Fashion Blogs

The Sunday Morning show on CBS with Charles Osgood this past Sunday featured The Green School in Bali and all I kept thinking was “why didn’t I go there?”  When you click on The Green School’s website I loved reading their mission statement “Our vision is of a natural, holistic, student-centered learning environment that empowers and inspires our students to be creative, innovative, green leaders.”  The Green School is located in Bali, Indonesia, one of the most amazing environments on planet Ea

Weeks ago they pulled 18 pieces from my store DOUBLETAKE for a fashion show called  ”A Divine Tribute to Fashionata” a tribute to Rich’s department store.  The day the AJC was photographing the photo shoot to cover the event with models from the past, I styled the models for the photo-opt.    I handed the AJC “journalist” Nedra Rhones my card and she said she would be contacting me to interview me for the article.  Needless to say the “journalist” Nedra never called and the article came out that

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

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

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

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

Yes I love Ungaro.  When you click on the YouTube interview video wait till you see the runway collection from the 80′s..  All those patterns, prints, fabrics are just so sexy & creative.  When I look at vintage Ungaro runway collections I think that they are timeless.  Any woman could wear his pieces from decades ago because they were perfection from the very beginning…  This navy knit wool short sleeve Ungaro is just that perfection…..  Enjoy the video and enjoy wearing luxury vintage…  I’m Da

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

Who in their right mind doesn’t love finding a little piece of Pucci?  I flipped that’s my reaction to what I did when I first spotted it.  I know it’s a pocket handkerchief square but the right girl could use this as a head scarf for sure….  The thrill about shopping green – shopping recycled – shopping second hand is you are shopping smart.  Why you ask?  Because the world we all live in today manufactures items that have expiration dates on them.  You buy items from The Gap, Old Navy, H&M, Za

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

I don’t know why but the second I saw this gorgeous Valentino LBD I thought ‘wouldn’t Wendy Davis look amazing in this when she becomes Texas next governor’???  I swear to you that’s exactly what I thought, my mind goes in several different directions and it’s hard for me to keep focus!  I love this Valentino black velvet top with the zipper sleeves… I love seeing zippers on the sleeve…  the skirt part of the dress is a luscious wool fabric.  It’s very clean, it’s very simple, it’s very Valentin

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

There are just so many damn cool things about this Mila Schon 70′s dress I really don’t know where to begin.  First lets start by the color… will you just check out the shade of pink… It’s the perfect shade of pink!  Then lets go by what the size of this dress is ‘Large’…  you know it’s vintage when you see sizing like that.  It’s a 4-6 but nowhere near a size large.  Then I love the lace up on both sides of the dress and finally what I adore about this dress are the 2 high slits up both sides o

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 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

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

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.

This vintage 90s Oscar de la Renta velvet gown is a show-stopper if ever I’ve seen one.  I mean can you just imagine what the woman who originally wore this gown looked like at the event???  It’s just stunning.  I love it just a little bit off the shoulders and I love the added bow in the back above the sexy slit.  Oscar de la Renta has been designing now for what feels like forever and he’s a designer that I never get bored with.  He is always 2 steps ahead of the curb and he really does know

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

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