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The Vintage Festival, Boughton House, Northamptonshire, UK

6th April 2012 This year’s Vintage Festival in the UK, a celebration of all things retro with a ‘best of British’ theme, is taking place on 13th to 15th July. I was at the London event last year, and I can’t recommend this enough….it’s an excuse to dress up and enjoy a very cleverly curated mix of music, art, fashion, film, art and design…with shopping, food, dancing and lots more glamour and excitement….

Created by Wayne and Gerardine Hemingway, the Festival is now so popular that it is taking place at the Boughton Estate, a stately home of the highest order in Northants. If you want to get tickets hurry, hurry and book up at www.vintagefestival.co.uk

Images reproduced by kind permission of the Vintage Festival. 

Zanzan’s ‘Spa Ma Ma’

5th April 2012 The 1970’s is the decade for celebration in this image from English sunglasses label Zanzan, which they have kindly let us show…it’s from their collection of images at www.making-eyes.com. Teamed with ever-popular denim, the oversized round frame is ‘Spa Ma Ma’…a name borrowed (with permission) from the famous interior designer, Hutton Wilkinson who held a party in Hollywood with this exotic name.

Zanzan is a well kept secret we have been following in London. Designers Megan Trimble and Gareth Townsend are the duo behind the label which sells its statement Limited Editions through fashion stores. For more on this label, visit www.zanzan.co.uk CN

Detective Inspiration from Andy Wolf

4th April 2012 Who is your favourite detective author or hero? Arthur Conan Doyle with Sherlock Holmes? Perhaps Agatha Christie and amateur detective Miss Marple, or the intuitive Hercule Poirot? The fictional spy Emma Peel? Now some of these acclaimed detective characters come to life in eyewear, with a fun new collection by Andy Wolf. The frames are a tribute to detective stories, and your inner sleuth can be expressed wearing Hercule Poirot (above) in snappy vintage inspired crystal and tortoise acetate. Or perhaps you secretly long to be Miss Marple – an acetate design processed with inlaid French lace, or Emma Peel, in these wonderfully quirky frames,(below) with a curved bridge. An innovative concept and an inspiring eyewear collection!  More details at www.andy-wolf.at and  www.eyerespect.com JG

3rd April 2012 Soft and curvy shapes are rising, not to mention the popularity of the peplum…here are three desirable vintage-inflected sunglass styles for women with this soft and shapely direction. A new Alberta Ferretti collection by Cutler & Gross, presented for the first time at Milan Fashion Week, is polished and luxurious. There are six sunglasses featured (image features one of the styles on the catwalk), all inspired by the handmade decorations, motives and shapes of the Ferretti Ready-to-Wear collections; the soft round fronts of the model shown are combined with delicate curvy arms, and, in some cases, trendy mirrored lenses. www.albertaferretti.com

At the New York label Lumete, a brand that specialises in women’s sunglasses, Vedrina is a gorgeously feminine shape in acetate. This label  has an interesting selection of curvaceous designs with shapes reminiscent of the 1950s and 1960s …and with appeal to lots of ages. Acetate lends itself perfectly to these soft voluminous shapes….www.lumete.com

And finally for the clever vintage traits, I love the twist on this Emmanuelle Khanh acetate design (model 5010) which I recently admired in Milan. This pretty feature on the arms requires a very high level of workmanship, according to EK’s General Manager, Didier Marder. The outcome is extremely stylish. I’ve not seen this anywhere else! www.emmanuellekhanhparis.com CN

Supreme, Sublime Retro Elegance

1st April 2012  Valerie Steele is the acclaimed Director and Chief Curator at The Museum at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York City. For over twenty-five years, she has orchestrated stunning and memorable exhibitions at the Institute, as well as authored fourteen books. She is also a fan of Vintage. “I’ve worn glasses since I was eight years old, and my frames are handmade in France for Selima Optique. All my reading glasses are cat’s eye, which I think looks good on my face. I have two pairs of “Jessie” glasses, one in tortoiseshell, and the other in leopard tortoiseshell, and one pair of tortoiseshell sunglasses – all from Selima Optique. Obviously I like tortoiseshell patterns, but mine are NOT real tortoise, they are plastic. When I was 15-25 years old, I wore contact lenses, but now I love my glasses. I’m just glad I can SEE! For my personal clothing style – I am a fashion nun – in black. My favourite designers are Rick Owens, Gareth Pugh, Isabel Toledo, Ralph Rucci, Lanvin, Prada, and CDG. On weekends, I wear mostly J. Crew or Army/Navy.” www.fitnyc.edu JG