NorthStar Vintage

Vintage Clothing from Maine

Northstar Vintage Webstore: Vintage 1930’s Black Marabou Stole

Marabou is so over the top that you usually only see it as the edging on lingerie, or covering the front of some boudoir mules.
An entire piece of marabou clothing can be a little insane.  But not with this gorgeous 1930’s stole.  It is just right.
Available at the NSV Webstore.  Click on the picture to [...]

Northstar Vintage Webstore: 1970’s Rainbow Striped St. John Dress

I’m becoming increasingly smitten with St. John knits, specifically vintage St. John knits.  Their modern stuff is a bit too “career” for me, but the earlier stuff, from the 1960’s and 1970’s is quite sexy, as is the case with this dress.
Santana yarn is amazing stuff – a wool/rayon combination that doesn’t wrinkle, stretch or [...]

Northstar Vintage Webstore: Vintage 70’s White Courreges Skirt

Betsey Johnson might have been ahead of her time, but Courreges was downright  futuristic – we’re still waiting to live in the space age world that he imagined in the 1968.

Ironically, as the space age look went out of fashion, Courreges went for a softer, more old-fashioned look, with peasant inspired looks, and collections in [...]

Northstar Vintage Webstore: Betsey Johnson for Alley Cat Dress

Betsey Johnson has always been ahead of her time, not just with her fashions, but with her business sense, her trajectory, and even her own sense of style.
After winning Mademoiselle Magazine’s “Guest Editor Contest” (which sounds like the 60’s version of Project Runway) Johnson was hired on as a designer for Paraphernalia, a company [...]

Dale Hawkins

He was a class act, according to Mr. NSV, who backed him up for several shows.
And as a Susan, I’ve always had a soft spot for this song.
RIP.

Shorpy Higginbottom

I’m getting ready to list a 1920’s dress with a  Sadie Nemser label.  As I’ve been thrilled to discover, Sadie was a high end designer, even designing the dress for Mrs. Calvin Coolidge for the inaugural ball (actually a charity ball, but still!).
The search for a picture of this dress lead me to this image [...]

I’m flattered

that the Put This On Blog posted this shirt auction

I am a huge fan of The Sound of Young America Podcast. Thanks guys!

The Seductive Shoe

Here’s a fantastic interview in Collector’s Weekly with Jonathan Walford.  Lots of dreamy shoe eye-candy (and information, of course).

My new hobby

Since reading Go Fug Yourself, petting the cat, and watching trash reality TV shows don’t really count as hobbies, I’ve been thinking of taking on something more productive.
And I literally tripped over my new hobby in an antique store, when I found a Pfaff 360 industrial sewing machine.

So now I’m thinking about pillows and upholstery [...]

Battle of the vintage ties.

I would sell about 10 times as many vintage ties were I not married to a tie hoarder collector.  I’ve been known to hide ties from him until they are listed on eBay, and even then, he’ll complain. Apparently 200 vintage ties aren’t enough?  But, I suppose as the owner of approximately 15 pairs of [...]

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