Recap of Customer Photos from 2014!

January 2, 2015 | Lute al-Raad

New Year’s Greetings…and here I’m finally getting around to posting some of the awesome photos I received from customers in the past year. It was truly a wonderful gift each and every time to see a vintage dress brought to life, so thank you all so much for giving these lovelies a home and keeping the world beautiful.

There was this summer wedding in Chicago that I was eagerly anticipating, as the bride Lucy was wearing a 1930s wedding gown from the shop, one of my favourite finds ever and so fabulously iconic of the era that it deserves a place in a fashion history museum. Goodness, she totally worked it. And their outdoor garden ceremony looks like pure magic.

Wedding couple with bride in vintage 1930s satin bias cut halter neck wedding dress

The lovely couple: Lucy and Josh.
Lucy is wearing a vintage 1930s liquid satin bias-cut halter neck wedding gown from the shop.

Wedding couple with guests, bride is wearing vintage 1930s satin bias cut halter neck wedding dress

With the wedding guests.
Lucy is wearing a vintage 1930s liquid satin bias-cut halter neck wedding gown from the shop.

Bride in vintage 1930s satin bias cut halter neck wedding dress, outdoor garden summer wedding

The outdoor wedding ceremony.
After we’ve drooled over the magical setting…behold that exquisite dress back!

Just sunny and fabulous…

Bride putting on vintage 1930s wedding dress

And finally, a sneaky behind-the-scenes shot of the radiant bride

Elisa in Sweden sent me these photos of her wearing a late 1940s to early 1950s New Look lampshade straw hat from the shop. You can read more about the outfit on her vintage 1940s fashion project blog. Elisa is a skilled dressmaker and she made the pretty 1940s reproduction outfit herself! She also works on historical 18th Century sewing and writes about it on her other blog Isis’ Wardrobe (I’m hopelessly into historical re-enactment myself, so it was a wonderful surprise to find out about her similar passion).

Vintage 1940s New Look hat and brown dress ensemble, from Pretty Bones Jefferson

Elisa paired her 1940s to 1950s New Look hat with a handmade 1940s ensemble.

Susanna Vesna, a fashion blogger friend of mine in Abu Dhabi, wore a 1970s Pretty Bones Jefferson chiffon dress (with a bit of Victorian Revival/1940s look) on her visit to St. Petersburg, Russia.

Susanna in Pavlovsk Garden, St Petersburg; Vintage 1970s pale green chiffon dress

It was my favourite piece from the Spring 2013 shop collection, such a beautiful pale green colour! You can read more about the photoshoot on her blog here and find the look on Lookbook.nu here.

My photographer friend Deirdre bought a 1970s floral maxi dress (with a gorgeous 1940s style neckline) and a 1970s chiffon nightgown, which she also used for her photography projects (2nd & 3rd photo).

Vintage 1970s floral maxi dress, 1970s does 1940s

Deirdre in vintage 1970s floral maxi dress.

Vintage 1970s floral maxi dress, Deirdre Marie Photography

Erikute in the same 1970s floral maxi dress, photographed by Deirdre Marie.

Vintage 1970s chiffon floral nightgown from Pretty Bones Jefferson Vintage, red scale photo Deirdre Marie Photography

The 1970s chiffon floral nightgown, photographed by Deirdre Marie.

That’s it for now and hopefully there will be more vintage dresses found and re-homed this year. I’ll be shooting the spring collection shortly, so make sure that you are on the mailing list (link is powered by MailChimp) and the shop Facebook page to receive the earliest previews. And again, happy New Year!

Last Posting Dates for Christmas 2014

November 29, 2014 | Lute al-Raad

Hello Vintage Lovers!

Just a quick note in relation to the holiday season shipping, that I think may be of assistance should you be shopping for Christmas over the next few weeks. I got the list of last posting dates for Christmas 2014 from the Irish An Post office, which shows that in order for your package to arrive before the (usual) gift-giving big day, it’ll have to go out before one of these dates, depending on where you are located in the world (Pretty Bones Jefferson Vintage is in Dublin, Ireland):

11th December – USA
13th December – Europe
19th December – UK
20th December – Ireland & Northern Ireland
6th December – Rest of the World

My listed processing time for each order is 3 working days, but I usually get to send out orders within 1 or 2 working days, and if you are particularly concerned for time, please don’t hesitate to ask and I’ll let you know how soon I can get it ready to go out.

I’ll keep posting new vintage items throughout December (so if you get an Etsy giftcard…you’ll know where you can use it! Hehe). I’ll also update the details of shipping options and transit times on the blog here after the holidays. In the meantime, please make sure to sign up for the shop mailing list (link is powered by MailChimp) so you can make sure to get the most up to date news on previews and promotions.

Happy holidays!

Summer to Autumn, 1950s Style!

September 5, 2014 | Lute al-Raad

A few photos of some upcoming summer-to-autumn vintage 1950s items. These were mainly inspired by fashion ads in 1950s Vogue magazines, which I think are the cutest things ever. The black and white second shot is a tribute to a series of Nina Leen’s photos of Vikki Dougan in 1952 (modelling sleep wear).

Expect to see these and more Mid-Century treasures at the shop over the weekend and next week!

Shop Update

August 29, 2014 | Lute al-Raad

Definitely time for an update, as it’s been more than a year since I last posted here! The shop has been well and busy, but I have been learning so many things about vintage fashion, that I needed to step back a bit and absorb all the new knowledge. For a long time I felt that there was so much to catch up, so many photos to see and so many articles to read; and I wanted to wait to write while I looked for new perspectives.

There have been many lovely vintage things passing through the shop during the time, which I definitely wish I had shared on the blog. So to make up for it, here are some favourites past and present:

1940s/1950s New Look beige straw lampshade hat

1930s bias cut cream satin wedding dress with halter neck

1970s Victorian style peach chiffon dress

1980s does 1940s chiffon and velvet evening dress

1960s cream and pink cupcake wedding dress by Nadine

1950s blue feather fascinator half hat

1950s brown faux mink fur coat with gold caramel colour lining

1940s black velvet opera coat with cream lining

1950/1960s sea foam green organza cocktail dress with side sash

1950s ruched sheer white chiffon wedding gloves

1960s absinthe green chiffon cape sleeve dress

1960s gold faux leather handbag by Elbief

1970s floral maxi dress

1970s orange plaid tartan half circle skirt

1980s does 1940s pink sweater with white lace Peter Pan collar by St. Bernard

1970s black and gold chiffon evening dress by Peterson Maid of London

More to come very soon – this weekend, actually!

Do you always watch for the longest day of the year and then miss it?

June 23, 2013 | Lute al-Raad

vintage Jaeger black flapper dress “Do you always watch for the longest day of the year and then miss it? I always watch for the longest day in the year and then miss it.”

This is the one line that I find most memorable from The Great Gatsby. The Longest Day of the Year is quite like the great parties of Gatsby’s, or The Money, The Dream. Well what does it do for you, and what did you want it to mean?

I think Mia Farrow is absolutely outstanding as Daisy in the 1974 The Great Gatsby. With her nervous energy and a combination of unwillingness and cunning, there’s something spot-on Daisy there.

(The Photo is from the upcoming shop collection and is a super fabulous vintage 80s Jaeger flapper style dress. I’ve finally finished taking all the detail photos this week, so I promise they’ll be up soon!)

(Photo by JEG)

Shop Collection Spring/May 2013 Lookbook

April 25, 2013 | Lute al-Raad

Pretty Bones Jefferson Spring May Collection 2013

The 12 pieces here are full of the energy of Spring. There is much floral, a good bit of green (my favourite colour!), and monochrome. Era-wise it’s mostly 1970s-1980s, but there is also influence of Mid-Century styles.

We shot most of the photos in my new room, which also has a back garden although it was too cold/windy to shoot there. Hopefully we’ll be able to take photos outdoors for the summer collection, if we do get a summer (oh you just never know in Ireland).

Little Benjamin “Goodluck” Ferdinand – Mr. hedgehog – makes a quick appearance in the collection in the second photo with the 70s black floral gown. He arrived from Russia recently from Olga, who makes wonderful original soft toys like him at her Etsy shop Wassupbrothers. I shall have more photos and talks of him soon.

I’ll be posting the collection at the shop over the next few days (one is already up). Hope you like these and please look out for more updates!

Pretty Bones Jefferson May 2013 collection 1-4

Pretty Bones Jefferson May 2013 collection 5-8

Ulyana Sergeenko Haute Couture Spring 2013

April 18, 2013 | Lute al-Raad

4_14 u13-1024x731 4_19 u4-1024x731 u2-1024x731 4_15 3_35 u3-1024x731 3_30

2_34 I saw some of these images from Ulyana Sergenko’s spring 2013 haute couture collection on Vintage Life Magazine’s post the other day, and fell completely for them. I’ve been a long-time fan of Ulyana’s folklorish, Russianly romantic and whimsically imaginative creations (how many designers can pull off these aprons, headscarves and bustles?), but this was the first time that I was actually witnessing a whole collection of hers, and I thought it was absolutely wonderful.

She’s describing this collection as “Scarlett O’Hara falling headfirst into The Wizard of Oz.” (from the New York Times report here). Well, I thought the Scarlett O’Hara style was immediately apparent; with the signature “barbecue” wide straw hat and the Civil War voluminous skirt, and little parasol. However I’m not that well-versed in The Wizard of Oz fashion elements, so can’t see as much inspiration from that side.

I also read in some article, which I can’t seem to locate amongst my bookmarked pages at the moment, that the outfits were also Zorro-esque, which I hadn’t thought of but soon agreed. The use of black chiffon sleeves, as well as some of the Spanish/Mexican accents, is so Zorro, isn’t it?

As for details, one has to love the vintage style case handbags – I mean she’s got squirrels on the yellow one! and kittens!

I have a favourite from the lookbook. It’s the ensemble with the black velvet big skirt, cinched in with folk floral belt (bustle?). It wins for me because I tend to be drawn by black with floral accents, and this one looks like such a classic, wearable piece (I may even be able to recreate it with one of my vintage black velvet skirts), and I love a cinched-in waist.

Here’s another view of the design on the runway:

ulyana-sergeenko-haute-couture-spring-2013-pfw29

What do you think and have you got a favourite from the collection?

[For more images of Ulyan’s Spring 2013 haute couture collection:

buro247.ru (complete lookbook though it’s in Russian)

Fashionising.com (runway photos)

Diamondsanddust blog by Nicole Danielle (I think she did the collages!)]

Secret Roses

April 4, 2013 | Lute al-Raad

vintage hairbrush, 1950s/1960s,

old hollywood dress, vintage hair brush, dressing table, vintage green dress, long hair

Another Brocante Market find here – a gorgeous vintage hair brush in a vanity set, that I incorporated into the shoot last week for my shop‘s upcoming vintage collection. It has quite an Art Deco style back, with a a star-bust optical lined cream-coloured plastic hard cover reminiscent of the elevator hall (or the elevator door, too, indeed) of the Empire State Building, the centre of which was left transparent in the shape of a rose bouquet, for the rose picture underneath to show through. The cover happened to have come off while I trying to adjust it, and thus I discovered the vivid, rich paper picture that I didn’t know was there! After taking the photo (which is the top picture here) I have had to replace the protective cover, but the awareness of these hidden roses has made this little gem so special to me.

In all the excitement of my happy accident I have somehow neglected to take a “proper” picture of the brush, which I shall have to remedy in a future post.

This vintage hair brush I think is from the 1960s. There is another vintage hair brush that I’m planning to list on the shop soon, which is a good bit older, from the 1930s or 1940s but of a similar style, and has tiny silk embroidery upon silver satin on the back!

Oh and there will be a 1950s hand mirror, as well…

But first I’m going to be editing these photos from last week and get the new vintage dress collection up (the green dress in the picture is one of the group). This is my first time working on a “collection” of dresses instead of on an individual basis, so it’s a bit daunting; but I think it really makes sense in the big picture.

(Vintage 1940s style 1970s chiffon green Dress: April/May collection at my shop, coming soon)

Vintage 1960s rhinestone necklace: thrifted)

Vintage 1950s/1960s hair brush: Dublin Brocante Market)

Wind

March 7, 2013 | Lute al-Raad

Happy March! I haven’t been posting much here and on the Etsy shop, but have been updating a bit on the Facebook page, mainly because I’ve been busy selling at some local Dublin markets and fairs, and Facebook was the quickest way for me to put up random plain shots of clothes…

I do have a huge backlog of photoshoots and stories to put up here, which I’ll be getting around to, soon, I promise! I’m considering some new features for the blog, which will take a little planning as well.

But in the meantime, here are a couple of photos of a vintage Viyella black and white pleated skirt, which I acquired for the shop on a recent trip to Belfast and is now available on the Etsy shop (it’s a 28″ – 32″ waist). The top is a vintage 1970s short peignoir with appliqués and chiffon ruffles, which, alas, has been sold at a market a week ago. The vintage maroon gloves were purchased a few years ago at my favourite Dublin vintage shop Lucy’s Lounge, and the shoes are Zara.

I think I’ll be sharing some photos from the recent markets in the next post!