Bonjour from the French Alps!

So this explains why I haven't posted on my blog for (cough) some time. Its because my family and I moved to France - yay! (sort of). Now, let me fill you in about why I say 'sort of'. In the past 3 months not only have I been trying (and I stress the word 'trying') to complete my PhD, but I also had to pack and store three wardrobes of vintage clothes and organise everything associated with moving a husband and two young children to Europe from Australia. To say it was stressful is an understatement.

However, I am here! And I am glad to say I love it here in France. We are living in Grenoble, which is a lovely city three hours from Paris, at the foot of the alps. As you can see from the photo above, it is still a bit wintery here, but the sun still comes out during the day (I think technically-speaking it is Spring here in Europe?!). Whatever the season, it was great to bring my 60s hot pink Lilli Ann coat out for an airing in France.  That photo was taken right outside our apartment building. Coming from Australia, where large backyards are very common, I was a little concerned about living in an apartment with two small, very active children, but so far it has been great because this park is right outside and our neighbours have similarly-aged children who have already made friends with mine, so all is good (or I should say 'tres bon!)

Photos of Grenoble - Courtesy Grenoble Tourism

These are some photos from Grenoble, courtesy of the Grenoble Tourism office. The photos may not do the city/town justice, as it is very pretty. There are a few things which are striking about living here, and I am not sure whether it is just Grenoble or France in general, but everything is so clean and there is hardly any pollution. I think this is largely down to the absolutely fantastic public transport and cycle lanes here - everyone cycles and it is really safe as most roads have dedicated cycle lanes. The public transport (mainly trams, but also some buses) are super clean and super cheap. I always found driving in Melbourne incredibly stressful so I am just so happy not to have to drive here.

Overview of Grenoble, showing the mountains in the distance

I do hope to post much more often now I am in France (and once I finish my PhD, hopefully in 3 months time). I am going to Italy and New York in May so I will be posting lots of photos of fashion from those trips so stay tuned. I packed all my Dior New Look dresses and hats in my bag so I am hoping to get lots of outfit posts taken in front of lovely French sights.

Thank you all for being patient with my intermittent posts. I really appreciate it.

Au revoir for now from France! (if you couldn't tell by now, my French is shocking)

Outfit details

1960s vintage Lilli Ann trapeze coat in hot pink ebay UK

pink gloves Love Vintage fair, Sydney

scarf Myer Melbourne

A beautiful 'Lilli Annette' Diminuitive Suit

As regular readers will know, I love the US vintage designer 'Lilli Ann'. I was very lucky to buy a beautiful 'petite' blue and red suit on etsy from the lovely Catbooks1940s a few months ago. It is probably one of the nicest suits I have ever bought.  The quality of the fabric and tailoring is really quite breathtaking.

 I should note that the skirt I am wearing with the jacket is not actually Lilli Ann, but one that Catbooks1940s had originally listed with the jacket on etsy. She had misplaced the matching Lilli Ann skirt, but then later found it and threw that in for free so I got two skirts for the price of one (what a nice seller!). This is great for mixing and matching and makes the suit really versatile.

Unfortunately I can't wear the matching (navy) skirt at the moment because I have put on a little bit of weight over winter (cough!) and it is too tight on me now. Fortunately I think the red skirt works well with this jacket (I do have to cut down on the sweets though, I just ate homemade apple sponge pudding and icecream - yowzers!).

 I love the red cuffs on the jacket - totally adorable.

These are some photos of the suit from Catbooks1940s listing of the item on etsy which will show you better detail of the jacket. You can see (from her far superior photography!) the beauty of the trim on the suit. . .

And finally, one of my favourite parts of vintage items - the label! This one says 'Lilli Annette - Diminuitive. Ahhh, isn't that cute? (I am only 5 1/2 feet tall)(I count that half!) so it is accurate, and rather nice, to say I am 'Diminuitive'!

I hope you enjoyed that little look at my little Lilli Annette suit!

Outfit details

Lilli Ann jacket and vintage skirt  Catbooks1940s on etsy

bag etsy

earrings  etsy

A little more Lilli Ann . . . Suit up!

I love a good suit (as the fabulous Barney in How I Met your Mother would say 'Suit up!').

I justify my rather large collection of vintage suits on the basis that I have to wear suits to work. Well, actually I don't have to. I just choose to. But I find it far better to stand in front of 200 students wearing a nice suit than jeans.

This jacket is one my favourite vintage designers, Lilli Ann.

I got it for an absolute song on etsy for $45 (plus $16 postage, so $61 in total). I do find if you are prepared to buy a jacket separately rather than a full suit than Lilli Ann can be reasonable (you just need to look around). This jacket had some very minor issues - just a couple of small holes in the back of the velvet collar which were easily mended and it needed a good dry-clean. It is also missing the top button, but I don't particularly want to wear it with the top button done up anyway, so that is not a problem (all these issues were revealed in the etsy listing by the way, which is always good, thank you etsy seller!).

.

The fit of the jacket is fairly snug - I prefer my suits to fit like that. Although I did notice that when I actually wore this to work and had to do a lot of typing and mousing it was a bit too snug!

You will notice that in any of the 50s suit ads, the suit is always super fitted. See for instance this ad . . .

Now, I'm sorry, but there is no way this woman could do a day's work in a suit that was that tight!

(but it does look absolutely fantastic!)

One of my absolutely favourite aspects of buying vintage, especially from the US, is the labels.

And these labels are some of the best I have seen. It is always a bonus to not only get the designer label (eg Lilli Ann) but also where it was sold in the US.

How I wish I could be transported back in time and visit Arthur's in Wilmington, Delaware!

When I can control myself and stop spending all my money on vintage (!) I would love to do a road trip around America and visit all the towns featured on my labels - Portland, Delaware, Ohio . . . Of course, all the old shops are probably gone, but the places sound great anyway.

Just to end this post, a photo of one of the best things you can ever see on a vintage suit . . . 

This Lilli Ann label dates my suit to the 1940s (see

http://vintagefashionguild.org/label-resource/lilli-ann/)

The suit also had a union label on it (which was too hard to photograph - sorry!) but which also obviously ads to its authenticity. There are some great tips on dating garments using union labels at this link.

Thanks for reading about Lilli Ann and good luck with finding your own Lilli Ann treasures!

Outfit details

Lilli Ann 40s jacket etsy (seller was 'errolflynn')

skirt also a Lilli Ann, but from another suit

shoes vintage Armani from Salvos op shop Oakleigh (a rare find believe you me!)

vintage black bag one of my most beloved items - my grandmother's handbag. My grandmother died before I was born so I treasure this and love to wear it.

A French inspired Lilli Ann outfit

Recently I went to the annual French Festival at Como house and thought I would wear the French colours to fit in with the theme of the day. C'est magnifique as the French say! 

I love red and navy blue, such a great combination.

Lilli Ann suit ebay

Hat etsy

earrings ebay

top op shop

In between drinking lots of red wine and eating fabulous Brie cheese and crackers, I went on a little tour of Como House. It is sooooo me - lots of old furniture and bits and bobs. It is well worth a visit . . .

Look at this - the most beautiful pair of gloves and a real live box from Georges Department Store! (formerly the best department store on Collins Street, Melbourne) - everyone talks about how wonderful this store was . . .

And my personal favourite - vintage canisters!

 

And last but not least, a cute little tea cosy in the dining room of the 'servant's quarters'

Como House, Toorak: see http://www.comohouse.com/

A Lilli Ann magazine ad to match my coat

Firstly I should apologise for my absence from the blogging world for the last few weeks. I have been very busy with work. Now, onto more excting things . . !

As my regular readers will know, I love Lilli Ann suits and coats (and other 'New Look' outfits). I recently bought a fabulous 'nipped waist' coat from ebay which, by the way, is divine (see earlier post). When I got it in the post I nearly cried it was so beautiful (yes, I know, its not normal to cry over clothes, but I don't think I am normal). An outfit shot of the coat in question will be the subject of a separate post, but for now I wanted to show you the fabulous magazine ad I just bought from ebay to match my coat!

I am going to frame it when I get it and hang it near my closet. I very much doubt I will look as fabulous in it as the model, but I have hope yet!

These ads can be purchased from ebay - just search under your desired designer and 'ad' and it should come up.

I think its a really cute idea if you really love a particular item. Perhaps I will buy some more (?!)

Let me know if you have any good ideas for showcasing vintage or other decorating ideas.

For the love of Lilli Ann - a 5.30am bidding frenzy!

Regular readers of my blog will know that I love Lilli Ann, a US designer that made wonderful suits and coats from the 1940's-60's (her company made garments after the 60's, but the best stuff is from the 40's and 50's). Unfortunately, her 40's and 50's garments are quite rare and quite expensive (suits range between US$ 400-700), so it was wonderful that I found this fabulous 'nipped waist' coat on ebay recently . . .

I love the 'hourglass', New Look design of this coat - it is really divine. I have been on the prowl for a coat exactly like this for months, but the ones on etsy were in the US $399 range. I simply did not want to pay that much for something I could not try on so imagine my delight when I spotted one on ebay USA for $9.99 auction (or $195 Buy it now). Of course, like a fool I didn't use the Buy it now facility and instead thought, 'oh not many people will see this (no one had bid on it by then), so I will go for the auction, perhaps I can get it for much less'.

Little did I know that the 12.43 bid end time in the US translated to 5.43am on a Sunday morning Australian time - ouch! So on Saturday night, after having a few too many red wines at a school trivia night I set my mobile phone alarm for 5.30 - was I mad? The answer is, yes, I think I am a little mad when it comes to vintage, so up I got at 5.30am, foggy with a slight hangover and logged on to ebay, just to find out that the coat was already up to $203.50. I must explain that I not an early morning person, I repeat not. I usually get out of bed at 8am when I can (!).

However, there was a happy ending to this story, as I can report that due to my well-timed spipe I got this little beauty for US $232.50 - more than what I could have gotten through 'buy it now', but much less than the equivalent on etsy.

So what is the lesson for me (and perhaps for all of us in this?) I think (a) sometimes 'Buy it now' can be better when it comes to rare items and (b) before bidding work out what the local time will be for end of the auction - bidding at 5.43 am after a big Saturday night is not an experience I would recommend!

Happy bidding to you all!