Que Porter: Practical Elegance

80's Louis Feraud Silk Shirtdress

I am about to celebrate my very first Thanksgiving this week and it is a fact that I greet with much excitement. Growing up, thanks to our mass consumption of US media, we were all aware of this holiday but few get to experience it first hand.

So as the weekend approaches, I am starting to ponder my wardrobe choices for this holiday. I am guessing that since it is predominantly marked by spending time with family and friends around a plethora of delicious dishes (my fingers are crossed for pie!) that one must dress accordingly. Now, normally I would be all for making a statement and adopting a devil may care attitude with regard to my outfits but I think Thanksgiving merits a choice that takes into consideration a no doubt expanding waistline.

With this in mind, I have dug through the veritable treasure trove that is the VagaBond NYC archive and chosen some pieces that should prove to be far kinder than, let's say, that body con number you are desperate to break out of the wardrobe. We are all about oversizing and fabulous billowing blouses for the day that's in it. 



Laura Biagiotti Honeycomb Linen Blouse

70's Yves Saint Laurent Ruby Silk Blouse

Smart Buy: Marni's Bottle Green Dress

This week's Smart Buy, from Marni, is of course another easy year-round wear, versatile dress-up or dress-down number. Its a simple dolman sleeved dress that has pleats running down the front and back and comes in one of the house's signature hues, lush bottle green. Its charming simplicity happens to be quite beneficial since it could be thought of as a blank canvas for unlimited layering options. Wear it belted to highlight it's beautiful cut, or un-belted for a relaxed, fluid option. The subtle genius and charm of this dress's endless allure is yet another reminder of why the label has so many hardcore devotees.

MARNI Bottle Green Pleated & Belted Dress-$212

Wishing You a Happy Thanksgiving from Vnyc

We wish all of you out there a very happy, warm Thanksgiving and hope you start the holidays out surrounded by loved ones, laughter and good times!

P.S-We couldn't help but include shots of one of our favorite holiday ready stunners, this early 90's off-the-shoulder black velvet body-con dress that's decorated with a gilt Baroque inspired applique resting on the bust. Why? First of all, for a holiday dress, it's sexy and so easy to wear, but most of all, at the moment one of us is really into the whole French Rive Gauche haute bourgeois feeling of it. Yes, thanks to parts of Chloe Fall 2009, we are totally into lush black velvet, gold threaded detailing, bows of all sizes, pleated organza, all with a chic French feeling... you get it!

90's Black Velvet Body-Con Dress w Gold Neckline-$138

Accessory of the week: 80's Coin Earrings

Our latest Accessory of the Week comes to you via the 80's and it's infatuation with southwestern textiles and jewelry. These dramatic dusty silver etched coin earrings are a smart way to corner today's 80's revival while not looking too much the part.

80's Southwestern Etched Coin Dangle Earrings-$114

Comme Des Garcons + The Beatles

This month Rei Kawakubo unveiled her latest collaboration(her group Comme Des Garcons, has a never ending roster of collabos) with the estate of The Beatles for a small capusle collection. While the idea may seem a bit strange given the band's history, we have to say, the bag above with its use of the iconic green apples and Kawakubo's love of polka-dots, looks so darn cool given its structured off-kilter shape.

50+ New Reasons to Hit Up VagaBondnyc.com

Here's a quick peek at some our favorite latest additions up now at VagaBondnyc.com. We've recently added over 50+ awesome, one-of-a-kind, carefully edited pieces to keep all of you out there looking fresh, + don't forget free-shipping worldwide, always.

80's Confetti Handknit Cardigan-$124

60's Khaki Taffeta Waterproof Cape-$168

80's Black Wool & Leather Dolman Sleeve Jacket-$188

90's Sheer Black Minimal Blouse-$86

CHLOE Atlantic Blue Knit Jersey Top-$158

LANVIN Black Washed Silk Trapeze Coat from 2007-$598

VagaBond Nyc Featured by Dead Cool

Here's a sweet little email drop our new friend's at Dead Cool sent out this afternoon about yours truly!

Bye-Bye Rudi

Our highly collectible and super-iconic 60's Rudi Gernreich contrast dress has just been nabbed by Mode Museum, a museum which accounts for fashion-related presentations in Belgium, which makes us happy that it's on it's way to such a respectful and dignified organization.

To check out more about ModeMuseum.be click here

Hussein Chalayan + Nomenus Quarterly: Interval

Nomenus Quarterly may be the world's most expensive & highly collectible fashion magazine, and while it doesn't offer the sassy, slick, tricked out packaging and product development that the world's other highly elusive & expensive magazine Visionaire does, we enjoy that it is low key, beautifully executed and best of all, completely free for online viewing.

Pictured above is a still from Interval, Nomenus & Hussein Chalayan's must-see short film directed by Jamie Isaia with cinematography by Andres Von Sheele & Stephen Blaise. It is so epic, it may just be our favorite fashion film yet.

Click here to view Interval

Must Have: Hermes Leica M7 Edition

You can wrap just about anything in Hermes' classic luxury signatures, let's say even if it's an Hermes microwave, and we will want it. And with only 100 of their must-have collaboration with Leica on the M7 available in orange or etoupe calfskin leather, the lust-worthy factor may hit the roof indeed. Too bad they are set to retail at $14,250...yikes!

Dead Cool: Sign Up for the Skinny

There are a lot of daily "lifestyle guide" email services out there, and while we have to admit that it's been a long while for us to open any since they seem to over state the obvious, like those from Daily Candy for example, recently launched Dead Cool caught our attention with it's taste for the unconventional.

"Dead Cool is a free daily email turning you on to unconventional fashion, music, art, night life and hotspots."

Sign-Up here to get schooled on what's up!

COMING SOON: 30+ Vintage Arrivals Next Week

Next week we'll be adding more than 30 carefully edited vintage pieces to the site, but until then, here's a quick sneak-peek at what's caught our fancy as of late...

This iconic 80's era Gianni Versace scarf print blouse is a quirky nod to the decade's hyper-romanticized infatuation with all things Baroque.

We love clothes that speak to no specific time & place and John Galliano's gem-tone jacket smartly channels the heady glamor of 30's era MGM starlets while utilizing today's advancements in precision tailoring. It's architectural peplum and sleek finishing are sure to make it look just as chic with a high-waisted pencil skirt as it would with some peg-leg jeans.

We've been trying to get our hands on as much Kansai Yamamoto as we can for years now and this 80's era reversible belted knit coat happens to be one of the strongest pieces we have come across as of yet. One side's a bottle green tribal knit while the other's a giddy rainbow stripe, need we say more about how over-the-top cool this piece is?

From the 90's come these three Issey Miyake variations on classic cat-eye sunglasses in unexpected candy hues.

From Richard Nicoll, one of our favorite young designers from London, comes this flirtatious twist on the classic pin-up high-waisted skirt with vampy Swiss dot lace panels and a prominent front zipper.

Here's an 80's era showstopper from collectible designer Claude Montana that quietly hits three of this season's biggest trends with it's voluminous shoulders, tribal suede & snake neckline and body-con knit construction.

Everything will be available Nov. 7th

Accessory of the Week: 90's Helmut Lang Gilet

Our latest Accessory of the Week comes to you from the genius of Helmut Lang with this mid-90's metallic gold lame layering device that was so far ahead of it's time that even over a decade later its still down-right too-cool. Its basically a cropped tank that gives any look a strong, urban warrior effect that's cool and collected thanks to its minimal appeal yet decadent fabrication.


90's Helmut Lang Metallic Gold Lame Layering Piece-$158

DEJA VU: Claude Montana L'OFFICIEL 1978

AND in this cropped and rather more modern (we think) version at VNYC.

Claude Montana quilted silk and metal bomber-$398

ModePass loves VagaBondnyc Vintage

Click here to read VagaBond Nyc's interview with French fashion social networking site ModePass.com

Follow VagaBondnyc.com on Twitter

In case this blog & our Facebook aren't enough to keep you on track with the Vnyc mindset, you can catch us somewhat more up-to-the-minute on Twitter by clicking here and you can also check out our favorite videos on Youtube by clicking here. V Love You!

Smart Buy: 90's Norma Kamali Pearl Blazer

With our incessant ranting on the need for cleaner, more sober palette cleansers, we were more than floored by Phoebe Philo's smart collection for Celine S/S 2010 and equally pleased to see some of our other favorites from Stella McCartney to Chloe also propose practical yet sophisticated offerings that had undertones of one our favorite times, Minimalism. And with that recharged enthusiasm comes our latest Smart Buy, this chic 90's era Norma Kamali blazer that's been given a crisp treatment thanks to Kamali's signature "paper" technique. With its lustrous pearl hue, classic shape, and simple spare composition, we think this is one of the sharpest buys you can make at the moment. Consider it a smart alternative to the classic black blazer for work and think of how smart it will look with everything from nautical navy wide-leg trousers to next season's must-have leather shorts.


90's Norma Kamali Pearl "Paper" Silk Blazer-$188

Channeling Style: Carolyn Bessette Kennedy

We at Vnyc have been thinking a lot about the future of fashion after the recent shows, and with the economy, the end of the decade approaching and the flamboyance of Balmania and Wassonism moving out of fashion, there's a lot to think about indeed. This week's bad news about Yohji Yamamoto, our recent desire for pared-down elegance and Phoebe Philo's brilliantly clean return at Celine, makes Carolyn Bessette Kennedy, a hardcore purist who also happened to wear lots of Yohji, seem like a smart muse to reflect on, even ten years after her death.

Way before Carrie Bradshaw and Michelle Obama, Carolyn Bessette Kennedy was able to create a strong, singular sense of style so innate and pure, while championing new designers and lesser knowns, that there is still no one quite as severely glamorous as her today. Looking back, her minimalist tendencies are still fail-proof for today. She was tall, sleek, always impeccably groomed with an arsenal of simple black numbers from the likes of Yohji & Prada, preferring maxi's & clean, unadorned shapes. Never one for jewelery and excessive make-up, her austere look was heightened with a sleek chignon and classic red lipstick. Everything was refined, nothing too tight, too short, or sheer. In her understated floor-length Yohji's, Manolo Blahnik stilettos & black leather gloves, C.B.K was and still is the epitome of modern, citified elegance.

We've included some of our own C.B.K minded Vnyc scores but her sense of style was so innate, beautifully executed and well studied that it's a daunting act to follow.

The ultimate thing to remember is that Carolyn Bessette Kennedy's style was genius because she was able to create & maintain a style that was so her own that it placed her outside of fashion.

From top:
Issey Miyake Brown Tie-Back Blouse-$128
Mid 90's Gucci Ivory Column Dress-$294
90's Gianfranco Ferre Textured Maxi Skirt-$88

Theodora Richards Styled by VagaBondnyc

Here's a peek of our latest work with photographer Toto Cullen for D:Mode magazine featuring Theodora Richards in our accessory of the week 80's cross earrings and our 80's era Oleg Cassini jet-bead bolero. More to come...

Knit Wit: The Energy of Kansai Yamamoto

Kansai Yamamoto may be one of Japan's less talked about designers to rise to fame in the 70's & 80's, dressing the likes of David Bowie on his Aladdin Sane tour & The Blitz kids, but to us at Vnyc, the bold vision of his label still makes it one of the most collectible today. We adore his energetic, flamboyant knits, military references and bold use of saturated color, and every time we do come across a Kansai score, we are always floored by everything's contemporary appeal. Yamamoto's pieces were all so far ahead of their time & inventive that they not only seem highly inspirational but also totally relevant as they showcase his uncanny wit with western-inspired sportswear and to us, prove that he basically paved the way for contemporary sportswear. He mixed the era's vibrant street culture with his Japanese roots and came up with clothing that was not only functional, but also highly decorative. You can credit Yamamoto for bringing screen printing to the forefront of sportswear by screen printing knit wear, for using appliques, and military patches, pockets and accoutrements for the first time.

In a few weeks we will be debuting one of our favorite Kansai Yamamoto scores on the shop's site, its a fantastic rainbow and tribal print reversible sweater coat that'll cheer you up on even the grayest of days.

From top: 70's era editorial shot(unknown), David Bowie performing in Kansai circa 70's, and our own 80's Kansai Yamamoto Canary Sports Jacket-$338

To shop our Kansai Yamamoto click here.