The weather is so lovely today, perfect for catching up on some laundry for the shop. As you know, everything at Circa is cleaned before it goes in, and for most items of vintage clothing that entails hand washing.

Today I’m tidying up all the bits and pieces that haven’t fitted into previous wash days and that includes a big bag of gloves. I collect them throughout the year and every few months, do a big wash – this is a smaller one than usual.

Here’s a pic from an earlier Glove Day. I bought the local shop out of pegs before doing this one:

Today I divided them into plains and coloureds – plains are the whites, the creams and the beiges. Most vintage gloves come in these colours, and as unexciting as they are to our modern eye, they were the perfect companion to an outfit back in the day. And, of course, they usually matched her shoes and handbag.

These are the plains – the coloureds are next. I’m excited about some of those: there’s a long pair of ’50s gloves in candy pink and another in royal blue. I love coloured gloves.

This seems like a good opportunity to say a few words about vintage gloves. I believe that there is no easier way to glam up an outfit than to add gloves – it’s an accessory that whilst being essential in the past (every lady would put them on as she left the house) is rarely seen these days, out of very formal occasions like weddings and balls. Like the hat, they’ve been mostly relegated to history.

The vintage lover will find gloves where ever she turns – but if she chooses to wear them, she will soon encounter a size issue: our hands (much like our heads and our feet) are larger than our grandmothers. In the past, gloves came in sizes and the size was your shoe size. The most common sizes are 6, 6 1/2, 7 and 7 1/2. Whether you can fit your modern hands into them depends in part on the style and the fabric. For ladies with either broad hands or a foot larger than size 8, Circa stocks a range of new gloves alongside the vintage gloves. They’re made of stretchy polyester. They don’t come in the variety of styles, colours and fabrics that their vintage sisters do, but they will fit.

Most vintage gloves come in cotton or nylon, occasionally in rayon or silk. All can be a bit stretchy depending on the weave – knits are best. Most of the vintage gloves we find in Australia are from the 1950s or 1960s – during the latter decade their use gradually declined although older ladies still wore them because they were used to it (it must have been a shock when young ladies started going without. This is of course a big reason why Jean Shrimpton was so shocking in 1965 at Derby Day).

Ladies would have large collections of them – when I buy an entire personal wardrobe I often find that there are twenty or more pairs stashed away. One lady had 74 pairs, all in cream! They used special glove soap to clean them (nowadays, I just use hand washing liquid).

The length of the glove worn was dictated by the style of sleeve and time of day:
- wrist and bracelet (half way up your lower arm) lengths suited day dresses and ensembles, usually worn in plain white, cream or beige.
- below the elbow was for an evening event with a short sleeve (eg, party dress)
- above the elbow suits a sleeveless dress (eg cocktail dress)
- opera length, the longest, almost come up to your shoulders – was best for a strapless gown.

During the early 1980s when sophistication made a comeback via the New Romantics, gloves came back into vogue. That was when I first started wearing them and my favourites were a pair of 50s opera length gloves in an intense cobalt. They perfectly matched one of my 50s party dresses, and I wore them to a 21st where upon I drank too much and ripped apart some garlic bread without taking them off.

Later, the birthday boy declared it was the sexiest thing he had ever seen…my gloves might have been ruined but it was worth it for my Dolce Vita moment.

Apologies for not posting many photos recently, I think this post will make up for it a little, especially with the glamour quotient, which is higher than usual!

Last week we had a film crew in the shop, filming for a New Zealand TV programme. At the same time, Super Kawaii Mama dropped by with her visiting friends Violet le Beaux and Jimmy America. So of course Fiona and I had to dress them all up in some of the great frocks and suits that are currently in store.

Somehow I neglected to take any shots of Jimmy looking very smart in a pinstripe suit – perhaps he’ll put up a photo himself? If you go over to his blog, you’ll see some great photos from their Melbourne visit including my favourite – parasols at dawn and an action shot of Fiona fitting Violet. You can see that the camera crew seemed to be enjoying themselves too.

Hi all,

I’m organising a group to see Loel Thomson’s Costume Collection.

Loel is a private collector who has dedicated her time and resources to the collection, preservation and display of two hundred years of Australian fashion. Many of her pieces were included in my book Love Vintage. I’m sure that she has the best collection of Australian fashion in the country, as well as jewellery, accessories and lace. There’s also an impressive tea cosy collection!

When: Wednesday 17th February at 7pm.
Where: The Costume Collection, 39 Greenaway Street, Bulleen.
What: Tour and talk on 200 years of Australian fashion.
Cost: $5 which Loel donates to a local nursing home.
Bookings: call Circa on 9419 8899

For those who are interested in social history, the history of fashion or just beautiful clothes, I thoroughly recommend this visit. Numbers are limited and RSVP is essential.

Here are some links to photos that I took on previous visits – please note that Loel often changes the displays so you might see some of these but you’ll probably see others from her collection of over 3,000 pieces:
Early 19th century dress.
Victorian era.
Edwardian era.
1920s dress.
1930s dress.
1940s dress.
1950s dress.
Swimwear.

1950s swimwear from Loel Thomson’s Costume Collection.

UPDATE 8th Feb: As sufficient numbers have been received to fill the group, we’re now taking names for any one who might be interested in a second tour, hopefully in the next few weeks. Please call the shop on 9419 8899. Thank you.

A new exhibition of ladies vintage fashion is opening on Friday night:

From exquisite party frocks to warm woollen coats and even the odd fancy dress costume, this is a rare opportunity to view original garments hand-made by Mrs Dorothy Hart of Benga House. Mrs Hart, who together with her husband Dr Ian Hart designed and built Benga House, was an accomplished seamstress.

The original dresses and clothes were all handmade by Mrs Hart between the 1940s and the 1970s.

What: Hart & Hand – Stitching together the private and public lives of Mrs D. Hart.
When: 13 January – 10 March, Wed to Fri, 10am to 4pm and Sun 12pm to 4pm.
Where: Benga House, Heritage Hill Museum and Historic Gardens 66 McCrae Street, Dandenong 3175. Phone phone 9793 4511.
Cost: Gold coin donation

Further information is available at the Heritage Hill website. The exhibition will be accompanied by a series of related talks, including two by Patricia Begg and one by me. I’ll post about those soon.

I had the opportunity to view some of the gowns, to help with dating and I can report that they are very good examples of a highly skilled seamstress – the standard of Mrs Hart’s work would nowadays qualify as couture. In particular I was impressed by her structured 1950s ballgowns (an early example of which can be viewed above). The clothes have been well preserved by the museum and this is the first time they have been displayed for the public.

Wintersun, Australia’s leading rock & roll nostalgia retro event is held annually in Coolangatta – from the website:

Wintersun 2010 starts on Friday 4th June and ends with the huge Best of Wintersun Concert on Monday 14th June. Featuring almost 1500 Hot Rods, Custom and Classic Cars, more than 100 bands and performers, dancing, movies, and competitions. The festival is held in the border coastal towns of Coolangatta and Tweed Heads on the New South Wales & Queensland border. Many events are free, some are in the streets while others are in the local clubs and shopping centres.

I’m excited to announce that in collaboration with the Lindy Charm School for Girls, Circa will be presenting a vintage swimsuit fashion parade.

What: The History of the Bathing Suit – a retrospective parade.
Where: Stage 8, Goodwin Park, Wintersun Precinct – Coolangatta, Queensland.
When: 2pm Saturday 12th June and 2pm Sunday 13th June.
Cost: free

Poster design courtesy Karlee Slater – click on image to see larger.

Now here’s where you can help – we’re looking for volunteers to help us with the parade. We need models (men and ladies), dressers and hair and make up artists. If you’re going to Wintersun and would like to be involved in this fun event, please email me at nicole@circavintageclothing.com.au

Thank you!

Over the last century, the way we shop has changed a lot – from small shops, to mail order catalogues, to large department stores, to the boutique phenomenon of the ’60s and ’70s, to the large shopping centres of more recent decades – and now in the inner city we’re going back to smaller specialist shops whilst for many it’s still about heading to a large suburban mall.

The 1920s and 1930s in particular were a boom time for department stores – and although their numbers have dwindled, you can still see their beautiful structures in many cities and towns. Can you imagine shopping for dresses in a salon-style environment where you might relax with a cup of tea whilst beautifully coiffured and dressed models paraded gowns for your selection? You can see similar scenes in films like “How to Marry a Millionaire”, “Vertigo” and “The Women” (1939 version). It must have been quite wonderful – especially compared to today’s shopping experience where you’re faced with racks of clothing and don’t know where to start.

As a vintage clothing retailer, I try to combine the best of modern and old styles of shopping, to produce a pleasant environment – so I’m always pleased to find photos of old shops and their displays. They make wonderful sources for inspiration.

A lady with an interest in local history has found a large cache of photos at Perth’s state library and loaded them up to Facebook – I can recommend the community “Beautiful buildings and cool places Perth has lost” but it was the photos of Boans Department store that made my heart race.

Boans was Perth’s largest and oldest department store, opened in 1895 and rebuilt in 1912 to the building you see below. It sat between Wellington and Murray Streets, opposite the train station and was sold to Myer in 1985. The following year it was demolished to make way for the Forrest Chase shopping centre. At one time it was the largest employer in Western Australia, and had many suburban and country branches.

I remember Boans quite well – I used to go shopping there as a child in the late ’70s and would buy haberdashery and fabrics for my home-sewn dresses. It was a charmingly old fashioned shop and looked very much as it is in the photos below – but by that time it must have seemed very out of date and most shoppers were going elsewhere.

Here are some photos of Boans from the ’30s, ’40s and ’50s – if you click on each, it will come up in full size.

Update: a book has just been published about the store: Boans for Service: The story of a department store 1895-1986 by David Hough. Might have to pick up a copy.

Boans Department Store – 1930s.

Boans Department Store – 1940s

Boans Department Store – 1950s

All images courtesy Battye Library with thanks to Michelle Turner and Facebook community “Beautiful buildings and cool places Perth has lost”

I buy a lot of vintage clothing but it’s a special treat to buy it from the original owner – a personal wardrobe reveals a lot about a woman and her life. It holds together with a consistency and is often more than the sum of its parts.

Audrey Hepburn, one of the great beauties and style icons of the 20th century was also the muse of Givenchy and a woman of exceptional grace and elegance. A couple of days ago Kerry Taylor Auctions in London had the privilege of auctioning a collection of her personal gowns.

Covering the decades from the 1950s to the 1970s, they show a continuing sense of elegance. Their simple but feminine shapes effectively convey the woman we knew and loved – and they show how strong her sense of style was despite all the rapid changes of fashions during the late ’60s and early ’70s when she continued to wear the sort of dresses and gowns she wore in the earlier time.

It’s an exceptional collection – here are some highlights:

For Sydneysiders who missed the Melbourne launch of “Our Girls”, Madeleine Hamilton’s lovely new book about Aussie pin up models of the ’40s and ’50s, come along to Berkelouw Books’ Wine Bar this Saturday for your chance to get a signed copy from the author.

What: “Our Girls” Sydney book launch
When: 4pm Saturday December 5th
Where: Berkelouw Books’ Wine Bar, 70 Norton Street Leichardt (above Berkelouw Books)

Please RSVP to info@arcadepublications.com

Click on the above invite to see in full size.

Some of my favourite things are the beautiful cotton print frocks they produced in the 1950s. I bought my first one in 1980 and I’ve loved them more and more with every year – cool and comfortable, they’re the perfect dress for a hot summer’s day and with care, will last for many more years.

Here’s Victoria swirling around in some of the current favourites – sized between 6 and 12 so many are clipped to her slim frame. Available in the shop now. Petticoats are also available – in white, red or black.

Last week saw the launch of Madeleine Hamilton’s fabulous new book – Our Girls, Aussie Pin-ups of the ’40s and ’50s.

It was a wonderful night: Wes Snelling MCed, Caroline and Kay from the Tap-Pets tap-danced in purple sequins and Circa was there too, with a mini ’50s fashion parade and beauty pageant with glamourous modern day pin-ups Candice DeVille, Nici Blue Eyes and Becky Argent.

Here are some pics of the show – hope you enjoy. As always, click on the image to see in full, click again to see in full size. That’s author Madeleine with the microphone.

My fav outfit of the night: Nici resplendant in red satin and lace party dress – available now in Circa for a happy new owner. Here worn with a matching ’50s style petticoat.

All photos courtesy Tim Hamilton.

More about the night can be seen at Candice’s blog and Stomper Girl’s blog. Official photos by Louise M. Cooper here. Review by The Enthusiast. Oh – and Lady Melbourne was also there! As well, Style Melbourne have also covered the event.

As well, it was filmed for the ABC’s 7.30 Report. Hope to have news about screening date soon.