A recent visitor to our home said to me, “I really like your walls…” At the time we were looking at a wall of antique bird prints in our bedroom. Thinking about this in relation to my recent post ‘The Gallery Wall: Memoir in Frames’ gave me the idea to write about rooms where the hangings are connected by a theme.
Antichi Sapori means ‘antique flavors’ or ‘antique tastes’ What a fitting way to begin this reflection on shopping for vintage and antique pieces.
Lately it seems when reading about fashion words such as slow fashion, traditional craftsmanship, deadstock, remnants, restyling, restoring, and/or vintage fashion are encountered. A fromdeepintheheart.com post of February, 2023 titled “Using Vintage Fabrics in Fashion” introduced the idea on this platform and featured a skirt made of vintage embroidered handkerchiefs embellished with seed pearls from a broken necklace and vintage sequins. Today’s post continues to consider traditional craftsmanship and features remnants of crocheted lace…
As a child I was sometimes allowed to borrow jewelry from my mother or grandmother. Most pieces came with a story. On rainy or hot days in the Texas Hill Country when gardening is not an option there is nothing better than a trip to a vintage shop and moments spent searching every inch of the glass display cases for something of interest. For several years this interest centered on cufflinks.
This set of diamond flower brooches from the Russian Imperial Family Collection came up for auction in London in 2004, part of lot 36, Russian State Jewels. They remind me of the astonishing jewels on view in the Lester and Sue Smith Gem Vault at the Houston Museum of Natural Science. My favorite of the collection not one of the jewel encrusted tiaras or necklaces, but rather a set of antique diamond flower buttons which belonged to a queen– imagine having buttons made of diamond clusters! While we may not have diamond brooches or buttons there are many fascinating pins to be had and just as many ways to wear them.
Full skirts are filled with happy memories for me…twirling around in a pink seersucker skirted dress with a starchy net petticoat made inside, trailing the train of a raspberry taffeta ball skirt along the path of Market Square park on my way to dinner and a show, the rustle of my Grandmother’s skirt, sitting close to her on the sofa and listening to her read aloud.
Black and white dressing is always a good idea! With a large collection of black cotton ribbed turtleneck sweaters and an armoire filled with stacks of folded fabric the thought occurred to me to make my own black and white dress.
As much as we may enjoy the elegant ease of dressing in a quiet, uniform style there are clothes which speak to the heart and must be indulged.
Vintage fabric, lace, ribbon, buttons, handkerchiefs, and tablecloths are sorted in trays, stacked in baskets, and exploding from a burgeoning wardrobe cabinet in our studio. Beginning in my teens when an old pair of snap front bell bottom jeans became a work of art embellished with appliques of birds cut from old fabric and studded with tiny beads, vintage fabrics and passementerie have enchanted me.
It’s been several months since I began reading the works of Mandy Aftel, Jean-Claude Ellena and others on the subject of scent, perfume, fragrance, or simply smells! The readings have included the natural and cultural history of perfumery, the botany of perfumes, and using natural ingredients to concoct scents.