Monday, August 31, 2009

Wherein V harp on Holly Harp....

"I'm not trying to do tasteful little uniforms. Being dressed in perfect taste is very aging. I still have a sexy little girl in me that won't quit."-Holly Harp

80's HOLLY HARP Sheer Layered Dress

Vnyc has scored very few Holly Harp pieces in our time and this one puts those to shame. The shape, the ruched elbow length sleeves, the frothiest silk mesh overlay, the muted embroidery at the hem, & that it is Black makes it a perennial. Past scores were lovely of course but they were more L.A, maxi's likely accessorized with a fairy crystal hair band.

This one is dark and flou, more New York or Paris, more Lou or Charlotte and best with Demuelemeester boots and messy hair. Most important to us is that it is absolutely signature Holly. And Holly, come to find out, was a bit of a rebel. A California girl who's designs were intentionally counter-culture and worn by Janis Joplin and other tough hippie chicks of the me-generation.

In 1977, she recounted that one of her poppy hued shifts reminded her of a flame, and so to enhance this effect she blow-torched and charred its edges. She abhorred conventional dressing and had no regard for "age appropriate" clothing and uniformity in dressing. She is, to us at Vnyc, a sort of Baudelaire of fashion: Her designs are beautiful and romantic but also inherently defiant. Stevie Nicks mixed with Patty Smith. Very Vagabondnyc.

Sunday, August 30, 2009

Francesco Vezzoli's ' Greed '



From St. Martin's alum Francesco Vezzoli comes this beautiful short video that was directed by Roman Polanski and stars Michelle Williams & Natalie Portman as aggressive, brazen beauties. We love its cinematic quality & hope you enjoy it...

Our Girl in August's Nylon!

Our lovely house model Nora was recently in Nylon's August denim issue styled in a cutesy cross of English schoolgirl with French naivete. As usual she looks great, reminding us that our site would never be the same without her!

Monday, August 17, 2009

New Vintage Scores Up at VagaBondnyc.com

We've been hard at work over the past few months amassing a large arsenal of new vintage scores and just spent the last week shooting 60+ finds and we are happy to announce that they are all up for grabs on the site now. Check out some great showstopping bra tops, one-of-a-kind jewelry, and some hard to find 60's to early 90's Halston, Krizia, Kenzo, Victor Costa, St. John, Gucci, Prada, Yohji and many more, all with free-shipping worldwide.

Plus we now have over 100 great finds under $100

Sunday, August 9, 2009

Accessory of the Week: 70's Lanvin Cocoa Hat

Hats, like we've said before, aren't really the smartest, most stylish option for some, but hey, that's depending on the hat right? Seriously, driving caps, trilbys, fedora's and even turbans, they've all given the world a lot of good and bad styling options. But then there's this sophisticated take on the safari hat from Lanvin circa the 70's, that's such an effortless piece to use to trick out and add weight to a look while capturing that elusive dose of quirky coolness. Its modified shape, rich color and smart chinstrap will successfully set you apart and instantly give you that too-cool, know-it-all, confident effect. In fact we liked it so much, and felt that it was so right for right now, so versatile & complimentary, that we used it to style dozens of our newest pieces with.

70's Lanvin Rounded Safari Hat w Chin Strap-$118

FocusOnStyle.com & VagaBond Nyc

Earlier this summer we stumbled upon FocusOnStyle.com, a site that's devoted to style and delivers insightful tips with a bold dose of enthusiasm and deft hand of confidence, all in an effort to make fashion and all of the trivialities that come with it so much easier. With the fashion world as it is today, and with the woes of the world, it's honestly rather refreshing that Focus On Style is a site you can totally depend on for all of the smartest tips without having to deal with the pretentious airs other savvy media outlets surround themselves with. FoS happens to be one of those rare diplomatic occurrences in fashion where you don't have to feel like you are sacrificing anything to get honest, sincere advice.

We were so plused by the over-all tone of the site that we immediately contacted it's founder, fashion expert & stylist Sharon Haver to see if we could get in on the action with some smart collaborations! And Sharon is one enthusiastic fashion expert, with a bouncy spirit and a non-stop roll of concise fashion sound bytes, it's easy to see why her site is so unique.

Last month we styled a few videos with Sharon and our house model Nora for Barney's New York & About.com that were focused on adapting classic wardrobe foundation pieces. And this Sept yours truly will be covering the Spring 2010 fashion shows for FoS with reviews that we hope you find equally insightful, honest and in-depth.

Sunday, August 2, 2009

Fashematics.com: Our latest guilty pleasure and time waster.

WE (or maybe just "I") didn't do much at all yesterday but pour over the amazing sale at YOOX- more amazing than it's ever ever been and that means 5 or 6 hours imagining ourselves in that Stella yeti-sleeved blanket zip cardi that used to be 1400 bucks and is now 500 and on to the Jetson shouldered Comme wonders and then the Clare Tough goodness and endlessly until like an overloaded energy-grid our (my) brains just stopped. The eyes were open and really wanted to keep going, but the connection was off. I took a nap and Naveed took off. I didn't buy anything which is good. I guess. I did however later come upon my favorite new guilty pleasure blog. Trust Fun! Presents Fashematics - A simple brilliant concept blog run by smart-asses with good taste wrapped in an astute silly, brilliant, sharp pop culture critique.
The perfect palette cleanser after a sunny aft wasted gorging oneself on Yoox.

This is one of the less rtw focused equations and maybe an annoying insidey sorta thing. Still, it's my favorite. It says so much with so little. Ahhh:

I'm sorry W. You are by far BY FAR the best of the three (Vogue, Bazaar... y'know) but it's hard to justify spending 4 bucks on one editorial and 12 ads. That said, if it's a spread shot by Juergen or Inez+Vinoodh and/or is styled by Camilla Nickerson or Joe Mckenna, I'll throw down. But things aren't looking good...YOOX would and could do well to offer W a few chunks from it's grotesquely over-stuffed larder.