Just In!

1920-1930, Beautiful Things


We got in so many amazing things today, including an assortment of great pipes, an interesting 1920’s handbag that opens in the front, and the be-all-end-all of hats: a chocolate brown 1920’s velvet cloche with jewel and feather detail, in nearly perfect condition, and will fit a modern head!

Bag, $38, Hat $75, pipes priced individually.

French dressing

Style


Hey Guys! Just in: Some great 70’s French suits and jackets. One of the Yves Saint Laurent suits has already sold right after we put it out, so you’ve got to be fast! We still have a Yves Saint Laurent navy pinstriped suit (size 39 R), a silk and wool blend jacket (size 40), and a grey wool striped suit, all made in France. Come try one on before they’re gone!

New jewelry and accessories

Beautiful Things


We just got some new jewelry and accessories in! The cute little envelope necklace in the photo has an inscription inside that reads “C’est la vie.” Come in and check out the other styles, which include owls, anchors, peacocks and more! You can also get in on this spring’s statement jewelry trend with our great new silver bracelet covered in chains and baubles. A statement indeed!

Storytelling

1940-1950, 1980-1990, Beautiful Things, Style

We love it when our customers tell us a little something about an item that they are selling to us or an item that we sold to them. A few weeks ago someone came in to sell us some dresses that had once belonged to a woman who was a spy in World War II. They gave me her name, I googled her, and sure enough, a transmission from 1944 reveals that her code name was “Ivy” and she was given a mission in Sri Lanka. Her dresses included a beautiful silk embroidered cocktail dress with lovely beading on the cap sleeves. We also have a lovely bias cut pinkish-red gown and a fun lavender bubble dress from “Ivy”. One lucky gal is wearing one of her dresses to her prom!

Speaking of prom, just today, a woman came into the store and told us that her daughter had purchased a dress from Petrune a couple of years ago and wore it while posing for Mary Ellen Mark‘s Prom Series. She is on the right in the photograph (look fabulous, we must say).

Petrune is honored to have a dress featured in the work of the prolific and incredibly talented Mary Ellen Mark. Her prom series was on exhibition here in Ithaca at the Johnson Museum of Art in 2008; check her website for current exhibtions.

Prom photograph via WSKG’s blog.

Amanda Setton: our favorite gossip girl

Beautiful Things, Style

Ithaca has a “Boomerang Effect.” People come here to work or study, leave to explore the rest of the world, and then come back later to visit or settle permanently.

A few years ago we organized our first Petrune fashion show. Twenty gorgeous guys and gals, friends and customers, modeled in the show. We all had a great time. One of those models was Amanda Setton, an Ithaca College student, who has since made a name for herself starring on the shows One Life to Live and Gossip Girl.

We were all very excited when she came back to Ithaca and dropped in to say “Hi” this past weekend.

Amanda Setton in front of Petrune!

Amanda Setton in front of Petrune!


It is so nice to see people blossom into success, and to be able to say “We knew them when…” And it is even nicer when they come back for a visit after all that time. We wish all our customers success and happiness, and that if you leave town, the Ithaca boomerang effect works on you too!

Cornell Design League Fashion Show

Special Events, Uncategorized

Please join us in supporting Gordon and all of the other CDL designers this Saturday night at 7:00 PM in Barton Hall on Cornell’s campus. Tickets are on sale this week; more information here.

Petrune is proud to have a staffer who will be showing some of his designs in this Saturday’s annual Cornell Design League Fashion Show. Gordon Verrill, originally from Southport, Connecticut, studies Fiber Science and Apparel Design at Cornell, and also finds time to put in some hours here at Petrune! Here is some information about his collection:

“When I set out to produce this collection, I was concerned not with my material selection or my design statement, but with who the girl was that would be wearing the clothes. It was important to me to have the
clothes be wearable, at least for the customer that I had in mind. The girl that I designed this collection for is young, confident, and even a bit daring. She is creative and intellectual, but also loves to have fun and occasionally revel in more frivolous matters. While she would probably be one of the first to see the new Marina Abramovic exhibit at MoMA, she would just as likely be seen dancing on tables at a dive bar downtown. She is not afraid to experiment with her clothes, and to take fashion risks that may not always agree with the status quo.

With my customer clearly defined, I then set out to establish some sort of theme that would tie the collection together. Whilst fabric shopping, I came across a lovely nude-colored silk chiffon, and my concept was born: the collection explores the way in which nudity can be implied by clothing, though not necessarily in an overtly sexual way. The clothes are intended to emphasize the body in their understated simplicity. They strategically cling to, drape around, and expose the body in all the right places, celebrating the beauty of the human form.”