Haute Couture & Vintage Fashion Design, Ooh la la

I have no idea why, but lately I've been fascinated with

The History of Fashion. I spend a lot of my Pinterest time

looking at vintage clothing design & have fallen in LOVE with

Old Clothes. I think it comes from my LOVE of Magnolia Pearl

& realizing how much of current design is just a new version of

something old & fabulous.

Believe it or not, the first picture is of a newly designed Haute Couture gown.
Looking at it, it seemed I had saved a vintage outfit in my Pinterest board
called Vintage Rags that looked very similar. I'm getting a whole
new appreciation for the beauty of couture gowns.

Here again, classic styling with a big, beautiful brooch...
now what does that remind me of?

This gorgeous vintage lace, high neck tea gown from the early 1900's.

I could even see the brooch working perfectly on this beauty.

When I saw this Valentino gown from the 2012 spring line,

I new I had seen a couple amazing vintage dresses that had a
very similar style & look to them. {gorgeous detail}

I ADORE both of these, they are sooooo amazing!
The one above is an afternoon dress from 1905...

& this is an Irish lace coat from the same year...swoon.
Look at that lace work friends, literally to die for. I would so wear
these, maybe over a pair of jeans or Magnolia Pearl bloomers

A lace couture dress...

& an American lace dress made in & around 1907.

Another current couture ball gown overflowing with tulle...

& a vintage ball gown with ruffles of tulle,
aren't they both just glorious?

Soft layers of tulle will forever be in style,
whether it's 2012 or...

1957, the year after I was born.  ;)

This dress is completely glorious, I adore it too..
one of Elie Saab's couture gowns...

but, so is this vintage 1950's Cotillion Party Dress.
So here's the big surprise friends...
that this So Cal born & breed beach girl, who is the epitome of
jeans, a tank top & flip flops & always has been, is seeing the
beauty & drama & glory of fabulous clothing, vintage & couture.
That there is more IN common with newly designed couture &
classic vintage, then NOT & my appreciation of both is at an
all time high. I just swoon for a lacy, tulley ball gown whether it's
Worth or Valentino...so maybe it's not that I was born in the
wrong era like I always thought, but more that I was born in
the wrong income bracket. If I was filthy rich I'd be sitting front
row at the great fashion shows around the world, buying
couture for my closet & antique/vintage for my museum. LOL

XOXO
vintagesusie

What IS The Price of Art??

Sweetest of Hearts,

How bout a penny for your thoughts!

I have a question for you regarding

The Price of Art...

or, to get more to the point,

how do YOU price YOUR art?

 {A Penny for your Thoughts on etsy}

How do YOU come up with that equation?

I have such a hard time in this area where business &

art come together & ride that fine line of commerce.

Do you take the cost of your supplies & your time & double it?

Do perspective buyers KNOW how much each component costs

in any given piece? Just as an example with the necklace above...

the vintage coin purse cost $10

the copper finding was $5

the tintype was $5

the vintage Pepsi coin was $1

the skeleton key was $4

& those are just the main components.

There's also the crystal beads, rhinestone rondelles, copper chain,

copper wire, time spent designing, time spent creating, oh...

& I also made matching earrings with custom made, copper ear wires.

I've got to imagine my costs for the

'Penny for Your Thoughts' set

ran at least around $45 & it easily took me a couple of days on

& off, to make it. Maybe I'm slow & I do spent a lot of time

thinking about exactly how I want a piece to look.

But, I really, really LOVE how this set turned out

& to me it's absolutely beautiful.

I consider this art.

Now here's the hard part...

I thought about everything, supplies, time, the usual suspects

& when I listed it on etsy my price was $125 for the set.

I know, that's high right!

But that's for a handmade, one of a kind,

matching necklace & earring set.

Well, it sat there for a bit & I sat here for a bit & I thought...

'It's too much, I've priced my jewelry too high

& that's why no one has bought it yet.'

So, I changed the price...

I dropped it by $50 & priced it at $75.

And now I'll wait to see truly, what is the price of art?

Is it what the artist considers it to be worth,
or what the customer is willing to pay?
It's a dance that I don't know the steps to often
& it's a place where my insecurities come out.

I can tell you one thing I do know about the price of MY art...

to me, it is PRICELESS.

In so many ways, my art defines who I am.

It's what I do & what I have always done.

I have a creative soul & if I'm not creating

with my hands, I'm creating & designing in my mind.

Yes, I guess by default, I am an artist.

If no one ever saw what I made & I never sold

a single thing, my art would still be PRICELESS to me.

It is my passion & something that has filled my life with joy & purpose.

Whether I'm knitting a scarf or pounding on a spoon, making curtains

out of vintage tablecloths for our trailer or wire wrapping a necklace chain,

I'd be doing it no matter what. That's just how I roll.

So, from this moment on, I will go forth & create & I will

remember that the value of a thing is not in what someone is

willing to pay for it, but in the process of the creation it's self.

The JOURNEY'S the thing friends, right...

& I am going to try & be ever mindful of that. 

{sounds good, but I'd still love any thoughts or

suggestions you may have though}

;)

XOXO

vintagesusie

Smelling the Oranges & Kimberly Crest

 Greetings Sweetest of Hearts...

I hope all is glorious in your part of the world.

I want to thank all of you who took the time to read

my incredibly long Tsar & Tsarina post!!!

If you did you must truly be my peeps, cuz that means

you love history just as much as I do!!!  ;)

Have you ever wondered
what beauty lies in your own backyard,
that you just haven't taken the time
to discover yet??

I know I've had that thought from time to time.

So, last weekend my hubby & I went to a beautiful mansion

in Redlands, CA that I've ALWAYS wanted to go to,

but I was never willing to take the time to just

STOP & smell the roses.

I'm so glad I finally did!

This gracious manor is called

Kimberly Crest & it was built in 1897 in the

French Chateau style of homes.

This Victorian Era home was built on a 6 acre estate & the gardens

were designed with never ending Mediterranean borders,

cascading fountains, lily & koi ponds, multiple terraces,

curved stairways & an engulfing orange grove, all

reminiscent of Renaissance Italy.

I LOVE this art nouveau, outdoor light fixture.

Our first glimpse of the house, as we walked up the many

terraced stairs from the gardens.

The view looking back towards downtown Redlands.

Breathtaking...

Kimberly Crest  is a 3 story, 7,000 sq ft mansion which was

owned by the Kimberly Clark family, paper product magnets.

Does Kleenex ring a bell?  ;)

This is actually the back of the house,

looking out onto the gardens...

& the fountains...

& this glorious bronze statue,

isn't she Stunning!

Welcome to our backdoor!!! :)))

{I wish}

Great leaded windows...

& a fabulous doorbell.

Sadly, we weren't able to take any pictures inside the house,

but this turret room was a beautiful, sun-filled bedroom.

The doors were locked, but I soooo wanted to go out onto

the balcony. {yes, I did try when no one was looking}

I consider a tour as more of a guideline...

I'm always the last one out of any room. 

That way I can touch & look at the beautiful vintage

clothes & hats in the closets.

100 year old wisteria vines...

looking back to the front entrance...

overview of the front gardens...

these bird of paradise, were huge...

the carriage house, that now has a small

museum & gift store inside...

This is the main entrance where the carriages would pull up

& drop off visitors on the way back to the carriage house.

Walking back to our car we walked through the

surrounding orange groves, taking in their sweet smell.

How can you not want to pluck an orange off a tree,

peel it right there in the grove & suck on it's sweet juice??

You know what, we couldn't help ourselves.

We did just that & it was the sweetest orange I

think I've ever had...absolutely delicious!

I guess after 100 years of growing, somebody knows what they're doing

cuz these were to die for oranges. We're already plotting our next illegal

orange picking excursions....shhhhhhh,

don't tell anybody!

Hope you enjoyed our impromptu adventure.
 I can't wait to come over to where you play, to see pictures
of something magical you found in your own back yard.
Stopping to smell the roses, or in my case the oranges,
makes life sweeter. I'm gonna try & remember that!

XOXO
vintagesusie