Category Archives: Valentina

VPOD: Vintage 1960s Valentina Beaded Fringe Cape


vintage 1960s valentino beaded fringe cape

Good writers know that the secret to good writing is good editing. And fashionable dressers know that the secret to good dressing is also good editing.

Fortunately, words and dresses can’t get their feelings hurt, which means you can be just as brutal as you like when editing your closet.

Just as a book editor can delete an entire paragraph or chapter with one push of a button, it’s necessary for you to occasionally delete pieces from your closet and send them on to new homes. And just as a book editor doesn’t accept every manuscript that comes his way, you also need to be extra-disciplined about the pieces you allow into your closet.

To give you an example of how strictly the very best people in the fashion business edit, consider this:

Decades and Decades Two, the extremely successful vintage and designer consignment boutiques founded by Cameron Silver, consider over 65,000 pieces for consignment each year.

Wanna guess how many pieces make the cut and are actually accepted by this master curator?

Only 12,000!!!

That’s less than twenty percent. That’s less than two out of ten pieces.

So ask yourself: How might your wardrobe look in five or ten years if you started editing your purchases this strictly?

Of course, this means that not every great piece you spy will make your final cut, but today’s VPOD would certainly make mine.

This vintage 1960s beaded and fringed wool cape by Valentina is simply spectacular! It’s one of those personality-laden finds that will continue to be thrown on a “Keep” pile through many years of spring closet cleanings.

It’s a colorful one-of-a-kind find for a vintage fashionista!

Available at Kim Vintage.

(To receive the VPOD via email along with detailed size, price and purchase information, sign up for my growing email mailing list here. Your information will never be sold or shared and you can easily unsubscribe at any time.)

VPOD: Valentina: American Couture and the Cult of Celebrity



Kohle Yohannan, author of Valentina: American Couture and the Cult of Celebrity, says that “Valentina’s interest in collecting and wearing vintage clothing and accessories was decades ahead of its time.” And while she ran a successful couture business from the 1920s to the 1950s that rivaled the likes of Charles James and Mainbocher, and dressed women with the last names of Astor, Vanderbilt and Hearst, she is a designer that has remained in relative obscurity.

But that’s about to change. The Museum of the City of New York is currently showcasing Valentina’s work in an exhibit that runs through May 17th, 2009. A vast array of her work and items from her personal couture collection will be on display and definitely worth a visit. Can’t make it? Then the accompanying book by Kohle Yohannan is the next best thing to being there.

They’re both wonderful eye candy for a vintage fashionista!

More information available at mcny.org.

(To receive the VPOD via email with detailed size, price and purchase information, sign up for my growing email mailing list here. Your information will never be sold or shared and you can unsubscribe at any time.)

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