Manhattan Vintage Show February 2016

When we entered the Metropolitan Pavilion for the Manhattan Vintage Show on Saturday, we were thrilled to discover an homage to to David Bowie filling the lobby. Dominating the exhibit was a large piece of yarn art by London Kaye. The other bonus? A lot of Bowie music played on the sound system throughout the show.

We'll start our coverage with the people and move to the vintage clothing and accessories. Amanda Dolan and her partner in crime at Spark Pretty topped their long dresses with turbans. We noticed a lot of long dresses featured by numerous vendors in the show.   When we passed their booth they were catching up with a marvelously tall friend in a marvelous jumpsuit.

While the show often attracts some dandies dressed in vintage, these young men broke the mold. We noticed this hip trio at several points during the afternoon. Obviously enjoying themselves, they humored us with a photo.

Diana Gabriel obviously got the memo -- to wear black and white to the show!

We almost always run into Martha on our forays to the Manhattan Vintage Show, and she's always looks like she stepped out of a 1940s Hollywood movie.

We also saw Chelsea Fairless, also doing the black and white thing.  Jean is holding a pink papier mache hat with an artist's signature underneath.

It is always a treat to see actress and comedienne Marilyn Sokol. She stopped to show off her ring and bracelet before running off to browse and shop.

Gabriela, who also got the memo to wear black and white, and her friend Jackie stopped by to chat while we were at the cafe with Denton and Diana. Gabriela remembered meeting Diana at a drawing event at MOMA.

Mayra Gonzalez of The House of Findings in Cambridge, Massachusetts, scored lots of new inventory in a recent trip to Miami, including the dress she was wearing which had a matching parasol and purse.

We ran into Patricia Fox and her adorable (and very well behaved) pooch at the House of Findings booth.

photo by Denton Taylor

A satisfied customer with a great haircut and great glasses.

We had to stop by Another Man's Treasure to see Mieka, who was dressed inimitably, as always.  The plaid top is really a kind of vest, and has the most wonderful cap sleeves, articulated almost like a shrimp's exoskeleton.  And notice her knit turban, and choice of red and black shoes to echo the rest of the outfit.

This woman had a great original look.

We also had to stop Antonela and Suzette.  Antonela, it turns out, is an aspiring milliner who agrees with us that hats from the '40s are to die for.

We thought Antonela was wearing a Comme des Garcons jacket, but it turns out it's from Manhattan's own So Hung.  We took this photo from behind so you could see the jacket is constructed from large asymmetrically placed circles.

These gents were in charge of the James Veloria booth.  The two fish that decorate the shirt on the left are stuffed and three dimensional.

Two visitors to their booth.  Thought we'd also show you the Comme des Garcons shirt on display - the one with the black and white stripes and huge red vinyl circles at the sleeves.

Carmen Bury specializes in upcycling.  Here, she wears a hat that she constructed out of two hats.  The jacket is decorated with hand sewn patches she made from vintage graphics.

We couldn't resist taking advantage of one of the cut-out photo ops.   We'd like to draw your attention to our great legs!  Denton was kind enough to snap these shots of us.

Photo by Denton Taylor

Jean's note to self: Next time, take your hat off before you put your mug through the cut-out!

Photo by Denton Taylor

Andrea Hall Levy's Lofty Vintage booth is a must-see at every show. She never disappoints. Valerie shows off this hand-painted Yohji Yamamoto black wool coat as a case in point.

Christina Ruiz' Templo featured a hand-painted leather jacket that looked reminiscent of Keith Haring iconography.

Check out the vintage open-toed slingbacks at Michal Feinmesser's What Once Was.

We liked these colorfully printed fabric pumps in Judy Bergman's What Was Is Vintage that are harbingers of Spring.

Since the Ground Hog didn't see his shadow on February 2nd, spring is supposed to come early this year. Lofty Vintage had some wonderful pastel clothing and accessories to help get us into the mood.

Lofty also had a near mythical pleated Fortuny dress in a gorgeous blue.

Another Man's Treasure had this graphic beaded vintage bag.

At Vintage with a Twist, we saw a Salvador Dali tie.  We photographed it reverently, in place, so it has a bit of a shadow, but imagine how much fun it must have been to wear this to work!

We stopped by SwaneeGrace's booth and found her wearing a droll dress by Hanae Mori.  The material was decorated with clouds and planes, with additional plastic blue and red planes serving as buttons.   She didn't want to be photographed, but allowed us to snap the dress.

Mayra showed us two beaded dresses she'd picked up in Miami.  Valerie zoomed in on the one with fantastical sea creatures.

Look how this lady has brilliantly complemented her black and magenta dress with black and magenta shoes.  The strips on the platform are echoed by strips on the backs of the heels.

For our parting shot, in a final nod to black and white, and to hats, we'll leave you with this photo Denton took of us in two fabulous chapeaux from What Was Is Vintage. Jean wears a silk top hat and Valerie wears a spiffy felt Hattie Carnegie hat with the hilarious tiny crown characteristic of the late '30s.  A splendid time was guaranteed for all.*

Photo by Denton Taylor

* (Some of you will notice we shamelessly borrowed that line from The Beatles' Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite.)