Icons Of Vintage Fashion
One day after a dinner with my friends at the Ralph’s in Saint Germain, Paris, I entered the bookstore just in front. It’s called L’ecume des pages. I always loved going there after drinks or dinner. It’s open until late and browsing books in between wine and sleep is priceless.
This is where I found the book “Icons of vintage fashion” and I fell in love with it. Imagine you are a retro lover and you know by heart the couture history, one of the funniest games you can play is the “guess who” game. With this book, you not only play guess who, you can also play “guess how much”.
Fashion has finally entered the auction agenda, next to antique furniture, jewelry and art. There is an important fan base and people get more and more nostalgic. I believe this is also provoked by many fashion exhibitions. On the other hand, owners of vintage pieces are increasingly likely to try to sell them rather than donate them to museums according to Pamela Parmal from Museum of fine arts Boston. This book proves that if you attend an auction, raise your hand and bid, you can buy a vintage piece from the 1900s for below 1000 dollars (a Paquin dress sold for 510 dollars). Isn’t it surprising? Think about what you buy for 510 dollars in a store? A pair of pumps in a luxury store?
A vintage Pucci dress from 1960′s was sold for 360 dollars in an auction at Whitaker Auction company in Philadelphia. How much would you pay for it in the store, now? It is quite impressive.
So in this book you can find year by year vintage clothing by brand, sold in auctions worldwide, including the estimated and final price. There is also some selected interviews with industry experts, like Pamela Parmal, Didier Ludot and Barbara Jeauffroy-Mairet of the Christian Dior Museum. It is total entertainment. Next time I have a big party to attend, I’ll make sure to go to an auction before.
Guess who are the highest valued designers?
Starting with Paul Poiret, whose designs are extremely rare and expensive nowadays ( a coat sold for 97,224 euros), Balenciaga, Charles James, Patou, Jeanne Lanvin as well Dior and Chanel did some astronomical numbers in the auctions.
So bidders. Raise your hands.
Beaded evening sweater "The face" by Atelier Versace circa 1992. It was part of the Elizabeth Taylor collection sold at a Christie's auction in December 14, 2011 for 128,500$
