Blusher headpiece looks Supreme

Growing up like so many young girls, I had dreams of what my wedding would be like. I knew what my gown was going to look like, how I would style my hair, how long my cathedral veil would be, what lipstick shade I would wear, and of course I knew that my bottle of Coco Chanel No. 5 would be the scent to adorn my body. Looking back now, vintage brides from the 20′s and 40′s have always been my bridal inspiration. Besides the boat neck necklines and tea length wedding dresses, the fancy headpieces are my second favorite item of a vintage bride. The birdcage veil, mantilla bridal veil, and pillbox hats are some of the most popular vintage headpieces that are being recycled. Below are fabulous headpieces that a modern destination bride can wear when walking down the aisle in a grand cathedral, at an outdoor sculpture garden, or on a white sandy beach.

Gibson Girl Glam

California sun kissed Love Child

Forties Fabuloso

Pictures courtesy of: DiscoverBlack Heritage’s/Flickr, Roxanne Parker/Flickr, and Brides.com

 

Mysterious and capivating Retro Bride...

Retro Bride: I began wearing Vintage clothing at the age of 13. It was after a particular time in history when people started wearing old clothing as a fashion statement of sorts.  I attribute the “acceptance” of vintage dressing to the very group of people who changed the face of fashion – the Hippies. My predecessors, the Hippies made it fashionable to be unfashionable, when fashion meant au current with rather strict rules and levels of acceptability.  With their social revolution came a fashion revolution. For most it was not subscribing to social dictates. For me it meant a way paved for a young girl to dress differently.

Buy the time I was old enough to create my own fashion style, beyond my daily kiltie shoes, maroon cashmere sweaters, knee sox and prep school kilts with blazers, (Oh, that’s where Ralph Lauren got it!)  I started wearing Victorian blouses with my jeans purchased for a quarter. I then started wearing 1920s raccoon coats, cast offs from my classmates grandfather’s – vododeedodo! I wore 1920s cloches to look like Ali Mac Graw, or 1940s jackets with my prep school kilts, or 1930s gowns, with Frye boots.  It wasn’t until the 1980s that I bought modern couture. I had always preferred the styles of old movies to what was in fashion.  Even the Couture didn’t make me happy. Then, one day I discovered a large subculture of Retro people – and it was like finding my TRIBE, my home, my way.

After that blessed day I cultivated my personal style, and it became my life style. I married a man whom I met through the Rockabilly scene; he has a great personal style complete with the best 1930s matinee star mustache this side of the Pecos.

Together we have created a retro home. As an Interior Decorator (I specialize in creating my clients dreams-their dreams, not mine) I often help with historic restoration, or Vintage/Retro styled rooms or homes.

We travel retro, wear our Vintage to England, Yosemite, New York, Safeway….
It’s a personal style in a sea of flannel and denim.  So many people want to live La Vita Retro, but are timid.  I say to them, be Fearless!

About Retro Bride

Kimberly Manning Aker is an Interior Decorator in the San Francisco Bay area. She, along with her 2 partners are show producers for the annual Vintage Clothing and Style Festival.
Kimberly adores restoring vintage clothing, and vintage furniture. She has lived La Vita Retro since the early 80s and has produced many Retro themed events and gives tours and lectures on fashion history and the art and architect of the Bay Area. A former world traveling Gypsy, who once lived in England, the Bahamas, Singapore, France, Hong Kong and New York City she has settled comfortably in the flat lands of Oakland California and is renovating a 1912 house.  She and her husband had a retro wedding and share their passion for La Vita Retro with her many friends and acquaintances (who can be spotted all over the Bay area- and indeed the world!) She does not view La Vita Retro as a “sub culture” but as a life style choice.

www.kmacreate.com
www.vintageclothingstylefestival.com

 

Retro Redux Style with the Fabulous Aker Kids.

Vintage Clothing & Style Festival

Sunday, October 25th, 2009 11am-6pm
at the beautiful circa 1912 Alameda Elks Lodge
2255 Santa Clara Ave. Alameda, CA 94501-4416
Lots of Free Parking  – Easy Public Transportation

www.vintageclothingstylefestival.com
vcsf@live.com

The largest East Bay Vintage Show and Sale of its kind!
Celebrating “Vintage Style” whether it is a few small touches or your personal lifestyle…

There will be music; jazz, early blues, ukulele and the canzoo!

Dancing, dance performances, food, 2 no host bars and of course many Vintage Clothing Vendors.

Entertainment:
Ricky Quisol – the Dime Store Dandy, Ann Gibson and the incomparable Sara Klotz de Aguilar

Dancing:
with Raul Castro

Hair and Make up will be done on site!

Art Wear, Vintage Cars, Models of all shapes, sizes and ages wearing vintage styles and clothing for sale, will be roaming under the beautiful glass domed ceiling.

We welcome all to dress up and strut your stuff!
Come have fun, shop this economy friendly show. Dance, play, try on hats, and celebrate your freedom to wear what you want.  Nothing is more green than recycled clothes with great style!

$5 at door- sorry no early shopping
$1 for all current Art Deco Society of California Members
$1 for all current Greater Bay Area Costumers Guild Members
FREE for card-carrying ELKS Members, from any Lodge
(Above Discounts Apply for Members Only, not applicable for guests or Past Due Members.)

 

Christina Hendricks. who plays Joan Holloway on Madmen

Joan isn't a Marilyn, Marilyn is a Joan

It’s no secret that I have a Mad Men sized crush on Joan Holloway, my icon of officious office lusciousness that two decades of television has not yet seen. When the guys at Sterling Cooper Ad Agency debated whether she was a ‘Jackie’ or a ‘Marilyn,’ they concurred that “Joan wasn’t a Marilyn, Marilyn was a Joan”  (as in Monroe for the Millennials out there). I am sure that if I were in the same office as Ms. Holloway, that I would not get a lick of work done, as I would study her like a rare and delightful species to try and indentify her particular brand of voodoo and why it works so spectacularly on the opposite sex. After the hoochiness of The Hills, the ludicrously overrated Kardashian clan of nitwits (all curves, no brains), young Hollywood’s sniping nest of narcissists, the insipid Real Housewives of…..Series, and their “really real” parade of silicon-enhanced body parts and perennial bitch-fest, it’s nice to see a depiction of a time when things were just a little more sublime, classy and downright sensual. Joan Holloway knows that to have a figure of such Amazonian proportions, you have to earn ‘em the old-fashioned way, one pork loin and bon-bon at a time, and that a casual glance held 5 seconds too long caused more collateral damage than any lap dance could.  “Calgon take me away” to an era of pure style and seduction, so I can live vicariously through the lives of entire cast of Mad Men: style setters and arbiters of timeless taste. No one dresses more appropriately for the game of cat and mouse that occurs between men and women: at the office, at the bar, and in the bedroom, than these folks.

Try and envision a time when simmering sexuality, restraint, the suggestive power of the double entendre, the fine art of flirting (and the requisite fashion that goes with it) was de rigueur. Figure worshipping sheaths that unearth your inner bombshell, and go from day to dinner (and even special occasion with amped up accessories) were part of every woman’s wardrobe (reference the LBD staple that we all rely upon). As Roger Sterling (principal of Sterling Cooper) opined about Ms. Holloways particular mojo: “you sail through this office like a cruise ship, with all eyes riveted on you.” She’s not showing a lot of skin, but the way she moves in her dresses, (the restrictive glamour of the pencil sheath creating that predatory “one foot in front of the other hip sway”) captures the imagination of every red-blooded male in the office. She slays all obstacles in her path. Joan knows better than the ad men she works with (who spin that elusive American consumer dream), that it’s not about the reality it’s about the possibilities. Ahh, the power of the femme fatale, and fashion in general. Because as every good ad man knows, you don’t sell the steak, you sell the sizzle. And sizzle is merely suggested, never revealed.

That said, there are a few brands out there that are channeling our girl Joan and giving all of us gals, curvy or not, a chance to make a day at the office more intoxicating, a date night more sublime, worship what you’ve got, and hide what you’ve not. Some of the standouts:

Banana Republic:

(click image to enlarge)

Banana Republics new series of day to dinner “Mad About Style” dresses in partnership with the Mad Men series, takes you back to the Camelot years when all you needed to accessorize your dress was an icy martini, a raised eyebrow and perfectly applied lipstick. The 60’s-era sheaths are edited, fitted, structured, stretchy, comfortable, and about as va-va-voom as you can get away with in the 9-5 timeslot. Slip one on, and inject a little dash of Joan to better rule that boardroom. After you rattle all the men, head out for a few cocktails with the office movers and shakers (where all the deals really happen). We know you’re a closer, so get your deals done a little more quickly in one of these numbers.  Whether you are a Peggy Olson, a Joan Holloway, a Marilyn Monroe, or just a hardworking, fast talking career girl, these dresses work for bridal pre-events, cocktails, rehearsal dinners, hot dates and big “game day” pitches.Talk about versatility -  best of all, prices are recession friendly starting at $120. http://bit.ly/14b26v

J Crew

(click image to enlarge)

Yes, they’ve got that sheath action going on, and with a vengeance. Everything I’ve said previously happens here but with a little more structure in all the right places. Add a big crazy pin and a string of pearls, expertly applied red lipstick, a martini, and lady, you are dressed. Each dress works for bridal pre-events, cocktails and rehearsal dinners. Prices start at $168.

http://bit.ly/76RL1

Extra Credit

Joan Holloway: Watch and Learn

http://bit.ly/hboTJ

http://bit.ly/71B7i

Readers

Are you or do you know a designer that understands that the sizzle is far more exciting than the steak? Can you show us what Mad Men style means to you and can you give us a link or send us your work we can share it with our community? We’re ready to be shaken and stirred by your creativity!

Indie Designers

Bring it on: Jewelry, apparel, handbags, shoes, grooms gear! We want to showcase your fabulous creations and help you rock your runway. Send us pix of your bridal gowns (any genre), bridesmaid, pre-event, mother of the bride, and grooms gear. Surprise us, tease us and enlighten us and our readers. Although we do write about chainstores from time to time (because sometimes they surprise us with a must have item), the reality is, we love independent designers, we don’t know you yet, and we want to. Our signature event, Operation Aisle Style held at the W Hotel in San Francisco showcased alterna-bridal indie fashion at its best. We live for the underground, the road less travelled and a more sublime approach to predictable wedding day offerings. We want to exalt you, your passion and the creative juice you put into your collections. All content on Antibride.com will be shared with Destinationidomag.com, the #1 Destination Honeymoon Romance Travel magazine in the world, circulation 100,000 with a 60,000 online subscriber base.

Submission Requirements:
Photos: 3-6 photos of your best work
Artists Bio: A 300-500 word missive on you, your design and how your work caters to the alterna-bridal audience.

Email us, and let’s get your name in lights.