Showing posts with label 1950's party dress. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 1950's party dress. Show all posts

Friday, July 24, 2015

Xtabay 50% OFF Summer Sale!

This Saturday July 25th,  Xtabay will having it's biggest sale of the year! 

In honor of our annual neighborhood street fair we will be having a HUGE summer clearance sale. All vintage clothing, shoes and accessories will be a whooping 50% off! 

To help celebrate Rachael and Toby will be working in the shop! We have missed them both so much and this will be a great chance to catch up.  

We are all really excited for this event and hope you can make it. In typical Xtabay style we will be serving Champagne and cookies. Stop by, visit some old friends and save some serious dough on some of the best vintage clothing in Portland. 

Sale starts at 11am and ends at 6pm. We hope to see you here! 


Wednesday, July 15, 2015

Xtabay Prom 2015

Scarlett Lily in her 1950's red ruffle prom gown. Scarlett lives in the UK and bought her dress through our Etsy shop. Could a dress be any more perfect for someone?
Kristin wore a satin and tulle prom dress from the early 1950's to her prom this year. I love it with the matching necklace! She looks radiant. 




Katie in an early 1960's floral party dress.

Cutest couple ever, I just wish I could remember this lovely young lady's name! Photo taken by her mom Carole. 

Anna in her powder blue 1950's prom dress from Meier & Frank. 

Tabitha in an elegant 1940's black velveteen evening gown with rhinestone buttons.


We are so grateful to our wonderful customers who share their pictures with us! It makes us so happy to see these beautiful old dresses back in action. If you have any pictures wearing your favorite
Xtabay dress please email them to us at xtabayliz@gmail.com
We would love to share them with you!












Wednesday, November 7, 2012

Dear Glamour Puss,

Rack of fabulousness at Xtabay.

Dear Glamour Puss,

I feel so drab lately. Looking in my closet puts me to sleep. Everyone around me seems to have her own style thing going on, but I feel like the proverbial field mouse in a flock of flamingos. How can I get out of this rut?

--Dowdy As All Get Out

Dear Dowdy,

Oh my. It sounds to the Puss like you need sartorial inspiration. If you feast your eyes on enough spectacular style, you’ll eventually find bits to make you own. You might discover, for instance, that it’s high time you drew on a cat’s eye or threw out your yoga pants for 1940s rayon dressing gowns.
The secret is to keep your eyes open. When you see something that makes your heart thrum, try it! You only live once, angel baby.

Here are a few of the Puss’s favorite sources of style inspiration:

·      Old movies. Thanks to old movies—especially the 1930s pre-code films—the Puss favors bias-cut nighties and doesn’t hesitate to eat bonbons while reading novels in the tub. Try playing Dinner at Eight or Roman Holiday the next time you sit down with a stack of mending or give yourself a pedicure. And the unbeatable My Man Godfrey with Carole Lombard and William Powell is in the public domain, so you can soak up all the glamorous dressing gowns and snappy one-liners you want for absolutely free online.

Feather Coat by Travis Banton in My Man Godfrey.
·      Style Blogs. The Puss favors Garance DorĂ©I Love Your Style, and Shorpy. Garance DorĂ© will keep you up to date on contemporary style, while I Love Your Style explores style icons mostly of the 20th century. Shorpy features real life photographs back to the 1860s—watch out for the outstanding hairdos and collars.

·      The Xtabay. Well, you knew I was going to say it. You might simply need to see yourself a new way. Come to the shop and try a few dresses you’d never thought you’d wear. If you normally stick to solid colors, try a bold 1960s geometric print or a demure 1940s floral print. If you gravitate toward wiggle dresses, slip on an A-line Jackie O dress and see what happens. Pin on a hat, rope your neck with beads, or go entirely without accessories. Take a risk. How does it look? How do you feel?




You, my Dowdy darling, must embrace Auntie Mame’s dictum that “Life is a banquet, and most poor suckers are starving to death.” Style is heaped on one of that banquet’s largest platters. It’s time you lived large and adorned yourself like the goddess you are. Stuff all those imagination-less Banana Republic blouses and over-priced, over-sized department store handbags in the Goodwill sack and load up on figure-hugging Dupioni silk, lettuce-hemmed gowns, and a crazy mix of prints.

Rosalind Russel as the exuberant Auntie Mame.

Life, sweet cheeks, is a screwball comedy. You may as well be a star.


Kiss kiss,

Glamour Puss


(Glamour Puss sometimes goes by the name Angela Sanders and is a guest blogger for Xtabay)

Friday, October 12, 2012

An Everyday Vintage Vixen is Born

Vintage clothing is a lifestyle for me, but it hasn't always been. I'm Liz, a 22 year old college graduate & in recent years have found that dresses suit my body type best and make me feel my best as well. I think a well designed, well crafted dress can make a person look a thousand times better than a pair of skinny jeans (but we all still need a pair - am I right ladies?). As women living in the modern age, vintage doesn't have to look outdated, but rather timeless and effortless, especially when you can cruise the well curated collection at Xtabay.

All-over lace cream dress with beautiful copper colored under layer.
When wearing vintage, I can go all the way with crinoline, pearls and some vintage inspired heels, but I can also pass as a lady in a cute, unique dress when I wear some flats and a modern cotton sweater. My vintage wardrobe can take my anywhere, for any occasion and whatever my fashion-mood might be. But as I said, it wasn't always this way.

How I became a total vintage fiend is I used to shop at some cute but big-name boutique stores and later discovered some of their internal policies concerning. I found myself wondering where I would get my cute dresses from now on. Then I realized I had some vintage treasure in my own backyard. The Xtabay.

One of my first Xtabay dresses.
Little navy blue number I can dress up or dress down, anytime, anywhere.
I found Xtabay many years ago but I was only the occasional vintage gal, not a full-time one. In the past year I realized that what I would normally spend on a dress at the previous stores - I could get for around the same price (or less) at Xtabay. But with one big difference.

The difference being that when I wear vintage clothing I feel special, and unique and confident. These pieces fit me perfectly, are one of a kind, excellent quality, are purchased locally and have a useful place in my closet. It's good for the environment, it's good for local business, it's good for me and it's a good price.

I apologize for the PDA, but this is the adorable Xtabay dress I wore for our engagement session.
Almost all of my vintage pieces are for my day-to-day life. I only have a few 'special-event' vintage dresses. A little black dress (Xtabay has lots!) and some colorful numbers for New Years or a wedding type of event. But I wear my other fabulous, but more versatile vintage dresses out for coffee, lunch downtown, to a movie at the Hollywood theater, or out to dinner at my favorite thai restaurant.

Wore this little number out for happy hour & got oodles of compliments.
Vintage is great for those extravagant parties but it's also great for grocery shopping and happy hour. Xtabay always has something new and wonderful to covet and salivate over. Some sweet sweaters, a wool pencil skirt (can't get enough), a new fabulous dress with some cap sleeves and a cute print or a dramatic full-length gown of deliriously fabulous material and construction. No matter what, Xtabay has got some vintage pieces that want to fit & flatter you when you leave the house next. Whether it's casual-fabulous or formal-fabulous, you should feel and look your best, and Xtabay has those beauties.

Casual-Fabulous. I have worn this to: Dancing, Trek in the Park, Karaoke & more.
I hope you consider wearing some vintage masterpieces next time you need to pick-up some nail polish remover & remember that vintage is for any time, any place and any age.

-Liz Devereaux

Liz Devereaux is a guest blogger and Xtabay aficionado. Thanks Liz!


Sunday, February 5, 2012

Love Alert...

50's style wedding dress by Fancy, modern size 12.


Fabulous 60's pearl necklace with matching earrings


1950's white cherry wedding hat with veil...perfect!

1940's Troylings size 8 1/2 M   

Floral arrangement by Fieldwork

1950's embroidered silk organza dress by Rappi, waist 25". 




Add caption
1950's Alfred Shaheen full skirt hawaiian dress. Waist 26".




My desk at work...



Gorgeous 1920's silk chiffon wedding dress with car wash panel skirt, size 4-6.

Metallic Edwardian heels, impossibly narrow size 7's...
Sleeve detail on 20's dress
1920's black leather heels with silver embroidery..size 7 1/2




1920's 3 pc. dress set with panne velvet skirt and jacket.


1930's crochet bag



gorgeous 1920's silk chiffon flapper dress in midnight blue..small.
See anything you can't live without? Email me at xtabayliz@gmail.com for details. We are happy to ship anywhere in the world.

Thanks so much for looking!

Interested in visiting our exclusive vintage bridal salon? Call us at 503-234-7568 to schedule an appointment.

Tuesday, September 27, 2011

1950's Chantilly Lace Tea-Length Wedding Dress by Harvey Berin. 

Illusion lace neckline and sleeves....

Gown features white french lace over a dove grey silk satin underlay. Grey satin bows down the front .
Waist 28".
A glittering array of vintage beaded clutches....


Amazing! 1950's Rhinestone Encrusted Heels in a size 9 1/2-10 medium!!!

Gorgeous 1950's William Cahill Chantilly Lace Ballet Length Wedding Gown.


Original tags still attached....

Off the shoulder neckline, waist 27"! 
Look how lovely the lace is!
Currently showing off in the front window!

 Please feel free to call us at 503 230 2899 with any questions. We are happy to ship anywhere in the world. Thanks for looking!