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Friday, November 30, 2012
A Second Fashion Show. December 1st @ 9:30 p.m.
Thursday, November 29, 2012
Fashion Show Sneak Peeks!
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| For once Holly Andres in front of the lens rather than behind it! |
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| Krystal rockin' a 60's Modelia patchwork wool coat... |
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| Iris trying on the 50's flocked apple print 50's party dress... |
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| Iris in the velvet femme fatale suit. |
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| I'm in love with this 50's cotton gingham dress with rhinestones... |
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| Fabulous statement necklaces by our favorite local jewelry designer Todd Rouse. |
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| Our lovely seamstress Erin working hard to restore the 50's Frank Starr showstopper. |
I've been so busy lately getting ready for our annual holiday fashion show that I've barely had time to do anything else! I finally got it together to take a few pictures of some of the items you will be seeing this Saturday--you are coming right?
Due to popular demand, we will having a SECOND fashion show on December 1st happening at 9:30 p.m. We have all 85 tickets available to purchase on Saturday December 1st for that second show. We are very happy to be able to show you our beautiful collection not just once, but twice! Thank you!
Hope to see you this Saturday!
Saturday, November 24, 2012
Dear Penniless,
Glamour Puss thanks you for waiting a week to get the rest of her advice on looking smashing on a shoestring budget. I hope in the meantime you haven’t been out spilling your moola at the mall. The Puss is here to tell you, you can do so much better.
So, to pick up where we left off:
Know yourself. The Puss has a friend, bless her heart, who can’t resist a good estate sale. She will pick up anything that is remotely intriguing and just might fit. As a result, some days she’s a Twiggy look-alike with geometric prints and A-line cuts. Other days she plays the femme fatale with 1950s wiggle dresses. Her closets are full to bursting with clothing ranging from 1930s bias-cut gowns to Kennedy-era suits to 1980s blazers David Byrne might covet, with no central theme. She could save a lot of money and closet space by honing in on a single style that suited her.
Some girls are meant to wear piles of Bakelite bracelets. Others are better in rhinestones, and still others in Navaho turquoise. Some girls thrill in red lips and lace-edged robes, while other girls rock 1970s caftans and chunky bracelets.
Go to the Xtabay and try a few pieces. How do you feel? Does your heart race? Do you pose in front of the mirror, hand on hip? Or do you think, Sure, this is all right, I guess. Wait for the dress that rushes at you with a whoosh of fantasy. Wearing the right dress (or suit or skirt or blouse or whatever) you see yourself in a new way—or maybe I should say, a “true” way. You feel like yourself, only a bit better.
Invest in a few signature pieces. To crystallize your style, it helps to own a few signature pieces. It’s economical, too. The Puss, no millionaire herself, dropped a bundle on a necklace in Paris—that’s Paris, France, darlings—and an Italian bronze ring. She wears both nearly every day. The necklace dips and forms a faux “vee” over jewel neck sweaters, the better to flatter her curvy poitrine. The ring simply stuns. Set off by the occasional vintage Miriam Haskell brooch, the Puss doesn’t need to decimate her paycheck with piles of costume jewelry.
A coat is a good place to spend your limited dollars, as well. As the Puss heard one acquaintance say, a coat is your entrance and your exit. Plus, the most beautiful coats—vintage, naturally—were made to last and are easily found in knockout colors and lush fabrics, all at a good price.
Follow the 8 to 10 rule. Hold up that dress you’re considering purchasing. On a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being knee-weakening gorgeous, where does it fall? The Puss says if it isn’t at least an 8, put it back on the rack. Someone else will love it more. On a tight budget you don’t have the leeway to purchase a mere 6. On the other hand, if you find a 10, even if it challenges your bank account, do what you have to so that it goes home with you.
Keep your wit sharp. No matter what finery you toss on your bones, if you’re dull and fearful, you’ll come off a drudge. Sparkle, honeycake, sparkle! I know how delightful, how insightful, how intriguing you are! Let us have it. You, my love, are the jewel. Your clothes are mere setting.
Next week, the Puss will advise on what to wear on a first date. See you soon!
Glamour Puss
(Angela Sanders is a guest blogger for Xtabay and moonlights as "Glamour Puss", feel free to ask her any questions you might have, she would love to offer her advice and wisdom.)
Here are a few of Xtabay owner Liz's signature pieces.....
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| Stacks of bakelite bangles... |
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| A dramatic wizard sleeved coat by Bonnie Cashin---favorite kind of thing to throw over a t-shirt and leggings! Easy way to appear chic while basically wearing your pajamas:) |
Wednesday, November 21, 2012
Black Friday Sale!
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Tuesday, November 13, 2012
Dear Penniless,
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| Glamour Puss in her late 50's Scaasi cocktail dress, a dress that literally took her breath away. |
Dear Glamour Puss,
I want to be stylish—I truly do! But I’m flat broke. How can I look good when a Celine jacket touted by all the fashion magazines costs thousands? Forget about diamonds, even a nice vintage dress would set me back a C-note and I’m struggling to make the rent as it is. What’s a girl to do?
--Penniless in Portland
Dear Penniless,
Let’s just get it out there right now: diamonds are aging. They truly are. Heck, you could sling a tennis bracelet on the Gerber baby and she’d instantly turn into Phyllis Diller.
With that burden lifted, let the Puss share with you some of the secrets of glamour on a shoestring:
First, spend good money where it counts. You can’t cheap out on bras, for instance. You could wear priceless Dior, but with saggy boobs you might as well have shopped at Target. Get fitted for a bra, and buy one that keeps the girls firmly in place. Here’s a tip: One of the Puss’s stylish pals buys top quality lingerie, but only in black so it doesn’t get dingy. Cheap shoes, foundation, and dye jobs tell, too.
Next, buy quality. Quality lasts and flatters. But to buy quality, you have to know quality. Here’s where vintage shopping comes in. In the 1960s and earlier, coats often had double-bound button holes, and skirts might have six darts in the front and the rear to shape your torso. Skirts and sometimes dresses were fully lined so that the garment skimmed your body. The fabrics were nicer too—softer, thicker, more interesting. Blindfold the Puss, and by touch alone she can sort 1980s from 1940s wool. Style-wise, one beautifully crafted, three-ply Pringle 1950s cashmere sweater is worth more than an armload of J. Crew Chinese cashmere pullovers with their curling hems and cheap cuts. Plus, the vintage Pringle costs a whole lot less. When you're shopping vintage, look at all of the clothes that catch you eye, not just those in your size. Zeroing in on a shapely armhole or Normandy-milled mohair will become second nature.
Do what you have to do when love strikes. Occasionally a dress or a brooch will take your breath away. When your heart clenches, you simply must buy the item and figure out how to pay for it later. Years ago between jobs, the Puss bought an exceptional parure at the Xtabay. The necklace itself was so beautiful that one of the city’s top drag queens proposed marriage so that she and the Puss could meld jewelry collections. The Puss paid for the parure through a frugality campaign. For instance, when she went out, instead of ordering two martinis, she bought one house wine and deducted the difference from her mental tally of the parure’s cost. In six weeks, the parure was paid for, and the Puss still prances around the house in it when she’s feeling frisky.
Darling Penniless pretty thing, Glamour Puss has so much more to share with you! But we’ve already bored our readers with too long a post as it is. Come back next week for part two of style on a shoestring.
Kiss kiss,
Glamour Puss
p.s.Invest in quality. Here are some new arrivals at Xtabay this week that will look good for years to come...
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| 65 years and counting: this exquisite 40's rayon evening gown has stood the test of time and still has the power to turn heads. Waist size 26"/ |
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| 1960's Courreges wool jacket--still chic after 45 years.... |
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| Another pristine wool coat from the 60's by Courreges. |
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| Incredible wool and leather trimmed suit by 60's designer Samuel Robert. Chic together or separately . |
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| Another set by Samuel Robert from the 60's. Perfect. Size small |
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| The indispensable little midnight blue cocktail dress by Chanel will keep you looking gorgeous for a lifetime. |
Sunday, November 11, 2012
Xtabay Brides Revisited
I can't believe it's been a whole year since we opened the Bridal Salon! I was going through my old files and found a folder Holly Andres had sent me last year. In it were pictures she had taken of models wearing Xtabay wedding gowns (all of which have now sold) in the brand new Bridal Salon. Being a modern girl I was only interested in looking at the color pictures she'd taken. I failed to ever see them in black and white! So I was surprised when I looked and realized how fabulous they were. So I thought I'd share them with you:)
Xtabay Vintage Bridal Salon is excited to be featured in the Oregonian coming up soon this month. Here are some shots of an Xtabay bride during a fitting with our seamstress Erin--while being photographed by Ross Hamilton of the Oregonian.
Do you recognize the gown she purchased? It's one of the gowns above--I think she looks stunning!
Thanks for looking!