Wednesday, 8 January 2014

A sweetheart of a wedding dress!





The lovely Eimear sent us in pic's of her wedding day in which she wore a Dirty Fabulous original vintage 1950's tea length wedding dress.
The sweetheart neckline and full skirt are so gorgeous on this dress and suited Eimear perfectly.
Don't you just love her baby blue kitten heels too!
Congratulations to Eimear and her new hubby!!!


Friday, 3 January 2014

Happy New Year...And we're Back!!

We hope you all had a fun filled Christmas and New Year break. We had lots of family time which was great fun.
As a logistical test run for our next big buying trip we went to Copenhagen with our husbands and Kathy's two little boys, Ruben 2 yrs old and Charlie 2 months old.
It was a success : ) Ruben loved the airplane and Charlie slept through the whole flight so USA 2014 is a go!!!
We stayed in an apartment rented through airbnb, a great resource for traveling. You get to stay in fabulous homes and feel like a local! It was a really gorgeous apartment on the city's french cuisine street!

Staying in an apartment was a great way to chill out, especially somewhere expensive like Copenhagen. You can cook your meals, really relax and use it as a home away from home from which to explore.
We always rent apartments like this on our buying trips to New York too, it's a great way to see how other people live. 


We had our New Year's eve dinner in the fabulous dining room and then watched the fireworks explode all over the city. It was like being in the blitz...absolutely insane, the whole city goes bananas!

Here are a few snaps from our trip, it's a beautiful city, expensive even by Dublin's standards but worth it for the Tivoli Gardens alone!


This is the entrance gates to the Tivoli Gardens, it opened in 1843.
Walt Disney visited the park with his wife while researching his plans for Disneyland. He said he wanted to emulate Tivoli's " happy and unbuttened air". Disneyland opened 4 years after his visit. 






my new house. (actually it's a restuarant in Tivoli gardens!)

There are lots of architectural gems in Copenhagen, this is the Savoy Hotel in Vesterbro, built in 1905, really gorgeous exterior.


This was on top of another really cool art deco building, The Astoria, built in 1934.
I would like this in my house. 


This was some kind of metal box on the sidewalk, maybe housing gas/electrical access.  Really not sure what this was, I only knew it was fabulous and I wanted it!


As we were there between Christmas and New Years unfortunately a lot of places were closed for the holidays. This slightly sinister but totally awesome clown was in the window of a gorgeous little shop selling antique and vintage toys. This was down a little side street near Nyhavn.












We discovered this lovely tea room by chance on our way to a park on New Years Eve. It was called "Te Amo". The owner was a total sweetie, we had giant hot chocolates and yummy port from dainty vintage crystal glasses.




An outdoor ice rink in front of the park.

Another place we visited was a fabulous vintage store called FN92. We can't help ourselves, wherever we go we research any vintage stores in the vicinity! Our patient husbands waited outside in the cold with the buggy (too many steps!) while we perused the treasure trove.
A big Hello to the ladies in FN92!!!
We were so excited we forgot to take photos, sorry!!!!!!

So we just have to take down the tree and decorations in Dirty Fabulous HQ, have a good spring clean and we will be ready to welcome you all in for a new year of fabulous vintage style and glamorous gowns!!

See you next week!

xxx Caroline xxx

Tuesday, 24 December 2013

Happy Holidays, see you in the New Year!


That's it folks for 2013!
Hope you all have a super, duper, festive, fun filled Christmas 
and a 
Sparkling New Year!
Dirty Fabulous will be back on January 7th, 2014
See all you then with more vintage gorgeous gowns and bridal dresses.

Happy Christmas
From
Caroline & Kathy


Monday, 23 December 2013

Frivillous Feathers

1920's feather fan

1960's Feather helmuts by Jon French

Evening dress | Mme. Jeanne Paquin  (French, 1869–1936) Hattie Carnegie, Inc. ca. 1938 from Adored Vintage

1920's French flapper dress by Louise Boulanger from The Met Museum

1920's periwinkle cutwork lace and feather dress from Pinterest

Ginger Rogers wearing a feather dress in 'Top Hat'

1960's House of Givency from The Met Museum

1930's wedding gown from The Frock


From Pinterest


Pierre Balmain 1950s feather and crystal gown courtesy of V&A

1960s Duck egg blue silk and feather suit from Pinterest


Who doesn't like a bit of fluff and fabulousness!!!
Although not ideal for every occasion, feathers make the perfect show stopping accompaniment for that must 'WOW' event.
And if you can't wear feathers at Christmas then when can you?!
Forget feather boas and look for feather adorned vintage dresses and capes instead.
Designers from the 1920's right up to the 80's used plush plumage's at times to decorate their masterpieces.
Dirty Fabulous often has some feathery offerings so make us your must go to shop for your next big event!




Call 01 6111842 or email info@dirtyfabulous.com for your appointment now.







Monday, 16 December 2013

Elsa Schiaparelli, the glamorous surealist!



Elsa Schiaparelli was a fashion pioneer from the 1920's throughout her career to the 1950's. She was arguably one of the most important designers of her era along with Coco Chanel, although she couldn't have been more different than her understated counterpart!
She began designing basic sweaters and sporting clothes but in the early 1930's expanded her collections to include everything up to couture.
Schiaparelli was an artist and a designer, her pieces drew heavily on surrealism and whimsy. She collaborated with many famous artists on her collections which had themes such as circus life, Greek mythology and the zodiac.
She loved to stray away from what was currently in vogue and constantly liked to shock the fashion world.
Personally, I love Elsa's designs. She was a true innovator and when I look at her early pieces I can see many of today's designers paying homage to her. Vivienne Westwood, Jean Paul Gaultier, Lulu Guinness  and Alexander McQueen echo elements of Schiaparelli's collections.

The many signature Schiaparelli elements:

  • High Waistlines
  • Shoulder pads and broad shoulders
  • Exaggerated Silhouettes
  • Bright colours such as royal blue and shocking pink
  • Trompe L'oeil knits
  • Zippers and decorative elements
  • Long-line, bias-cut dresses
  • Backless evening gowns
  • Geometric prints
  • Whimsical designs
As you can see from the collection below, Schiaparelli's customers needed to have a degree of confidence and attitude to wear her pieces!

1930s evening gown with typically exaggerating structure, this one focusing on the bust

The Tears Dress, fabric designed by Salvador Dali courtesy of the V&A 

As pictured in Vanity Fair

Typical high waisted mermaid dress with pink embroidered bolero which highlighted the shoulders

The Apollo of Versailles Cape, 1938

Backless pale silk gown from the Circus Collection

This beautiful pink and ivory silk gown was designed to accentuate the female form and represent whats underneath the corset,

This was an idea that Elsa first showcased with her controversial "Skelleton Dress" in 1938.
While on honeymoon last year Caroline went to see this dress in the Museum of Modern Art in Vienna. It must have been incredibly radical looking in 1938!

1940's dress with whimsical butterfly print

Loud geometric silk print coat from the late 1930's

Droooool...... I love this 1940's cape with the giant bee! 

Schiaparelli's more wearable evening jacket ensembles. When she was young, Elsa was often told that she was short and unattractive so it was her desire to create pieces which elongated and enhanced the female form.

Pale green evening suit with gold buttons

Humorous hand clasp belt

Bias Cut gold silk evening gown

Moorish inspired belt

Elsa's 'shocking pink' and black 1950s ballgown

Beautiful salmon pink and embroidered 1940s blouse

1940's purple, floral garland decorated evening gown

Beautiful contrasting blue and coral crepe gown with fish buttons

Blouse from the Zodiac collection with sequins bursting out to represent sun rays

Above images courtesy of  The Met Museum

Shocking pink 1930's gown as featured in Vogue to celebrate The Mets exhibition  “Impossible Conversations,” 
Which explored the striking parallels between Elsa Schiaparelli and Miuccia Prada 

1940's Mirror print suit also from Vogue