Manhattan Vintage Clothing Show

What's wrong with this picture? I'm flying solo! After galavanting around at the Gaultier exhibition on Wednesday and then running around Atlantic Avenue after and partying like it's 1986 on Friday night (more about that in this Sunday's blog, darlings!), Valerie's ankle swelled up like a balloon, so she spent Saturday with it "iced and elevated".  [Valerie says: Well, more like a perfectly stuffed sausage than a balloon, but the end result was the same.  To paraphrase Seinfeld's Soup Nazi, no vintage show for you!]

What's a girl to do? Call in reinforcements! With Forest City Fashionista as my "wing man" (er, make that "wing woman"), I went to the Manhattan Vintage Clothing Show.  Shelley wore a great hat, a corset imaged tee shirt and Pippi Longstocking leggings that looked like she was wearing a garter belt. It got great reactions from other shoppers and vendors.

For organization's sake, I've divided the post between People and Vintage Clothing.

PEOPLE:  This trio of very vivacious ladies greeted us at Tracy Chambers Vintage. When I told the woman in the middle that we loved her Grace Jones tee-shirt, she gave Ms. Jones' classic response: "Grace in your face".  Tracey Chambers Vintage is located in a brownstone in Brooklyn. Check it out on Etsy and Facebook.

Filippo Guerrieri and Pervis Ross at Sunset Boulevard posed, laughingly pointing to Valerie in absentia, saying "this is for you!"  She had purchased a black polka dotted swing coat from them last year and they thought of her immediately when they saw this jacket.  [Valerie, reclining immobized on a divan, eating bonbons with one leg elevated and the afflicted foot shod in an elastic ankle brace (which looks for all the world like a death-please-come-and-take-me-now beige support hose ankle sock, says: This looks marvelous!  I want to see it in person!  Just as soon as I'm done hobbling.]

Vintage Vandalizm greeted me, looking fab, as always, and was about the twentieth person to tell me that Jean Paul Gaultier was at the show. Rats! And SHE got his picture. Double rats! (No wonder she looks like the cat that ate the canary!) Neither Shelley nor I spotted JPG, even after prowling the aisles dying for a peek!

Meika Franz (in turban and patterned slacks) and her assistant posed outside her booth for Another Man's Treasure, an amazing store in Jersey City.

A short while later, I ran into Meika's husband Warren and their adorable baby, Biba. Of course, she was wearing vintage everything (shoes, leggings, dress) and had even added a jean jacket to make her look "edgier". One part hilarious and two parts adorable.

The inimitable Zondra Foxx, working her Andrews Sisters 1940s look, posed for a shot and then joined us for coffee.

Shelley and I kept running into this young dandy and each time, he was trying on a different men's vintage outfit.  This time, he'd opted for a bowler and British prep school look.

Heidi looked fab, as usual. She really looks at home in vintage and wears it as if to the manner born (yes, manner, not manor - we're reinventing English for fun and profit.  Okay, just for fun).

Chubo was mixing new headgear into his look of denim overalls, cowboy boots and leather jacket.

Shelley had seen fashion writer Lynn Yaeger at the show the day before with a model and photographer. On Saturday, she came back, this time to shop! Shelley caught her (and a friend) outside on the other side of the glass doors, just before she arrived.

Bruce Mihalski of Hollywood and Vine gets in touch with his masculine side.

... and his feminine side!

Theo from Paradox Designs, sporting the most outlandish headgear fashioned from colorful leather hightop sneaker uppers and giant feathers, posed with Shelley.

Tim John made an appearance at the show.

CLOTHING AND ACCESSORIES:

We spotted these humorously crafted peep-toe sandals with built in shiny red toenails at Vintagelemonde.

Trends I spotted included monkey fur, like this coat as well as handbags, jackets, hats and coats.

Noble Savage Vintage from Brooklyn always has a well-edited selection of men's and women's vintage hats and accessories.

Deco Etc had this amazing pair of over-the-knee boots on display.

Aren't these Japanese inspired short shorts and bikini top fab-u-lous?

This black and white felted vest looked amazingly modern on the mannequin.

When we met for coffee, Zondra revealed the cache of vintage polka-dot earrings that she had saved for me. Last time I saw her, I was looking for earrings for Valerie's birthday present. His selection of six pairs looked good enough to eat. I am doling them out to Valerie two pairs at a time. When Shelley and I went up to meet her for dinner after the show, she received the turquoise (top right) and smaller round white and black (lower right) pair of earrings.  If she's good, she may get two more sometime soon, but only IF ... [Valerie says: well, then, it's gonna be a reeeeeeeally long time before I see the rest of 'em.  A chipped/fractured/broken ankle (or whatever euphemisms doctors are using these days) can make a gal cranky, and a cranky gal doesn't set much store by being good.  More on the Adventures of Big Foot in a future post.]

Next vintage show: The Pier Antique Show November 23-24, 2013 on Pier 94 on the West Side Highway. For info, go to www.PierAntiqueShow.com  Be there or be square, sweeties!