Very Versace

These early 90’s Versace print ads featuring some of the original supermodels – Christy Turlington, Linda Evangelista, Helena Christensen, Claudia Schiffer, Naomi Campbell, Cindy Crawford – are my official inspiration for the week.

Bright and bombastic, they are such a great visual representation of the confidence and optimism of that time. In Afrikaans I believe the word is ‘bont’ – colourful, OTT, attention-seeking.

These characteristically bright and overly printed blouses are experiencing such a great revival!

Golden.

Ever since the recent and fortuitous advent of this pair of perfect vintage Crockett & Jones shoes making their way into my life, I have become a little obsessed with men’s shoes on women.

When I wear them I feel like such a tomboy, and I love the contrast of their sturdy, well-worn clunkiness with a printed frock or a diaphanous silk blouse. It feels like I could walk anywhere; like I could jump in puddles, click my heels together and tap my toe jauntily. They’re as perfect for skipping as they are for striding.

These metallic babies by Raf Simons for Doc Martens caught my eye whilst browsing men’s shoes online. I have always been a sucker for metallic shoes, in particular for that ghetto shade of yellow gold that adds an element of circus and ceremony to an outfit. The tri-colour metallic hightops are also unbelievable – the classic Doc shape, gilded.

Perfection.

Etceterah

Thanks to all who attended my third Rah-Rah Room sale at the end of last month – girls walked away with Club Med jumpsuits, silk pencil skirts, Breton stripes and vintage denim… but I had such a big haul of stuff, that there is lots left!
 
I have subsequently decided to hold another sale this Saturday for those that missed out. It will be my last sale until the end of May (which will mark the unveiling of my London and Istanbul finds!) so get your derriere to the Rah and clean up before someone else beats you to it!
 
Saturday, 9 April, 11:00 – 2:00pm
 
For a glimpse of the lovelies that are left (the vintage in particular), see here.
 
Big Rah Love.

‘It’s an Alaia.’

I stumbled upon these 1980’s Azzedine Alaia adverts and I just love them. They really speak to the fullblown glamour and excesses of that era, and to the more shapely icons of that time – the original supermodels (Cindy, Eva, Christy, etc) and personalities like Grace Jones, Tina Turner and Naomi Campbell.

Tunisian born Alaia grew up with a fascination for the female form, and his taste for glamour was fuelled by his fashion-loving twin sister and pilfered copes of Vogue. Clasically trained as a sculptor, Alaia relocated to Paris and evolved from a humble dressmaker’s assistant into one of the most sought after designers of the 1980’s. Along the way he held posts at heavyweight fashion houses Dior, Thierry Mugler and Guy Laroche.

His slinky, sensual clothing appealed to a select group of fashion-forward celebrities, including Grace Jones (who can be seen wearing his creations in classic Studio 54 snaps), Madonna, Janet Jackson, Brigitte Nielsen and Carine Roitfeld.

His successes under his own label led to a partnership with Prada, and it is said that, despite this agreement, Alaia still maintained a level of independence and integrity no longer often seen in the fashion industry. It is often the case when designers sign licencing deals with bigger groups (Halston is a good example), that the original brand is snuffed out and diluted. In 2007 Alaia succesfully bought his house and brand name back from Prada. He continues to show collections, but only as and when he has something to show.

In other words, Alaia is not interested in producing collections each season simply to drive sales and marketing. In this sense, he stays true to a kind of creativity and commitment to quality not often seen these days.

It reminds me a little of the fierce and fraught hold Valentino has over the Valentino group (as seen in The Last Emperor, which I mused on here). For Alaia, it seems, it is more about building something lasting and thus valuable, irrespective of popular demand. In The Last Emperor we see the effects that corporate control has over fashion houses in the massive popularity of ‘it-bags’ and other accessories – belts, purses, keyrings and more. Items like these make up a huge part of these big houses’ revenues. Not exactly novelty items, but certainly not couture.

And with this democratization of the brand comes another phenomenon… Designer vintage becomes more and more valuable, hearkening back to a time when each stitch counted, and when it wasn’t so much about production as it was about creation.

And so when Cher Horowitz is held up at gunpoint in Clueless and asked to lie down on the pavement and count to 100 and she says, in a shrill voice and with big eyes ‘But it’s an Alaia!’ we all feel her pain. That mini wasn’t vintage then, but it is now, and Alaia’s commitment to his craft has ensured that his vision will be preserved for many years to come.

Respect.

Way cool

A very large picture of me, yes. But with good reason!

My blog and my Rah-Rah have received some great coverage recently. 

Local blog I heart your outfit, run by the lovely and talented Emily Pettit-Coetzee and Liza-Jayne West, gave the Rah-Rah Room a little love last week – check it out here.

And then I was interviewed by one of my favourite magazines, VISI, to be profiled on their blog. I have to say it: stoked! To me, VISI is worldclass,  stylish and a benchmark for other local magazines. I was interviewed by Remy Raitt, and she said some really cool things about me, my love of vintage and my future plans to infiltrate Vogue. Check the full post (and this  rather large picture of me) out here. VISI have just relaunched their blog, and it rocks. Follow them.

Go Rah.

Thanks to all the cool and colourful girls (and boy) that came to The Rah-Rah Room this weekend – I loved meeting you all and spending a little time talking vintage and other lovely frivolities.

If you didn’t make it this weekend (Toffie, Jazz Festival, hangover, in-laws), there are still some gems to call your own! The lovely Miss Crystal Birch kindly obliged to model some of the left over favourites for me in a high-speed mini shoot that we snapped yesterday evening. My brother, Tyler, also begrudgingly posed for one measly menswear picture. For this, I thank him.

If something catches your eye, please feel free to email me at pessimiss@gmail.com or give me a call on 082 855 6969 to set up a little browsing time.

Lilac ruched one-piece R60.00

Pastel silk trousers R180.00

White high-waisted skirt with button detail R100

Striped nautical T-shirt R60.00

Leather backpack R650.00

Hermes scarf R500.00

Black peachskin stirrup trousers R120.00

Two-tone print shirt R110.00

Crytal Birch fascinator R120.00

Baby blue high-waisted shorts R80.00

Feather print shirt R70.00

Grey Ralph Lauren jersey R120.00

Cream pussybow blouse R80.00

Red Escada trousers R350.00

Black sequinned Antik Batik jacket R500.00

Bleached Barrington jeans R110.00

Crystal Birch bow headpiece R40.00

Black velvet trousers R170.00

Black, gold & psychedelic evening top R120.00

Grey and pink striped frock R130.00

Psychedelic peacock scarf R200.00

White military detail shirt R90.00

Silk oatmeal skirt R130.00

Black bowtie R40.00

Red wrap frock R110.00

Classic Levi’s denim jacket R200.00

Paisley cravat R60.00

Printed scarf R120.00

Art Deco earrings R50.00

Men’s plaid shirt R70.00

Polka dot bowtie R40.00

Go-Go Rah-Rah!

Don’t forget to come get your vintage fix at my Rah-Rah weekend!

This evening from 5 until 7pm, and tomorrow morning from 10 until 2pm. If you’re in the mood to browse and lounge, bring along a bottle of vino and we can have ourselves a pre-party Friday pow-wow! If, however, you’re in the mood for a more leisurely look, bring your lattes and post-payday purses for a little peruse tomorrow.

Yes, that’s some impressive alliteration right there.

RAH!

 

Rah-Baby

Round up your post-payday pennies and get you and your vintage-loving sidekicks, lovers and frenemies to my third Rah-Rah Room sale!

It’s my last sale before I jet off to London and Istanbul, so expect an even bigger and better haul of vintage love, as well as some newer beauties from India, Bali and the UK.

Polka dot bowties, silk printed blouses, work-perfect skirts with button detailing, ultra-80’s trousers that’d make Miami Sound Machine jealous, belts, scarves, playsuits, frocks and more!

Don’t hate me…

I felt too bad to include these in my previous vintage post, simply because they are overwhelming all on their own. I apologise in advance for the envy that is sure to follow…

Yes. Not one, not two, but THREE vintage Hermes scarves. Silk, printed and in mint condition. And mine.

An incredibly generous friend of my mom’s, Pam, unveiled them before me this weekend, and I actually gasped. Scarves like these sell for 200 Euros and up a piece. And they are a symbol of the kind of dressing that is almost a forgotten art. If you know your vintage and/or your fashion, you’ll know exactly why I am so humbled. I once read that Josie Borain’s biggest indulgence is her collection of Hermes scarves – an emblem of luxury, quality and tradition.

Pam told me how she and her Joburg friends used to dress in head-to-toe Jaeger and Hermes. Over the years, she gradually got rid of things piece by piece, a fact that drove a little Jaeger-shaped thorn into my side. Pam managed classic womens’ department store, Derber’s Furriers & Couturiers, during its hey day, and she has the kind of appreciation born of years of being surrounded by beautiful things and oldworld craftsmanship. These Hermes classics are emblematic of her great taste.

I am beyond honoured and feel so, so lucky to call them my own. Expect to see them all over my person in the coming months – head scarves, neck scarves, as belts, on bags, and around wrists! I have draped them artfully around my neck and laid them out on my bed at least a dozen times already today.

This – is love.

The Great Vintage Pillage!

This weekend I went on an official vintage pillage in my hometown, Knysna. Knysna’s vintage gems remain safely ensconced in relative obscurity, which means that they are still well priced (compared to the exorbitance that is Capetonian vintage) and that there really are still some jaw-dropping bargains to be found. This weekend was a case in point.

I had organised for my favourite of the local vintage grottos, the Animal Welfare charity shop, to extend their opening hours to 12:00pm, to that I could leave Cape Town at 5am and get there with time to browse. I overslept, a nod to tradition I suppose, and made it there at 11am on the dot, ready for a high-speed blitz campaign.

I spotted the first item due to be stockpiled through the window before I even entered the establishment. I started slinging polka dot bowties, silk scarves and high-waisted skirts over my left arm briskly. ‘Do you have a basket?’ I asked the elderly lady behind the counter, whilst rifling through printed blouses, nylon, silk, viscose, silk. ‘What for?’ she replied, confused. I slung the rapidly expanding pile onto the counter. ‘I’m going to be buying a lot,’ I said, eyebrows raised. And a lot I did buy, all in the name of Rah-Rah.

{Please excuse the quality of these photographs, my camera has officially gone AWOL – Blackberry efforts!}

Amid the piles of silk shirts, button-trimmed skirts, prints and pleats, I also found two absolute showstoppers: a buttercup yellow Max Mara skirt suit, and a pair of high-waisted corduroy Escada jodphurs. The suit features a high-waisted skirt that buttons to one side, and a beautifully cut jacket, something you’d expect to have seen on Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman. I had been placing the clothes into two piles – definite and maybes – and when I handed the suit over reverently, the cashier said ‘Are you not sure about , this one?’ I said ‘Oh no, no, that’s a definite,’ a little too quickly, panicked, and hoped that she didn’t suddenly realise the magnitude of the length of buttercup fabric she had clutched in her hands. ‘It’s a definite,’ I said, more calmly, and nodded firmly, my knuckles white.

The Escada trousers are so pristine, I’m sure they’ve never been worn before. The exact shade of ruby red that’s big for this season, they taper at the ankle and feature a racy gold side button and a gold zip at the front of each hip. Both are fortunately a tad too small for me, otherwise I would have been forced to add to the rapidly expanding pile that soon became marked ‘MINE’.

Finds that I couldn’t bear to part with include the world’s most perfect navy maxi skirt, buttoned to the hem and with a wide swathe of a tie belt. It goes perfectly with a silky vest-style top, navy, with big white polka dots and a striped neckline, that I also unearthed at Animal Welfare. I also kept a pair of navy velvet wide-leg trousers, reminiscent of those spotted on The Sartorialist of late, an ever-so-slightly printed cream silk skirt, and a siren red full-skirted frock.

The piece-de-resistance is the pair of fully suede high-waisted trousers that are now draped over the foot of my bed. They are slightly too snug on the waist, but I WILL make them work. You have to see them to believe them.

If you’re interested in perusing the gems that I secured this weekend (along with new beauties garnered from The Spice Studio), then come to my third Rah-Rah Room sale this weekend. On Friday evening from 5:00 to 7:00 pm, pop by for a post-work browse, or join me at my humble abode on Saturday from 11:00 until 2:00pm. This sale promises to be positively blossoming with vintage beauties!

RAH!

It’s Rah-Rah time!

Come browse through silks, brocades and velvets next Friday the 25th of March from 5:00 to 7:00 pm! If you’re more of a Saturday morning browser, I will also be open from 10:00am until 2:00 pm on Saturday the 26th. This is the last Rah-Rah sale before my London/Istanbul escapade, from which I plan to return laden with tons of treasures. My vintage eye will be put to the test!

You can expect lots of new pieces, as well as an extra large (and thus, lush) haul of vintage pieces at this final sale. This will also be the first time I am stocking some vintage menswear, so keep your lovers in mind.

Call me on 082 855 6969, or email pessimiss@gmail.com for more details, or just for a vintage pow-wow.

x

So Suede

This week I am foregoing starch in the name of a pair of vintage suede trousers.

My mom unearthed them from a mountain of neglected vintage clothing at the Knysna Red Cross charity shop this week and I am going to have them in my paws this Saturday.

These are the specs:

Rust brown, jodphur style, high-waisted, great on the ass, perfect for Winter. And mine. She speculates that they will ‘just about’ fit me. I am spending this week actively working to overturn this ‘just about’. Wish me luck!

And P.S: I am making my own pilgrimage to Knysna this weekend in search of Rah-Rah vintage to rival all else! Reserve Friday the 25^th and Saturday the 26^th of March for the next sale, which will be my last until I return from London and Turkey bearing vintage gems from further afield.

Leatherette

What is it with a leather skirt?

That modern emblem of rebellion, sex and sultriness. The slightest hint of sleaze. A million volts of electricity. A flash of firm white thigh as the legs uncross and then cross again. So many iconic bad girls have worn leather skirts. Madonna, Courtney Love, Debbie Harry, Cherie Currie. Rock goddesses, all. In possession of that animal potency and dark mystique that all iconic front women have. It’s not like you could imagine someone less hardcore wearing a leather skirt to its full effect. A Jessica Simpson, or a Nelly Furtado. Too clean, too coiffed and manicured. Leather takes lust. It takes wild eyes, skinny hips and a full mouth.

When I invested in a leather skirt online late last year, I had no idea of the hold that would develop. That it’d be the only thing I ever felt like wearing. Or that I would notice mens’ eyes seaming my lower half as I crossed the room, like something primal was stirred and the word and feel of it – ‘leather’ – had been beamed into their brains.

We’ve seen quite a lot of this lust for leather developing over the last little while – minis, maxis, swing skirts and pleats in grey, tan, chocolate and the classic, blackest black. A while back I did a post on Helmut Lang’s interesting marrying of leather with wool and other fabrics, and now we’re seeing leather in other unusual forms. Collars, scarves, sleeves and leggings are being fashioned from leather. I like the diversification of the fabric – the way it’s transitioned from something traditionally hard-wearing, practical and warm to being a big part of luxe feminine wear.

And it’s set to be big throughout Autumn and Winter, so start scouring vintage havens and malls alike for something leather to call your own! My leather skirt is from ASOS and it rocks. But some of the most authentically Blondie-esque leather and suede skirts I have ever seen were vintage. Well worn, soft, and, more than likely, historic to the previous owner.

And that’s what us fashion diehards are all after, isn’t it? Pieces that describe decades in our lives; that symbolise hot nights, long weeks, true love. I feel sure I’ll look back at this time, when I was young and daring enough and full of it, and see my leather skirt as an emblem of youth, desire and ambition.

Up your ziggy with a Rah-Rah crush!

If you’ve ever seen the classic 90’s girls movie, Strike! starring Gaby Hoffman and a young Kirsten Dunst, then you’ll get the title reference. Strike! rocks (see clip below and then do yourself a favour and track down the full film).

In any case… it’s The Rah-Rah Room 2.0 tomorrow!

Join me for a post-payday shop if you are looking for something fetching to call your own. New newbies, just-arrived vintage and a whole new range of hand-crafted Crystal Birch headpieces… all waiting to be held up to the light and loved!

10:00 am til 2:00 pm. See directions above.

x

Ladies, start your engines.

It’s Rah-Rah time!

Those of you that shimmied on by in your Saturday finest last time will know that you’re in store for an eclectic selection of vintage and new one-offs, not to be found anywhere else. Fresh new stock is waiting to be preened over and payday is just around the corner! So stockpile your pennies, and polish your peeptoes, it is tiiiiiime to shop.

I will be open from 10 until 2pm on Saturday the 26th of February.

Please feel free to make an individual appointment if you’d like to arrange a private shop at any other time. I’ve had stray shoppers and friends alike popping in for tea all month, and they seldom leave without falling in love with something. Spread the word – send friends, foes and lovers, and I’ll tend to their needs with taffeta and Topshop.