We Go Back for More: The Manhattan Vintage Show

Last Saturday, we went to the Manhattan Vintage Show at the Metropolitan Pavilion which featured 91 vendors of women's and men's clothing, hats, shoes, jewelry and accessories.























For the third show of the season, several of the vendors were in new spots, so we had to be on our toes. Inside the front entrance, after stopping into Lulu's Vintage Lovelies (which had the most gorgeous Norma Kamali black and white houndstooth check pantsuit), we ran into Meika Franz of Another Man's Treasure from Jersey City.


































Warren, Meika's husband, stopped by with Biba, the couple's adorable baby, who appeared to be insanely happy and in constant motion.


































In the Franz' booth, we ran into this glamour puss who needed no coaxing to pose for a photo so we could show you her gorgeous outfit.































Jean couldn't resist trying the large tribal straw hat from Another Man's Treasure. Wouldn't you hate to be sitting behind her at the opera! (Just kidding.  We are fanatical about removing our headwear as soon as the theater lights dim.)


































In the same booth, Valerie fell in love with this stunning vintage gown.   If she could have gotten into it, she would have had to buy it, even not knowing where she'd get to wear it.  (If we ever get invited to the Academy Awards, we intend to vamp it up!)


































At Angela's boutique next door, Valerie couldn't resist dipping her tootsies into these terrific black velvet shoes with an amazing ball-shaped satin-covered heel...






















... and this tri-colored pair of flats.



















Just around the corner from Angela's Valerie found this red and white dropped waist sun dress. The way to a girl's heart!


































Across the aisle, Alice Lindholm modeled a stylish vintage jacket from her aptly titled store: "Right to the Moon Alice".


































Not only did this young woman get the period outfit right, she also had the look, right down to the bee-stung lips. Doesn't she look like she just stepped out of "The Perils of Pauline"?


































Bruce Mihalski of Hollywood and Vine modeled this colorful Versace jacket.


































Our friend Jodi Head and her canine companion RJ Cash stopped by to look for her latest vintage fave: Gunny Sacks brand clothing.


































Artist Kirsten Hawthorne joined the merry duo to make it a trio.

































Jodi's snakeskin cowboy boots go toe-to-toe with Kirsten's studded Italian oxfords.











This young North Carolina vintage shop owner came to check out the show and see if she'd be interested in showing here next season.


































The lovely North Carolinian confessed that although her dress had been stored in a barn and had been ravaged by squirrels, she decided to wear it anyway. Very Miss Havisham, don't you think?

































The inimitable Zondra Foxx in her full-tilt redhead regalia.


































The last time we saw Shelly was at the opening of Gudrun Soho.



































Blogger Sammy Davis in an MTV jacket.


































StyleLikeU's Lily Mandelbaum in a vibrant red dress.


































Valerie gives the term "Spring Wardrobe" an entirely new meaning!  She HAD to take them home, and now she HAS to dye them.  Clay is the right color for someone, but the wrong color for Valerie.  They're suede and wood, so they should dye well.  But what color?????

















Taeko Miyamoto, who was working in our friend Noriko Miyamoto's booth (no relation), stopped for a quick picture.  LOTS of people told us to check out the kimono selection.



































Karen McWharter's booth featured this drop-dead gorgeous 1950's floral print dress.


































Half-way through our coverage of the space, we ran into designer Tim John and got to catch up.
























The already tall Jonathan was positively Amazonian in high wedge booties. OK, OK. He's a goth Amazonian, but you get the picture.


































The previously mentioned glamour puss re-emerged wearing a striking kimono from Noriko Miyamoto's booth.



































We continue to feature Theo from Paradox on each of our show postings because he never looks the same way twice.  Theo also bought one of Noriko's kimonos.  His friend is wearing a semi-diaphanous jacket.  If we understood correctly, the cord around her neck is a fabulous brassiere from - ahem - Nasty Gal.


































You saw them coming, now see them going!



































The tall, blond Nordic-esque Marion was also wearing an extremely high white wedge platform sandal from Kurt Geiger, making her look even taller.  Her friend is wearing a wonderful open weave dress with great shading.


































Appearing in one of the most iconic winter coats of the past 30 years, Valerie shows off a Norma Kamali sleeping bag coat.   The older coats are HUGE; this one has the padding down to a science.  It's even lighter weight, and takes up half as much space.


































In Lofty Vintage, we found the polka-dot twin hat to the one worn by in the new book about Antonio Lopez that we featured a couple weeks ago. It folds up into a flat circle and stores in a matching polka dot cotton bag.

































Lara Kornbluh at Icon Style shows us her bi-colored spectator oxford lace-ups.


































We loved the back treatment on this vintage coat from Billie Madley.  We stopped the lady to tell her so and to ask to take her photo.


































Riccardo of Rue St. Denis cuts quite a dapper figure.


































Jae Jarrell posed in front of a black and white display in her booth.


































This Jae Jarrell gents' jacket (try saying that three times fast) had the most fetching shell motif.

































Here's a closeup of the shells. Wouldn't this be just the thing for a fellow to wear on an evening stroll on Worth Avenue in Palm Beach?


































Adam, whom we met in Judy Bergman's What Was Is Vintage, has been doing some extra work on Boardwalk Empire with Judy's husband. He certainly carries off that vintage look with aplomb.


































Maki and Junichi often wear vintage attire. We photographed Maki at one of the last shows in another interesting vintage hat.

































The dress below was our runaway favorite of the day, at The Archives. We both ooooohed and aaaaaahed over the wonderful crisp white cotton and the gorgeous HUGE design of chic men and women of days gone by splashed across the skirt in red, white and blue.  It must have been a size 0, and would not have fit either of us. While we're admiring it on the mannequin, along comes very petite, very chic Maki, who is equally entranced, and asks Debbie at The Archives to take it off so she can judge its size for herself. We were both in awe as Maki held it up. We put the collar up around her neck, and that's Jean's hand holding the skirt out. To die for! (Maki bought it, so we know it's gone to a good home.)

This dynamic duo mixes vintage and new items seamlessly.




































Here's a view of Evolution's booth.
































Valerie tried this Thierry Mugler jacket at Evolution. The detailing at the neck and sleeves resembled fingers on a glove.



































And here's how it looked from the back.



































Proprietor Tony Tiemeyer showed us a colorful pair of Peter Max sneakers.


































Readers will remember young Charlotte (left) from a previous posting. Charlotte seemed to have grown two inches in the interim. If only we had also grown two inches...  Charlotte brought her friend Kay (center). Charlotte's mother Babette was their escort (they came from Boston), but in the best possible mother fashion, she retired to the cafe while Charlotte and Kay explored.
































We had to show you Charlotte's shoes, which she adorned with - oh, dear, what do you call those plastic THINGS - in contrasting colors on her shoes. We applaud her for her ingenuity!












Here's Banna, who was working at one of the booths. Banna and Valerie got to talking about hair and hats, and Banna said she couldn't wear hats. Soooooo many women say this to us! Having already seen countless great hats in just two hours, Valerie bet she could find half a dozen fabulous hats at the show that would be stunning on Banna, and Banna asked if Valerie was including her own hat in that. So Valerie handed her hat to Banna.































Here's what Banna did with Valerie's hat, without any hints or instructions, and without a mirror. We ask you, ladies and gentlemen: Can Banna wear a hat?


















We don't like to make a habit of always photographing the same people, but we always have to photograph Daniel. Some people have told us they want to have a look in our closets. We, on the other hand, would like to have a look in Daniel's!


































We met Indrani (who calls herself LG, and writes it Algy). She was wearing a handpainted necktie that only nominally belongs to her husband.  (The motif looks like a popular design for Japanese kites.) And that's an Issey Miyake top, and a skirt with wiring sewn in to give it a kind of modified hoop skirt kind of look.


































But you have to have a look at the way the top closes from behind. We're guessing there are multiple possible ways to button this, for a myriad of looks. We want this when Algy gets bored with it!!!


































You can never be too thin or two rich or have too many bracelets. Jean added the red and white striped one for $5. Best deal of the day!






















Noriko Miyamoto, who deals in antique Japanese textiles, had any number of wonderful pieces. This 19th century cotton jacket is called a rokushaku kanban, which roughly translates to 'six foot billboard', a tongue in cheek way to refer to its loud, promotional nature. Multiples of these jackets, all identical, would be worn by lower ranking samurai as they accompanied their lord on the sankin kotai, a monumental procession of provincial lords and their vassals to or from the national capital (on foot for all but the highest ranking) to show fealty to the shogun. Since the procession was a public display of wealth and grandeur, everyone had to be well dressed. As in the French court of Louis XIV, one of the purposes of these processions was to drain the lords' coffers, so rebellion would be economically unfeasible.


































There was a brief but very amusing fad for inexpensive paper dresses in the 1960s, the idea being that one could dispose of them, like paper towels.  They came folded up in cellophane packages.  You can see how short the dress is - it would have come to about mid-thigh.  And they're almost invariably sleeveless because the material would not have stood up to the punishment of elbows and friction and active shoulders.  This manufacturer made a visual pun out of the dress by decorating it with a newspaper motif.


































At the 9th Street Haberdashery, we found this delicate antique cap of metal thread and beads (coral?), modeled for us by the store's manager. It probably made a perfect flapper hat in the 1920s.  Here and there it has a hand of Fatima design embroidered into it. We wondered if it might be Moroccan.





















We found it difficult to do the cap photographic justice. Here's a close up to try to show how intricate and light it is.

















We have to show you this gorgeous woman in her exceptional blue jacket.






















At Denyse's Closet, there is always a selection of eye-catching hats. This woman fell in love with this latticework straw cartwheel hat by Adolpho, which worked very well with both her face and her dress.

















This woman was dressed in an austere Japanese suit, nicely set off by her blond hair.



































We loved this woman's gorgeous gray hair, and her wonderful western cartoon print shirt.



































Great minds! At the end of the show, just before vendors were starting to take down their booths, we stopped at Amarcord, where we were invited to join everyone for an end-of-the-show glass of bubbly. One of the Amarcord ladies and Chubo, another vendor frequently featured here, show their different riffs on flight suits and cowboy boots!

































Next show: October 25th & 26th, 2013!

What we're wearing:
 Jean is wearing an Amy Downs turban, Eileen Fisher harem pants, one (of her three identical) Kyodon jakets, customized Dansko clogs, vintage bakelite earrings and bracelets, metal red & white starfish earrings from Screaming Mimi's on Lafayette Street in Nolita, vintage painted red wooden gumball necklace.

Valerie is wearing a paper thread hat by United Nude, plastic earrings from the flea market, white linen suit by Calvin Klein, plastic Mondrian ring with interchangeable pieces from Etsy, black and white striped bracelets (made of recycled flip flops?) from Chaos, white leather shoes with polka dot cutouts by Bernie Mev.