Waiting for the Inaugural dress

I am waiting on the edge of my seat to see who the designer of Michelle Obama's inaugural gown will be. Four years ago with the unveiling of her inaugural dress a relatively unknown designer, Jason Wu was put on the fashion map.

Michelle Obama at 2009 Inaugural Ball.

The dress he designed for the First Lady was a one-shouldered, white chiffon gown that was embellished with organza flowers with Swarovski crystal centers. Wu did not know that Mrs. Obama had chosen his dress until he saw it on TV the evening of the inauguration. His life was instantly transformed and resulted in celebrities wearing his clothing, a collection for Target, and a new bridge line called Miss Wu. He happened to have been in Chicago a week and a half ago to promote Miss Wu at Nordstrom and I was lucky enough to have met him briefly and snap a photo.

Stuart Mesires, Jason Wu, Annie Barlow

Secrecy surrounds the First Lady's choice of designer for her gown this year as well. WWD has reported that, "East Wing staffers reportedly requested samples from numerous designers for Michelle Obama's Inauguration clothes." And some of the names alledgedly in the running," are: Barbara Tfank, Bibu Mohapatra, Derek Lam, Laura Smalls, Marchesa, Michael Kors, Naeem Khan, Narcisco Rodriguez, Prabal Gurung, Thakoon, Tory Burch, Tracy Reese, and Zero + Maria Cornejo. 

Americans have always had an interest in what the First Lady wears to the Inaugural Ball.

1909 Inaugural dress worn by Helen Taft, from Smithsonian Collection

 The Smithsonian Museum of American History in Washington D.C. has a collection of the First Ladies' choices that go back 100 years starting with Helen Taft. Taft was the first to the First Ladies to donate her gown to the Smithsonian and ever since then all of the First Ladies have donated their gowns as well.

1961 Inaugural dress worn by Jackie Kennedy

One of the most glamorous gowns was the one one worn by Jacqueline Kennedy in 1961 to celebrate the inauguration of her husband John F. Kennedy. She designed her own gown with the help of Bergdorf Goodman's Ethan Frankau. 

Detail of Jackie Kennedy's 1961 Inaugural dress.

It was a strapless faille sheath with a bodice embroidered with beads and silver thread and a silk chiffon overblouse layered over it. 

Jackie and John F. Kennedy at 1961 Inaugural Ball.

It was worn with matching cape, full length kid gloves, and matching clutch.

One of the most controversial gowns was worn by Roslyn Cater in 1977.

Roslyn Cater at 1977 Inaugural Ball.

It was a gold trimmed blue chiffon dress topped with a gold embroidered sleeveless coat.  It was designed by Mary Matisse for Jimmae.  

1977 Inaugural dress worn by Roslyn Carter.

The controversy occurred because Mrs. Carter had already worn the gown in 1971 to the ball celebrating Jimmy Cater's inauguration as governor of Georgia. This was seen by many as a slight by the First Lady towards the American Fashion Industry and as downplaying the importance of the Inaugural Ball.

Tonight it will be interesting to see which designer's inaugural gown will be the next to enter the archives of the Smithsonian and perhaps even launch the career of a lesser known designer. 

Vintage Influence at the 2013 Golden Globes

Since I'm always on the lookout for vintage, I was happy to see all of the vintage influence on the red carpet at the Golden Globes this past Sunday.

Zooey Deschanel wore a strapless red Oscar de la Renta 

gown very reminiscent of the 1950's.

But perhaps most striking to me was the matching pearl necklace, bracelet, and earring set that she donned - very retro!

And very reminiscent of Jackie O.

Lucy Liu wore a strapless floral gown by Carolina Herrera which was also very 1950s in feel.

It reminds me of the 1950s cocktail dress pictured above.

Jennifer Lawrence's coral organza gown was by Dior Haute Couture. It is another strapless, full-skirted dress but the part that seemed most influenced by the 1950's 

was the bust line. 

It was very much like the bullet bras from the era.

Sienna Miller wore a custom designed top and skirt by the British designer, Erdem. It was heavily influenced by the 1960s in both style and color.

The boxy top and fabric of the 1960s pink dress above, reminds me of Sienna's dress.

One of my favorite dresses was the one designed by Tom Ford for Julianne Moore.

It was very similar to the 1960s dress that Moore wore in Ford's movie, 'A Single Man'.

The dress from the movie can be seen above. It was designed in the 1960's by the American department store, Nuesteters.

It seems that the more things change the more they stay the same!

Pantone color of the year 2013

Pantone announced today that the color of the year for 2013 is Emerald.  See below for a look back on some emerald green faves.

Grace Kelly wearing an emerald green Givenchy dress to visit the White House in 1961 (love the hat!).

Velvet 1970's Emilio Pucci dress.

Cartier carved emerald and sapphire brooch c. 1920

Vintage 1970s emerald green Lilly Pulitzer print.

An Emerald City jacket from the 1939 movie, The Wizard of Oz. It appeared in the movie when Dorothy and her friends arrive in Emerald City.

Diana Vreeland: The Eye Has To Travel

Portrait of Diana Vreeland and Marissa Berenson; Photograph by James Karales - Courtesy of the Estate of James Karales

If you are looking for something to do this weekend, run don’t walk to see, “Diana Vreeland: The Eye Has To Travel.” It is an intimate documentary film about one of the most influential women of the 20th century, an enduring icon whose influence changed the face of fashion, beauty, art, publishing and culture forever. 

Diana Vreeland was the legendary fashion editor of Harper’s Bazaar (1937-1962) and editor-in-chief at Vogue (1962-1971). In 1971 she began a remarkable stint at the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute, where she helped popularize its historical collections.

Portrait of Diana Vreeland in Vogue Office; Photograph by James Karales - Courtesy of Estate of James Karales

Vreeland was arguably the 20th century’s greatest arbiter of style who dazzled the world with her unique vision. During her fifty year reign as the “Empress of Fashion”  she discovered Lauren Bacall, launched Twiggy, advised Jackie Kennedy in matters of style, and established countless trends that have withstood the test of time. Her famous red living room became the headquarters for New York arts and society. She was truly a fashion legend. 

As Jackie Onassis once put it: “To say Diana Vreeland has dealt only with fashion trivializes what she has done. She has commented on the times in a wise and witty manner. She has lived a life.”

"Diana Vreeland: The Eye Has To Travel" is playing at the Music Box Theatre, Chicago.

Ladybug Vintage in TCW

Ladybug Vintage is thrilled to be featured in the September issue of TCW!

Ladybug Vintage photos featured on Lilly Blog

I am so excited and flattered that Ladybug Vintage was recently featured in the amazing new on-line magazine, Gray's Lane! It is a beautifully styled and put together tome celebrating the iconic style of Main Line Philadelphia but will be appreciated by all stylish ladies. 

The photos above are from today's Lilly Pulitzer's blog entry about Gray's Lane.  It features an interview with the beautiful and talented, Rachel McGinn who is the photographer for Gray's Lane as well as one of the editors. The Lilly blog can be found here: http://blog.lillypulitzer.com/.

Time for Lilly!

Yesterday was the first day of Summer which means, it’s time to get the Lillys out! The photos below represent just a small portion of my collection. I am a HUGE collector of vintage Lilly Pulitzer. You could say that I am obsessed with collecting it. I am always on the hunt for a vintage Lilly “find”. I can’t pinpoint exactly what it is about them that I am drawn to. It could be - the color combinations....

the whimsical prints....

looking for the hidden "Lilly in every print....

or the sumptuous guipure lace that so many of them used as trim....

Some of my favorite vintage Lillys are the atypical ones - the ones that are colored differently from the iconic ‘pink and green’ prints and the ones that have different subject matters. For example, I love the red and white print below of the ladies with long flowing locks of hair - so bizarre yet so great!

Or the print below from 1976 that was made to commemorate the Bicentennial. It comes from a ladies knit shirt and I actually also have a matching men’s tie. I keep trying to get my husband to wear the tie on the 4th of July when I wear my shirt but so far to no avail - maybe this is the year!

I also love this lemon print.

When collecting vintage Lillys it is also interesting to look at the different labels that were used. The labels that have “The Lilly” written in orange lettering are some of the oldest. They were used in the early 1960s until the mid 1970s.

Starting in the mid 1970s “The Lilly” started to be written in green.

In 1968 a Men’s line called “Men’s Stuff” was added.

In the early 1970’s Lilly Pulitzer began to make printed cotton and polyester knits. The knits had their own labels. The earliest were written in orange.

and later in green.

There was a line called “The Minnie” for little girls named after Lilly’s daughter, Minnie.

There was also a line called “Liza” for Juniors that was named after Lilly’s other daughter, Liza.

While I’m thrilled to be getting out the Lillys and I’ll be sad in a few months when they all have to go back into storage, I’ll be comforted by the fact that I have an amazing wide wale corduroy printed Lilly caftan with brightly colored yarn trim to wear throughout the cold months.

And as Lilly is famous for saying, “It’s always summer somewhere!”