Clothing of 1939: A further sampling from The Met Museum

I’m enamored with fashion from 1939, as you can tell if you have read my blog for a few months. Here are few more items dated 1939 from The Costume Institute at The Metropolitan Museum.

Silk dress, Madeleine Vionnet

Silk and metallic dress, Madeleine Vionnet

Silk velvet jacket, Madame Grès (Alix Barton)

Silk dress “Le Gaulois,” Elizabeth Hawes

Silk dress “The Moonstone,” Elizabeth Hawes

Clay and metal sunglasses, Marcel Rochas

Silk dress “La Sirène,” Charles James

Search 1939 on this blog to see some other great pieces from that great year in fashion.

Future vintage 5: Hatmakers of Etsy

Etsy is a wonderland of handmade creation, and it absolutely stands to reason that a singular creation by a singular artisan is a candidate for future vintage.

Hats seem to be thriving on Etsy, and two milliners who have caught my eye are ArturoRios and yellowfield7.

Here is just a small sampling of their exciting, beautifully designed and photographed creations. Click on the photos to be taken to the Etsy listings.










Search Future Vintage on this blog for the four previous installments in this series, and please let me know if you have any suggestions for Future Vintage (1. well designed, 2. well made, 3. created by reasonably-paid people working in safe, humane conditions).

Innovative clothing of 1939: Elsa Schiaparelli

In my occasional series on clothing of 1939, I am showing some items that surprise me at their modernity. See Can you name the vintages? for the work of some designers that seems astonishingly new to this day. In previous blogs I showed some ca. 1939 work by Steven Arpad and by Claire McCardell. One of the most interesting designers just prior to WWII is undoubtedly Elsa Schiaparelli. Here are a few of the Metropolitan Museum's Schiaparellis, dated 1939.

Wool and silk suit

Wool and silk coat

Silk evening blouse

Silk evening pumps

Silk evening ensemble

Cotton seed packet dress

Music dress and gloves manufactured by the House of Lesage

Silk evening dress

In the mid to late 30s, Schiaparelli collaborated with Jean Cocteau and Salvador Dali to create some now iconic surrealist fashions...well worth a blog all their own.

Future vintage 4: Toms Shoes & Eyewear

By now most of you have heard of the shoe company that gives a pair of shoes to a child in need for each pair of shoes bought. Toms Shoes has had this One for One program long enough to have given away its millionth pair of shoes in September 2010.

Toms started out with a very simple—but not without interesting detail—shoe, and it is being made still.

I love it in this almost balletic ivory grosgrain incarnation:



The shoes for selling are made in China, but according to the website “We require that the factories operate under sound labor conditions, pay fair wages and follow local labor standards. A code of conduct is signed by all factories. Our production staff routinely visits these factories to make sure they are maintaining these working standards. We also have third parties audit the factories at least once a year to ensure they adhere to proper labor regulations.”

Toms shoes for giving are made in Argentina and Ethiopia. I sincerely wish that one day these same places could made the shoes for us to purchase.

Toms new eyewear is made in Italy. Again, each sale will have a one-to-one impact, with eye care being the focus, including eye surgery to restore sight. (See Toms page for more on the purpose of this new venture.) Currently there are three styles for women, two for men, all classics with a twist—a hand-painted striped temple. You can even try the glasses on, with a simple upload of your own photo.

For me, positive impact is good business practice, and just...right. I would consider it a badge of honor to wear Toms now and into the future, making it a good choice for Future Vintage.

Please do tell if you have any suggestions for this series on Future Vintage (1. well designed, 2. well made, 3. created by reasonably-paid people working in safe, humane conditions). See my previous Future Vintage posts featuring Marimekko, Swedish Hasbeens, and Ghanaian Batik and Breton Nautical.

I thank you, the manatees thank you

Thanks to you and your purchases, I've reached my goal of making $500 for the Save the Manatee Club. Anyone who knows me well knows I am very concerned for these endangered animals, and when I received an urgent plea from the Save the Manatee Club about a month ago, I decided to set aside a portion of my earnings from denisebrain.com.

The goal has been reached, and the manatees will have a little more support from denisebrain...and my wonderful customers!




Thank you so much!


Further contributions will always be appreciated and needed at the Save the Manatee Club, guaranteed.

Innovative clothing of 1939: Claire McCardell

In my occasional series on clothing of 1939, I am showing some items that surprise me at their modernity. See Can you name the vintages? for the work of some designers that seems astonishingly new today. The shoes and shoe prototypes of Steven Arpad came first.

Next, a strikingly simple long red cotton coat. It was designed by Claire McCardell in 1939-40 and meant to pair with this plaid silk dress.


I love Claire McCardell and counted the reasons why in a previous blog (Claire McCardell, always new). Here are some more of her 1939 items found in the Metropolitan Museum Collection Database.

Wool dress and coat by McCardell for Townley Frocks

Evening dress of silk and wool by McCardell for Townley Frocks

Wool evening dress by McCardell 1939-40

Silk evening dress by McCardell for Hattie Carnegie, 1939

These rayon lounging pajamas are McCardell's work too, dated 1938.


If you want to see the work of McCardell housed at the Metropolitan Museum, visit their collection database. No matter what year you search, McCardell seems modern.

Honk if you love vintage!

My latest theme is up...how about taking it for a spin?

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Future vintage 3: Ghanaian Batik, Breton Nautical

When I was about 13, there was a book of catalogs from around the world called The Catalog of Catalogs. I was enchanted by this book beyond reason, and saved enough money to order a handful of the clothing catalogs. I didn't have the money to purchase the items themselves but I was inspired by the clothes from around the globe.

Finding clothing made where it should be made is one way to find Future Vintage. Just to note two examples, there are these colorful batik pieces by Global Mamas (Ghana), sold through tradeforchange.com.



Another page I've bookmarked is brittanyboutique.com, purveyor of Breton-made peacoats, sailor shirts, berets and other items.




Probably my favorite catalog in The Catalog of Catalogs was from Clothkits, and I was delighted to see this company is still in existence decades after I received my catalog. The concept behind this UK company is that you receive beautifully printed cotton and everything else you need to sew a particular item. The distinct prints make the items covetable, and your participation may be the best part of all.




Again, please let me know if you have any suggestions for this series on Future Vintage (1. well designed, 2. well made, 3. created by reasonably-paid people working in safe, humane conditions). See my previous Future Vintage posts featuring Marimekko and Swedish Hasbeens.