I love coats, I really do, but at Circa we currently have more than we really need.

So – we’re going to have a Coat Sale – all coats are $80! They’ve all been dry cleaned, most have been repaired although at this price some may have damage to the lining or the occasional moth nibble. Most are from the 1950s, some are ’40s, ’60s or ’70s. I love colour so there are quite a few to choose from – we also have all kinds of wools from llama, mohair, camel, velour, boucle, gabardine and tweeds.

There are men’s coats as well as ladies coats, some are full length, some hip length, some the short “car coat” or “topper” length. All are in very wearable condition and looking for happy new and appreciative homes.

We have a rack full of them and as they sell, I shall bring some more in – here’s a selection of what we have right now (with thanks to my wonderful model Fiona).

How long will the sale last? As long as our stocks last. Please note that sale is for overcoats only, not evening coats, afternoon coats, opera coats or jackets. All coats are one offs and it’s first come, best dressed.

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.

As the decade draws to a close, I thought it might be nice to revisit some of the best frocks of the era. Naturally, they’re all either vintage or vintage inspired – glamour is so often influenced by the Golden years of the 20th century, isn’t it?

The dress that started it all – when Julia Roberts chose a 1982 Valentino frock to accept her Oscar for Erin Brockovich, the power of vintage to impress was there for all to see. Has she ever looked more elegant? Photo credit by Chris Weeks/Getty Images.

Penelope Cruz at the Oscars, 2007 in a glamourous Atelier Versace gown. This one reminds me of Grace Kelly – pulling out all the stops. Photo credit by Sara De Boer/Retna.

Kate Winslet at the Oscars, 2002 in a beautiful gown by Ben de Lisi. I can see Dorothy Lamour in this striking ’40s inspired gown. Photo credit by Tammie Arroyo/Retna.

Emma Watson at the London premiere of “Harry Potter and the Half-blood Prince” in 2009. Original ’70s dress by Ossie Clark, it still looked fabulous when she got drenched in the rain on the red carpet. Photo credit by James Veysey/Camera Press/Retna.

Keira Knightley in “Atonement” 2007, wearing the fabulous emerald silk gown that helped to sway modern brides from fluffy strapless meringues to a more elegant and sexy movie star look inspired by the 1930s.

Sarah Jessica Parker wearing the gown that inspired a generation to seek the perfect vintage frock – in the final TV episode of “Sex and the City” 2004. Although looking very much like a ’50s prom dress, this version was designed by Versace. Photo credit by HBO.

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:

Last Wednesday we held the Melbourne book launch for Love Vintage, with a vintage parade of thirty outfits from the ’30s to the ’70s (most of which are featured in the book).

Without further ado, allow me to present some photos from the parade – if you click on each one, you can see it in full. All photos courtesy Victoria Bennett.

I’d also like to thank everyone who helped with the event –
Models: Candice DeVille, Samantha Doll, Becky Argent, Fiona Hamilton, Nici Blue Eyes and Nicole Gregurek.
MC: Andrew McClelland.
DJ: Nic Toupee.
Doorman: Jeremy Murphy.
Stage Manager: Anna Schoo.
Dressers: Esther Hayes, Remie Cibis and Denise Cox.
Hair and Make up: Carly Robinson of the Lindy Charm School.
Book sellers: Anna Knight and Tim Hamilton.
Photography: Victoria Bennett.

Big thank you to The Order of Melbourne for providing a wonderful venue, and everyone who came – including Jean, my step-mother, who flew over from Perth for the night. It was fabulous, the largest event I’ve organised and everything went off like a dream. Andrew as MC did such a great job, he had all of us laughing, especially the models! You have to click on the images to see their smiling faces now.

The books are of course, available to purchase from Circa and book stores every where – cost is $50. I’ve had some enquiries from outside of Victoria so tomorrow I’m going to get some postage quotes for other destinations (apologies to those who have emailed, response will be forthcoming).

And now a little contest…one of the dresses in the parade was worn back to front. Can you guess which one? Comment below (you can see the name of each photo if you hover your mouse over it) and a lucky person will receive a copy of Love Vintage, including postage to anywhere in Australia. Entries close COB Saturday (6pm Melbourne time).

At the recent vintage fair at Williamstown I chanced upon a remarkable frock – a Merivale from the early ’70s constructed patchwork-style from a large collection of original vintage fabrics from the ’30s and ’40s.

Not especially attractive or flattering (the dress is empire style and rather like a maxi-length smock with long blouson sleeves), I could not pass it up. It’s a piece of history, from a rare time.

During the late ’60s and early ’70s, fashion went backwards as much as it went forwards. Inspired by the ’20s to the ’50s, vintage came into vogue for the first time as beautiful (and original) clothing could still be found in the op shops for a pittance. Oh, how the story of these glory days are told often at Circa! Can you imagine finding beaded flapper gowns for a dollar or two?

The House of Merivale was to Australia what Biba and Ossie Clark was to the UK: stylish and sophisticated clothing, now highly collectable. This from The Powerhouse’s site:

Established by John and Merivale Hemmes, the landmark House of Merivale and clothing designed by Merivale revolutionised the Australian fashion scene. John and Merivale Hemmes were mavericks in Australian fashion. Modelled on London’s famous concept boutiques and catering to 18-25 year olds, the House of Merivale was the first specialty fashion boutique in Australia.

The House of Merivale was not just a shop; it was a phenomenon that significantly influenced a generation of young Australian’s attitude to shopping and the fashion experience. The House of Merivale was the place to go to for the latest trends in music, fashion and make-up and was the first store in Australia to sell the mini. The popularity of the boutique was such that teenagers would be lined up outside the door.

If you find a Merivale for a good price, consider picking it up as they’re getting harder to find these days and going up in value. Meanwhile – what of my patchwork dress? It’s a mystery. It was found in a country op shop by a traveller, who brought it to Diamond Dog of Seddon, where the lovely Mellita brought it to the Fair whereupon it caught my eye.

How can I be sure that it’s made of vintage fabrics? Rayons of the sort it uses are fragile creatures when wet and do not stand up to machine washing (I recommend hand washing for most, but dry clean only for crepes) so during the 1950s a new type of rayon was invented that could withstand modern rigours. The fabrics in my dress could only be old because the versions made in the ’60s and ’70s are very different. Not surprisingly, it comes with a “dry clean only” label but all the same, I’m surprised that it has survived. Crepes shrink if washed, as vintage lovers often find out to our detriment.

Here is a sample of the fabrics comprising this incredible frock. In the bottom row you’ll find one of the dress in full.

I think I’ve recovered from my little passion for Fred Astaire – did you enjoy the clips of him dancing? Poor me, I had to watch through so many to find the right ones to share with you. He was a wonderful man, one of the true old school. It’s a pity that dance isn’t as respected an artform as many others.

It’s back to the near past now – or so it seems as the mid to late 1970s have been influencing fashion quite a bit of late. Here is Jerry Hall, looking glamourous at the height of her modelling fame, dating Bryan Ferry (pre-Mick Jagger) and jetting to exotic locations. These photos are all from a Vogue pattern book, circa 1975 – they reveal how much home sewing has fallen from grace, and how large the market was for dressmaking patterns to be able to afford the sort of budget a shoot like this would need.

One of the great things about this spread is that it clearly shows the different trends of the day – the flowing goddess gowns, the exotically Eastern caftans and the Edwardian influenced romantic white dresses with upswept hair. Jerry’s tall frame suits the styles well and she looks at home amongst the wonderful locations (as well as in the arms of a well dressed man).

As always, click on an image to see in full.

We had a quiet day in the shop today, so Betty and I decided to play dress ups with some of the new frocks.

Eras date from the ’40s to the ’60s, with one from the early 1970s – to make up for posting an image of polyester dresses last time, these are all made of natural fibres: silk, cotton or rayon (technically a man made natural fibre).

Betty is a typical mannequin of the 1940s: aloof and disinterested. Despite her fabulous colouring (which seems to show every garment to best effect) she always looks like she has something more important to do…I wonder what?

A lady came in the shop earlier and said that she hadn’t realised that we were a shop, because when she looked at the website, it looked like we just organised events!

Nothing could be further from the truth – Circa functions mainly as a buyer and seller of good quality vintage clothing, it’s just that I don’t often post to the website about our stock because I get lots of email enquiries from people who want to buy it and we’re not an online shop – if however, you’re interested in anything we have, we’d love you to visit and try it on and see if it’s to your liking.

As far as organising events go, we do from time to time but most of the events mentioned here are independent, they’re things that I like and think that you might like to know about too.

Now – onto the reason for today’s post – we’ve been working hard to get new stock in for spring/summer and especially, we love vintage florals. Here are some of the prints from garments currently in, the eras date from the 1930s to the late 1970s. Apologies for posting so many, it was hard to choose favourites and they make a nice collection, don’t you think?

Most of these are frocks (because we love frocks) but they include skirts, blouses, jackets and swimsuits. I was tempted to include scarves but then we really would have hundreds!