Sunday, April 8, 2012

Old Gold: APC's Seventies Schoolgirl vs. Etsy


Phfew. I'm back. Nice to see you, I've heard you feared I'd left. I haven't and I'm here to tell you that the Old Gold ideas are running rampant in my head now that I've got this whole "get dressed and go to the office" thing going on (it's going well btw).


Today I'll take you on a tour of a brand stealing an entire generation's wardrobe for their Fall Winter 2012 Ready to Wear collection. The brand is APC and the generation is the ever-sexy and chic school girls of the sixties. My mom had that look, your mom had that look, the moms of the designers at APC had that look and it's being stolen right out of the pages of Seventeen magazine and the backstage queue at a Beatles concert. So let's take this lovely red woolen dress and see if we can't find a vintage match for this saucy, yet buttoned up vision. 


Before I move on, let's point out that this silhouette looks good on only a small percentage of woman. You must be very slim, very sexy and without a bosom. Otherwise, ladies, you need a waistband to show the world that you've got some womanhood under all that fabric (if you don't point it out it will rear its head in all the wrong places). Thus, I will choose some Old Gold examples that offer any lady, of any shape a touch of an hourglass figure (something that went out of vogue oh so quickly in the early 1907's) while keeping this cherry red idea in mind. 



And with a lovely detail to match. Here's our silhouette, with red wool and gold nautically inspired buttons. I love a good button detail. Now, I couldn't wear this dress -- I've got to many curves to make it work -- but it is adorable none the less and has the sass and class of the APC look. 



I would wear this in a heartbeat. It has all of the styling details of the APC look but with the added bonus of a waist enhancing belt. How cute are the flared sleeves? This dress could easily be found on the racks at a modern department store as well as in your mom's high school yearbook pictures.



I'm straying a little here but I know some ladies like to wear their dresses snug. This wiggle dress has a hint of a collar like the APC garment, pulls out that 60's school girl card with the dainty pattern detailing and has the cherry red flare to match. 



Oh dear, I love this too much. How classic is this dress? What else is there to say? 



And now that Mad Men is back and tearing into the era we're now talking about, how could I get through this Old Gold without giving a shout-out to Joan. Can't you see her in this? It is so New York in the 60's doing Parisian chic. I adore it. 


So there you have it. More and more brands are looking into the past pages of fashion magazines to make your modern clothing buying experience feel like eras gone past. So, why not just go back to those eras? Forget modern Twiggy, just buy what Twiggy would have bought. With APC dresses running from $250-$350 why not get one of these lovely pieces for a fraction of the price and not an ounce of poorer quality. 

No comments:

Post a Comment