Vintage sleepwear is incredible. The detail put into nightgowns and lingerie back when they were primarily handmade never ceases to amaze us… and the silks and satins don’t hurt much either!
For our most recent window, we’re displaying some dreamy vintage boudoir looks, as well as saucy vintage-inspired lingerie. Take a gander. Some detail shots after the jump!
Tonight is the official start of this years Ithaca Festival ! Here’s a peek at our new window celebrating the theme of the festival, “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” by William Shakespeare. We’ve been drooling over this dress for a while now, wouldn’t it be the perfect whimsical wedding dress for Hippolyta, Amazonian queen?
Be sure to stop in and say hi, we’ll be here all weekend and might have a few surprises up our sleeves!
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.
We purchased this coat from our friend Betty, who lives in Corning, NY, and is 97 years old. She is more energetic and positive than most people a quarter her age, and we look to her has a great example of how to live.
This 1940’s coat features a nipped in waist and a full skirt. It has a lovely shape, with sleeves that start wide under the arms, and get tight around the wrists (warm!) and the full bottom has such graceful movement.
In the early 80’s a teenage girl picked up a book of extraordinary photographs of ordinary people, and decided then and there that she wanted to be a photographer. The book was the work of Irving Penn, the famous fashion photographer for Vogue. His portraits featured very plain canvas back drops, and his studio made use of the North light. We designed this window in memory of his passing away this week. The dress is a 1950’s Suzy Perette version of a “New Look” gown. There are a couple of 50’s era Vogue magazines on the black trunk. The camera is a Burke and James 8×10 view camera. Mr. Penn’s photographs continue to inspire.
1940’s teal blue satin gown. The draped bow on the hip adds a touch of movie star glamour. We can see this on a torch singer, a debutant, or a really cool girl who just likes to dress up to go to the grocery store.
