Kelly Doust introduces readers to her wonderful world of reviving and customising vintage pieces, while bringing a modern and unique twist to wearing vintage clothes – Dita Von Teese
Feather magic
Jessica Guthrie & me at the Minxy Vintage launch
The Sydney Antique Centre hosted a small soiree for us last Thursday night to celebrate the opening of Coco Repose’s 1900s-1980s clothing retrospective, and launch of Minxy Vintage over truffles, tea and champagne. To see more pictures taken by The Sunday Telegraph, click here.
The setting perfectly demonstrated how a little vintage goes a long way, and if there was a theme at all, it was feathers. I’ve always been intrigued by the use of feathers in vintage hairpieces and clothing, and as a design motif. Indeed, it was the shimmery emerald sheen of the feathers shown above which inspired the entire design of Minxy Vintage, keeping it rich and jewel-toned instead of illustrated with the pretty pastels seen in many other gorgeous vintage titles.
A feathery headpiece or strip of feathers added to a jacket or coat (as I’ve done with the 1960s-era black lace bed jacket shown above) is just the ticket for understated glam.
Feathered friends = instant party plumage.
Florence Broadhurst peacock feathers from Signature Prints
Vintage headgear on display at the Antique Centre
My dear friend Lisa & her Dad, sporting 1940s feather headpiece
Give me feathers and studs any day
I’ve been dreaming of creating something like this since I read that issue of UK Vogue I mentioned a while back, but the release of Where the Wild Things Are has spurred me into action.
I made this feathered headdress yesterday out of ostrich and various other feathers, a grosgrain ribbon and some fab studs. Right now, I’m wearing it to make toast. Now I just have to think about somewhere else I can take it out for a spin. Any ideas?
I just checked out Jak & Jil blog and look what I found – Olivier put me onto this site and I’m addicted:
And a gorgeous strip of feathers below, which I’m debating whether or not to buy… they would make a good bodice for a black bodysuit, don’t you think? Or perfect for feathered epaulettes or jewellery…