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Lady Violette

The Romantic Lifestyle

Archive for the ‘Manton de Manila’ Category

Green Vintage Jewels & Creative Ways to Wear Them for Saint Patrick’s Day

Thursday, March 17th, 2011

Green Vintage Costume jewelry

Interesting ways to combine and wear vintage costume jewelry. On the right side mannequin ~ 4 long strands of green glass beads from the flapper era, art deco crane pendant as pin on right shoulder strap, along with crystal brooch, square art deco crane pendant on decorative chain of short necklace. All from the 1920’s.

Middle mini mannequin ~ tear drop shaped Czech glass “jade” pendant suspended from  4 chains.

On table ~ Large celluloid flamenco hair comb set with emerald green glass rhinestones, from the 1840’s. Two 1920’s thin celluloid bracelets ~ one set with green glass rhinestones, the other with blue ones. Large clip earrings from the 1940s ~ made of mottled green glass cabochons, glass pearls and glass “amethysts,” in base metal settings.

The 1940’s bracelet that matches those large green glass cabochon clip earrings is fastened around the shoulder of the velvet sleeveless blouse on the left side mannequin. I have found this to be a glamorous and unique way that I can wear bracelets that I like but that are too big for my small wrists! I also sometimes use large clip earrings such as the cabochons shown as dress clips.

I often like unusual and dramatic pieces of vintage jewelry but they are too big for my small wrists or my tiny earlobes so I find another place to wear it. This dilemma has resulted in my developing some original personal looks that are mine alone which is always a good thing!

I recommend trying jewelry out in all kinds of ways because you never know what new way you might discover to wear it! The large fringed scarf/shawl draped over the shoulder is also jeweled and embroidered with metallic gold thread and pearls. It makes a lovely evening shoulder wrap and is so large it can also be wrapped and tied as a long sarong skirt or a short sarong dress!

How you present yourself and wear your clothes and accessories is a performance art. How you put yourself together is a feminine art!

Men can practice this for themselves too as a masculine art. There are as many fabulous opportunities for styling men’s clothes out there as there are for women. I hope to eventually be able to blog about those as well! Because a lot of men need help. The first thing they need to do is care about how they look and what they wear. Today they should wear a little something green! For Saint Patrick and for the plant!

Everybody, you are supposed to wear a little something green today so you don’t get pinched!

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Vintage Shoes of the Week of Saint Patrick’s Day ~ Green Alligator Shoes From Italy

Thursday, March 17th, 2011

Mariola Green Alligator Vintage Shoes

A beautiful pair of vintage dark forest green alligator pumps from Italy with tasteful and comfortable 2″ stacked black leather heels tie in front with a black satin ribbon bow. Handmade, all leather soles, and lining ~ beautifully constructed and exquisitely comfortable. Made by Maraola.

Incredibly well made and very comfortable. European size 38. Just gorgeous!

Practical and their vintage ads said, “Why wear anything else?” This is because they feel so good you don’t want to wear anything else. But they were originally so expensive one might not have been able to afford to wear them!

I do not know exactly when they were made. My research yields an approximate $800 price tag when new! If bought in the 1960’s. The style is timeless so I cannot place the year they were made exactly. It could be as far back as the 1940’s. Or as recently as the 80’s. I got them at a consignment shop in Brooklyn NY. For $30! The owner did not realize they were real alligator and she thought the color green was both unlucky and off beat. I happen to love green so I was happy to take them off her hands.

I know I have used the word comfortable four times in one short paragraph. That came out that way, instinctively because it is really true so I am going to leave it that way! No need to say more!

Perfect for Saint Patrick's Day! & Every Other Day

I am so glad I own these! I can figure out a way to wear them with almost anything! The style is totally classic. I love these shoes! They are green and to me green is very versatile. It is everywhere outside in nature so it follows that it must go with everything!

It goes well with navy. And with many  prints. In the top photo the shoes are photographed against my green Karistan flower strewn carpet. In the bottom photo I have used a vintage cotton gauze shawl as a background.

Green can, of course, be worn with black. And these shoes are perfect with Irish tweeds and hand knitted sweaters because of the alligator skins.

The weather has been extremely cold, wet and blustery so this year’s Saint Patrick’s Day will undoubtedly be very cold. As in the dead of winter! I will be happy to dress very cozily!

So these little guys should be just perfect! With a hand knit sweater, warm tights, a tweed suit, a green cape!

Handmade by Maraola of Italy

Sturdy and Elegant

Some people think green is unlucky. Christian Dior mentions that in his style dictionary. He also says that green has been lucky for him and he finds it  great color for accessories, such as hats and shoes. I have always loved it so I will wear it happily and consider it lucky.

If it was lucky for Christian Dior I think it is lucky for me as well!

There is such a thing as The Luck of The Irish! And I am Irish and I luckily look good in green and I am lucky enough to keep finding lovely green vintage items!

It is wise to rescue things and recycle or reuse them, to go green with the planet and to wear green if it both falls into your lap and makes you happy. I consciously try to do all these things.

Almost everything I own and use is enjoying a rebirth and regeneration in my possession. I want to invite every reader of my blog to recognize this fact and join me in both celebrating the specialness of old and forgotten treasures and finding enjoyment in renovating old things that are often better than new ones and still have a lot of life left in them.

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Great Green Felt Vintage Hats for Saint Patrick’s Day

Wednesday, March 16th, 2011

Green Vintage Hats for Saint Patrick's Day!

The Irish love hats. And I love wearing a green felt hat on Saint Patrick Day. Being of Irish decent and having red hair and green eyes I learned long ago that this was a huge hit! Walk into any nice restaurant and bar in your charming green hat and every man in the establishment offers to buy you a drink and dinner. Men love these green hats. And the women who wear them on Saint Patrick’s Day! The one on the glass head is a “Daschette” by Lilly Dache. The one in the back with the two covered buttons is by Stetson for Women designed for Maier and Frank in Portland Oregon. The plain round one is a fur felt beret by Tosca of Italy. It is plain and simple alone or can be easily adorned with a clip or flower from your own collection. All these hats are from the 1950’s. Christian Dior advocated adding a clip to a plain hat to personalize it. The Daschette with it’s black ribbon is undoubtedly inspired by the cloche hats of the 1920’s. And would be adorable with a black flapper dress and a cacoon style black satin coat, matching green tights and black low heeled shoes. In fact, I think that is what I will wear tomorrow! With a long strand of green flapper beads as well! There is a painting by Edward Hopper in which a woman is sitting in a restaurant wearing just such a green cloche hat. I distinctly remember her hat! I will try to find that painting over the next couple of days and post it so you can see her hat. I often find good inspiration from paintings and drawings for how to dress!

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Superb Vintage Green Coat & Hat Trimmed in Real Beaver Fur for Saint Patrick’s Day if You Are 3 years Old!

Wednesday, March 16th, 2011

Bambur Original sz~3T Green Wool Coat & Hat with Beaver Fur Trim

This is a fabulous wool coat and matching hat trimmed in real beaver fur from the early 1950’s. It fits a stylish little three year old perfectly! It is adorable! I rescued and restored it. When I found it it was damp and very very dirty. It was a risk as I didn’t know if I would be able to get it clean enough and mold free enough to use. I had to have it professionally dry cleaned. Then I restitched most of the lining. I replaced the buttons with new ones – several of the originals which had been dark brown were missing. I didn’t have the same type. But I did have a full set of black velvet ones off of an old jacket that would fit. So I used those. The coat is by Bambur Originals in Tennesee. It was made in the early 1950’s. The adorable matching hat has little earflaps that fold down to cover the ears when needed! They are tucked inside as currently pictured. Two long ties extend from the hat to tie under the chin and keep it on. I got the coat ready just in time for Christmas to wear over holiday dresses but then I realized it is perfect for Saint Patrick’s Day as well! We are certainly getting a lot of use out of this one! It was well worth the expense and effort to fix it! It is on top of my glass coffee table which is placed on top of my green Karistan carpet with wildflowers on it for the photo! I am posting vintage items in green this week in honor of Saint Patrick’s day. I have decided they can be any size and for anyone in the family!

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An Amazing Kelly Green Ball Gown from Emma Domb Circa 1960’s

Monday, March 14th, 2011

This is an elegant vintage 60’s formal gown of heavy green silk shantung lined in China silk. The front is a classic figure fitted column. The back is a cape like skirt attached to a yoke with dramatic covered buttons. I particularly like the side view with the cape like effect of the drape.

Designer Emma Domb was American and famous for her bridal gowns, prom dresses and ball gowns. This is an austere model for her as most of her dresses were full skirted tulle concoctions. This green, in person, is about as strong a kelly green as you can get so it seems perfect choice to wear for Saint Patrick’s Day Ball to me!

Front is a Simple Long Shift

Side View with Elegant Drape

Back Has a Cape Like Skirt

Classic Emma Domb Label

Detail of Yoke with Covered Buttons

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