Fashion Blogs

A native Parisian, Isabel Marant blends ethnic bohemia and tomboy street chic effortlessly, and her name has long been on the lips of fashion insiders: editors, models, and sexy actresses like Sienna Miller, Rachel Weisz, Marion Cotillard, Jennifer Connelly, Kate Moss & Alexa Chung.  She spent her childhood on trips to Africa, Asia, India and the Caribbean and that influenced her style and design.  She collaborated on projects for Yohji Yamamoto, Martine Sitbon & Chloe.  She designed jewelry for

I wish I found Yves Saint Laurent every damn day of my life.  No lie….  Really I never get tired of finding YSL.   You know I am the owner of Atlanta’s premium luxury vintage boutique called DOUBLETAKE RECYCLED LUXURY .  DOUBLETAKE is a upscale consignment boutique and I edit every piece that comes into my store because if it’s not grand forget about it…  I love unusual, I love abstract, I love cutting edge and I LOVE YSL.  I wish all my consignors would bring in vintage YSL pieces everyday be

Several months ago I interviewed Amber Bickham who is a casting director & producer out in Los Angeles.  She is always hunting for vintage luxury and believe me this lady has a real sharp eye for design.  I recently got an email from her about another recent acquisition and wait till you read what it is….   Here goes our interview…

Q:  So Amber you struck gold again…  please tell us what you found and how much you paid for it….

A: I walked into a thrift store in Los Angeles and as soon as I walked

You know how much I LOVE vintage Halston but when I find a Halston Heritage label you know I’m going to grab it and run…  To me there isn’t anything better than vintage Halston but everyone knows that… After rising in the fashion world in the 60′s as a milliner for Bergdorf Goodman, Halston launched his eponymous wowenswear label in 1968.  Newsweek dubbed Halston “the best designer in America” in 1972… As for the Halston Heritage label it was launched in 2009, giving signature archive pieces an

You know what I really love?  I love it when women are bold and think outside the box.  Why you ask?  Because this Valentino piece is actually a robe from Saks Fifth Avenue but when I added the vintage YSL rhinestone belt to it, it completely changed the look.  There is NOTHNG about this piece that looks like a robe / nightgown.  I love it when I talk to women at my boutique ( DOUBLETAKE) and they agree with me and are daring enough to venture down this highway.  I LOVE it…. If I hadn’t told you

I love seeing women wearing long skirts, I don’t know why but I really do.  The vintage 80s Ungaro floral cotton top with the poof sleeves and high collar is just off the chart hot.  The long velvet pencil skirt by Caroline Charles is off the chart hot.  So when you put the Ungaro hot top with the Charles hot skirt you get a lot of hot-ness.    Over the years you have heard me talk nonstop about Ungaro well today I’m going to to talk nonstop about Caroline Charles….  She began her career in th

Sequins are always in style and this is something Norman Norell knew to be true…  This is my first item from Norman Norell, hopefully the ball gowns from the 50′s 60′s & 70′s will find me too…  Among the American fashion designers creating between the 1950′s and the 1970′s, Norman Norell had a very classical and elegant style, both of daytime and for nighttime outfits.  Remembered for both the elegance and simplicity of his designs, Norman Norell once said, “There are people who say that designe

Today is one of my favorite holidays right next to Halloween, it’s EARTH DAY!  Earth Day is more than a one-day event or annual environmental wake up call to the public, it is a catalyst for ongoing education, action, and change.  Could there be anything better than that?  Earth Day aims to inspire awareness of and appreciation for earth’s environment.  Planet Earth is really at a turning point now so I ask you all to plant a tree or flowers, stop to pick up a piece of trash on the sidewalk or s

OMG I absolutely love this vintage Bill Blass 70s dress with it’s MOD look.  Wearing a great pair of Missoni or ETRO stockings and a pair of fabulous Tom Ford heels you would break the box office!   You could even wear some fabulous Lanvin trapeze vintage pants under the dress to give it more depth and walk the red-carpet!  The great thing about vintage Bill Blass is that it is timeless….  He was a great American fashion designer that really did pave the road for many of todays American fashion

First of all I wish you could just feel the weight of this black 80s Pauline Trigere cocktail dress…  It’s quite impressive….  Every detail about this black cocktail dress by Trigere is impeccable.  The puff sleeves, the wool with taffeta mix and especially the way this drapes on the mannequin…  The woman that originally wore this in the 80s to some cocktail party, I am willing to bet, made a fashion statement.  You know I lived through the 70s & 80s in Texas and I can assure you that a Texas la

OMG when I saw the Sakowitz label inside this Oscar de la Renta for Swirl caftan I almost passed out.  Being from Texas I’m very familiar with Sakowitz but let me give you the 911 on it.   Sakowitz was a chain of family owned high end luxury department stores based in Houston Texas.  The store was founded by 2 brothers in Galveston Texas in 1902.  They sold high end luxury items and going into that store was the ultimate experience in luxury because one thing Texans do well is show off their wea

I love Thierry Mugler.   He was an extraordinary fashion designer that when you see his pieces today they look just as fresh as the day he made them.  This is a very simple cotton dress with 3 snap buttons and the coolest of cool pockets…  I mean everything this man designed back in the 80s I WANT….  I’m always searching for vintage Mugler for my clients.  There isn’t one thing that screams out ‘outdated’ in this piece but then again when I’m out looking for recycled luxury pieces, this is exact

I’m a HUGE fan of Geoffrey Beene and always have been.  His earlier pieces are in my opinion national treasures.  Beene, Blass & Halston…  all national American treasures.   Let me first give you some info on Swirl.  Swirl was established in Philadelphia and it produces clothes since the beginning of the 20th century….  Swirl was producing dresses for the ‘modern’ woman in the 50s and by the 60s they began making women’s loungewear.  By the 70s, Americans were becoming ‘designer crazed’ so Swirl

This vintage 80s Bill Blass dress really does have that Flamenco dancer’s flavor doesn’t it?  I love it and I love the mix of patterns and especially the bow on the side of the waist.  I love seeing bows on the waistline, it’s so very 80s….  Remember back in the 80s every woman had bows either in her hair or on her clothes…  I love it.  The weight of this dress is actually quite substantial believe it or not…  That’s a sign of really good fabric and when it came to Bill Blass he didn’t leave any

Who in their right mind doesn’t love Carolina Herrera? Every time, and I mean every time, I get my hands on vintage Herrera I do my little victory dance….  To me there isn’t anything better than vintage Carolina Herrera because this dress was done in the early 90′s and it looks amazingly beautiful TODAY.  That’s the great thing about style, is good style never ever goes out of style and if anyone should know about style it’s Carolina Herrera.  Get yourself into some vintage Carolina Herrera and

I just read this fabulous article in the Huffington Post titled “This is What A Totally Green, Sustainable NYC Could Look Like”… click here to read…. The article starts off by saying that the people of NYC require some 4 million acres of food producing land just to grow enough food for New Yorkers to eat annually…  4 million acres of land…  that’s like the size of Connecticut people…  I loved looking at the futuristic city of New York would look like if it indeed went completely green and all th

Yes this 80s Pierre Balmain dress really does make quite the artistic statement doesn’t it?  Grant it I love solids and prefer them over patterns but for some reason I actually think this pattern is very upbeat.  This is just a fantastic French label, one of many, that has always delivered the goods…  I don’t know about you but when I see this label I swoon…  I’m Daniel Troppy your vintage luxury curator!  

You know I love it when I get the opportunity to interview a fellow thrifter so without further adieu here is one fascinating woman….

Q:  Please tell us your name and what you do professionally speaking.

A:  Melanie Woodroffe and I am a copy writer for an online beauty, fashion and lifestyle magazine and blogger for Capitol de Beaute, which I founded in 2007.

I know I’m not the only soul that is so excited about today being the first day of Spring…. Spring we all welcome your arrival and it comes not a moment to soon.  Spring time is always a great time for you to get inside your closet and start that Spring Cleaning….  Go through your clothes and only keep the pieces you love, treasure and worship, the rest donate or consign.  Spring is the time when I flip through all my clothes and purge.    The ones I don’t want to wear anymore I gather up for Mo