Vintage clothing

The iconic peace sign is fifty years old and continues to look fabulous for its age. Gerald Holtom designed the symbol to represent Nuclear Disarmament by combining two Naval semaphore symbols: N for Nuclear and D for Disarmament and it has since come to represent peace and non-violence throughout the world. What's so wonderful is that the symbol was deliberately never copyrighted by the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) so it is available for free use worldwide. (Although, I'd like to encourage any commercial users to do the right thing and make a donation for its use to the CND.) Today's VPOD features Moschino's ... Read Full Story

This past December marked the 35th anniversary of the Endangered Species Act which makes it illegal to purchase items made from endangered species. In some states, like California, this law is even extended to include vintage pieces. So what's a vintage fashionista to do? First, go to the Fish and Wildlife Service website and your own state's Fish and Game site and get educated. When you buy items fashioned from endangered species, you contribute to the demand for these products, you help support the market that is killing the endangered animals, and you could find yourself the subject of severe penalties. Alas, ignorance of ... Read Full Story

Yesterday the Los Angeles Times reported on the death of Alfred Shaheen in late December. This man completely revolutionized the garment industry in postwar Hawaii so let's take just a moment to pay tribute to this business and fashion icon. At a time when manufacturers in Hawaii would have to store a year's worth of fabric because of possible shipping delays, Shaheen took matters into his own hands. He built his own silkscreen equipment, hired artists and began printing his own fabrics. All his patterns were inspired by Polynesian and Asian cultures and, with more than 1,000 dye colors to choose from, his artists ... Read Full Story

In recent days, President Elect Barack Obama has been talking a lot about twofers: ways to stimulate our economy in the short term while also laying the foundation for long-term economic growth. But twofers are also a good idea for something a whole lot less serious: your wardrobe. Whenever you buy a two or three-piece outfit, you get more bang for your buck since the pieces can each be used separately as well as together. And in our current economic times, these twofers are even more appealing. One fine example is today's VPOD. This matching dress and coat set by Lilli Ann is loaded ... Read Full Story

The Commerce Department released preliminary GDP figures today for the fourth quarter 2008 and--gulp!--it was the greatest decline in more than 26 years. In layman terms, that means that we fashionistas will be minding our pocketbooks for a while. We won't stop shopping altogether, of course, but we will probably pay a little more attention to quality, choose classics over trends, and look for items that can do double duty. And today's VPOD definitely passes inspection on all three requirements. This two-piece ensemble by Bill Blass is made of classic navy wool gabardine and features a beautifully cut sleeveless sheath with a matching military-style ... Read Full Story