Deconstructing Vintage

I have a secret to share with you. I am a closet vintage vixen. Back in the day, I would clad top to toe in fab finds from "op shops" (that short for opportunity shops) so popular in Melbourne, Australia and Stockholm, Sweden where I spent my school days and even small town finds from US vintage stores. I even had not one but two pair of Audrey Hepburn style vintage skinny ski pants. These days my vintage taste has refined specifically to the deconstructing vintage movement. Deconstructed fashion is providing some of the most innovative, sensual and playful looks around. And the growing eco-chic movement is being redefined by designers who love to break the rules. But it also inspires mainstream consumers and fashion-lovers like me to reinterpret our own old clothes. One of my favorite ways to incorporate vintage into the mix is by pairing "something old with something new" as the saying goes. I popped over to the Jak & Jil Blog and saw this pictorial on Catherine Baba.










I love this antique kimono dating from the 1920's to 1950's, paired with skinny pants and what looks to be a Gilligan style cap to keep the rays at bay. Catherine, you are particularly spectacular in vintage with this pop of red!




Vintage kimonos provide a wonderful inspiration for deconstruction.

Check out Glamorwrap for deconstructing vintage kimonos like the one shown below.

Re-purposed from a 1940s kimono, this GlamourWrap is unusual in that the fabric is almost sheer in a lightweight woven silk. The silhouette can be worn in a myriad of ways, transforming from a vest to a dress, from a cape to a belted jacket, and back into a kimono again, and work as wonderfully over jeans as an evening dress.

Best of all, Shrimpton Couture is running their all new ANNUAL event once a year (hence the annual part) to clean out the racks and get the site ready for new stock for the new year. ALL the designers that work with vintage will be taking part and pretty much every vintage item on the site will be marked down. This is NOT a 10% off event - this is a almost every item is 20-60 and even a few are 70% off event!