Monday, November 30, 2009

Late 80's/Early 90's Bandage Dress


I hate the fashion of the mid 90's, but lately I have realized I love some of the early 90's fashion- the tight, stretchy fits and bondage-y details of these trashy bandage dresses truly are the best. I like the boldness, the obsession with bright colors and the huge gold jewelery. Check out Rhythm Nation-era Janet Jackson- so bold, so militant, so butch! Really the last gasp of 80's excess before everyone embraced saggy oatmeal sweaters, clunky loafers, and faded floral prints.

PS: Ohmygod, look at this thugged out photo of Janet here! This very 90's look deserves a post of its own. It reminds me of the coordinated photos girls would take at Sears in the 90's with tons of lipliner on. Anyway, I'll do some research on this 4 sure. If anyone has any photos like that, I want copies.

Bodice Detail on 70's Dress

This was a maxi dress. The 70's are so often looked on as being a horrible time for fashion, and while there were plenty of boxy polyester dresses, much of the 70's really had a tight, lean, tailored fit- especially the guy's clothing. I love this dress for being so Pamela Des Barres. It should be worn with a floppy hat, huge sunglasses, and high rubber platforms. It has the sexy/crunchy/witchy vibe of the 70's I love so.

Flapper Dress, 1920's

Like some kind of wonderful jellyfish! How come no celebrities ever wear vintage except for occasionally Winona Ryder who apparently is insane now (we all saw that coming?) I guess no one pays them to wear vintage. That and they're all boring.

Bathing suit, early 60's (I think)

This looks too risque and mod to be straightup 50's, so I think it is early 60's. I have many photos of vintage bathing suits. To think everyone at the beach was dressed like Gidget instead of falling out of some fugly bikini! Not that this isn't pretty trashy looking! And I believe it was child-sized, though I could be wrong.

Saturday, November 28, 2009

80's Booties


Worthy of Appolonia herself.

1930's-40's Child's Playsuit


Airplane Dress



1970's novelty print polyester or nylon dress with airplanes, skyline and more. I love 1940's novelty prints, but 60's and 70's ones are really interesting because they often tend to be highly detailed, scenic, and rife with psychedelic imagery. There was also an obsession with the 20's/30's during this time period, which I think is illustrated (literally!) in this amazing dress.

What is the Fashion Museum?

Hi there,
Here is my new picture blog, The Fashion Museum. I am creating this blog to archive my ten million photos of vintage clothing, mostly stolen from eBay. Also, to elevate fashion as a legitimate source of anthropology and cultural evidence, as well as undermine traditional notions of what is museum worthy and "important," as a homemade house dress from the 1930's is certainly as important as a crappy sketch by Picasso worth ten million dollars. Unfortunately, a lot of these photos are not of the highest quality, but someday, when I get a billion-dollar grant without doing any work at all, I will have a real fashion museum, with real garments. Sincerely,
Mary
PS: What about this artsy New York in the mid-80's color scheme? So Tama Janowitz!