size 40 shoe (US size 10) and they were a 36. Come to think of it I've never actually found a pair of vintage shoes in my size *sigh* . It is said that, on average, human beings are larger nowadays, which is quite evident when you dig through vintage clothes. My mother was the tallest woman in her graduating class in 1966 at 5'7 and I wasn't even close to being the tallest in school standing 5'11" in my bare feet. Yada yada yada, pardon the digression, the dealer was willing to let them go for $150 but since I have these skis I couldn't grab what could've been my first pair of Caovillas.
One of the best things about these events are the characters who frequent them. Immediately after entering the building a teeny tiny older woman slinked by my husband with a treacherous swivel to her hips, rocking a proper beehive and seamed stockings, he looked at me with an amused look - we both knew that this lady, in her prime, was definitely a man-killer. Turning the corner I almost tripped over a little kid because what I saw was so funny. A man about 40 years old wearing an animal print silk smoking jacket, 2 sizes too small for his belly, over a white t-shirt and jeans, he looked like a plumber dressed as Hugh Hefner for Halloween. The next person I thought was interesting was an Asian lady looking beautiful in a swing era, perfectly tailored, forest green dress along with a green p
illbox hat and veil. She carried a matching handbag and finished her look off with velvet pumps - all in green of course. Truthfully it was almost green overkill but green, specifically forest green is my second favourite colour so go on with your bad self Asian lady.
Posts
