Category Archives: toque

TRUE VINTAGE 1960’S TRENDS IN DRESSES, HOUSEDRESSES & ACCESSORIES – TO THE START OF MOD

Casual cotton and cotton blend housedresses and model’s coats became really popular as styles started to become less traditional. Some of these dresses would even be seen at the grocery store or for other casual errands in warm weather. The shirtwaist dress was still around, of course, but was starting to take a back seat for everyday. The culotte mini/play-dress was also a new take on the 1940’s/’50’s romper. Casual designs like those shown above were still very well-made, generally, and had cute and pretty prints and tailoring elements.

Dresses with little matching jackets became very popular for everyday wear when a step up the dressy scale was called for – an important appointment, special event or church. The shoes, purses and hats are examples of those which might have been worn with dresses like this. The blue & green example above was home-sewn in the color combo that defined popular design in 1963. The prints on the two blue dresses in center are a harbinger of the MOD trend that was just about to erupt.

Stay tuned for a trip to the mid-1960’s tomorrow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

MORGANA MARTIN, THE MAGICVINTAGESPY

BLOG: MAGICVINTAGESPY.COM

TRUE VINTAGE FUR HAT BONANZA – A TOQUE IN CURLY LAMB

This was another one worth nabbing, because though I have similar curly lamb hats in black and marled grey, I didn’t have a luscious chocolate brown like this one.

It’s got a beautiful, architectural design that makes me think of the 1940’s.  It’s true vintage but is so classic that I can’t date it exactly.  Again, in near-perfect condition.

Curly lamb seems to be one of the furs that is easiest to replicate in imitation form, so go for it if you can’t find a real one made in the 1960’s or before.  Leave anything modern on the racks or, preferably, on the animals’ backs.

MORGANA MARTIN, THE MAGICVINTAGESPY

BLOG:  MAGICVINTAGESPY.COM

BOOK:  HOW TO FIND THE BEST IN VINTAGE FASHION – AVAILABLE ON AMAZON.COM

RABBIT FUR TOQUE HAT FROM THE SIXTIES

IMG_1722Here’s a fun find which is different from anything I own (so far). I’d put this on with my black wool sheath and some black leather boots!  It’s a perfect partner to the dress shown earlier today.

Can’t say who made it as the label has gone missing, but I suspect that it was a from women’s dress shoppe or a large department store when they used to have specialty departments for millinery, shoes and furs.  Ladies enjoyed buying a new hat  the same way we focus on shoes today.

As I always say, I never buy modern fur but enjoy the old, old ones while they last.

MORGANA MARTIN, THE MAGICVINTGESPY

BLOG:  MAGICVINTAGESPY.COM

BOOK:  HOW TO FIND THE BEST IN VINTAGE FASHION – AVAILABLE ON AMAZON.COM

TRUE VINTAGE MID-CENTURY SPRING HAT – SOPHISTICATED AND A LITTLE BIT MOD?

IMG_1750I could see Doris Day in this, about 1960, or a dressed-up Twiggy in 1965.   I suspect that the first guess is more accurate, but you can see some modern elements starting to show as fashion began saying good-bye to tradition.  Kind of between a toque and a pillbox style.

The fabric is more modern, too, with sparkly threads, but the construction is very traditional.  The color is fresh and definitely says Spring or even Easter.  It was a fun hat for women who still bowed to convention, at least on special occasions, but didn’t feel enslaved by it.

Perhaps it was a more mass-produced item, since there is no label from a small designer or specialty shop.  Probably it’s owner picked it up in a department store or women’s clothing chain store.  Specialty hat-makers were on the decline as demand for ladies’ hats began to fall even more than it already had.

Big things were happening in women’s world then . . . . . .

MORGANA MARTIN, THE MAGICVINTAGESPY

BLOG:  MAGICVINTAGESPY.COM

BOOK:  HOW TO FIND THE BEST IN VINTAGE FASHION – AVAILABLE ON AMAZON.COM