The Greatness Of Gatsby

If you haven’t seen The Great Gatsby yet, it is the equivalent of being dropped in the middle of your favorite town with a black AMEX card and 24 hours to splurge.  You are overwhelmed with sights, sounds, flash, opulence, excess. Baz Luhrmann is the King of over-the-top productions and this one does not disappoint. From the jazz/rap/ethereal sounds of the soundtrack from artists like will.i.am, Beyonce, The XX and Jack White to the extravagant sets that scream conspicuous consumption and eccentricity, the film never lacks in giving you something to absorb. Of course the fashions designed by Miuccia Prada and jewelry by Tiffany are reason enough for us to sit and drool in front of the screen for 2 hours.

Here are some of our favorite scenes from the movie, and from Carey Mulligan’s fashion shoot with Vogue magazine.

Tom and Daisy’s parlor with the flowing curtains and Daisy’s frothy tea dress. We also love that Jordan is bold enough to wear pants.

Gatsby in Nick’s cottage after he had “a few” flowers delivered for tea with Daisy.

This scene made us fall in love with head scarves all over again!

Of all the characters, Jordan was the one that kept surprising us in her costumes. Here, for their outing to the city, she is prim and proper in her dress, capelet, hat and bag. A far cry from the rebel who wore pants in the earlier scene.

Here, at Gatsby’s largest party, she is daring in her cutaway halter dress with the low back. The hat she holds in her hand is actually a headband with a veil worn over the eyes.

The mayhem that was Gatsby’s parties.

Carey Mulligan graces the cover of Vogue in this amazing chartreuse velvet gown from Oscar de la Renta and those jewels from Tiffany. GAH!!

Oscar de la Renta Fall 2012

Our favorite spread in the Vogue issue. Chanel Haute Couture sequin dress, headpiece by Julien d’Ys.

In these increasingly warm summer Texas days, it’s nice to be able to escape to the coolness of a movie theater. This movie will make that theater even cooler.

Did You Miss Us???

Yes, we are still alive over here in Vintageland. Forgive us for the extreme lapse in postings. We initially blamed Lindsay Lohan*,

Lindsay Lohan as Elizabeth Taylor

but then that excuse got to be too old and then Christmas came and Kalen went to NYC and had loads of great material to write about, but then it was FWSSR time (Fort Worth Stock Show and Rodeo) here in the Fort and we were selling boots as fast as our little stuffing, polishing, pulling on and off hands could handle. Then it was kinda slow and we really didn’t have anything compelling to write about, and we kinda thought you had given up on us ever writing anything interesting or witty or fashionable again so we just let it go.

So, I’m sitting here inhaling nibbling on a J. Rae’s sugar cookie, aka crack with glittery frosting, and my afternoon cuppa tea feeling inspired once again to write. I’ll start with sharing my adventures in NYC in January. I went by myself, which can be a refreshing thing to do every once in a while.
A. You don’t have to share the hotel bathroom with anyone
B. No one rolls their eyes at you when you want to walk the 20 blocks back to the hotel
C. Spending 6 hours at the Flea Market bothers no one except the vendors that I continue to haggle with until I get the price I want
D. I don’t have to stop at every H&M looking for “that skirt” in my size
E. Avoiding travelling in large groups where someone is inevitably walking around with their jaw dropped at the sights and sounds of Times Square makes it a lot easier to get around and might actually get you mistaken for a local (oh yeah, I was asked for directions. Sweet!)

The Garage Antique Flea Market

I did spend 6 hours at The Garage Antique Flea Market in Chelsea and it was like walking in to the best episode of Hoarders ever; minus the dead animals in the freezer and non-working plumbing. The flea market is housed in an old parking garage (2 levels!!) which is great because it is open EVERY WEEKEND YEAR ROUND! Vintage clothing (obviously), jewelry, furs, African art, housewares, handbags, furs, furniture, and luggage; everything you can imagine is here. And yes, if you are EVER in the market for a vintage fur, those dead, rich, NYC society ladies had closets full of them and you can get your hands on just about anything for a steal. Sadly, I did not come home with a new furry friend, but did find some amazing jewelry and a suede poncho. Most definitely a successful trip, I can’t wait to go back!

This is just ONE level!

One of the best vintage shops in NYC

Copper Garden Statue

Scary Baby Doll

Another thing that surprised me on this trip was how friendly everyone was. An older gentleman at the flea market overheard me tell a dealer that I was from Fort Worth and he immediately told me that he also was from The Fort. He went to the same high school that my daughters attend and although we didn’t know anyone in common, it seemed he was happy to have a bit of Texas brought in to his life that day. Or maybe he was just flirting, who knows. Later that day, as I was waiting to cross the street, a group of cool, hipster dudes commented on my coat. Why yes, it IS vintage, 1970s Bill Blass! What’s that? Oh, thanks, it’s just something I threw on. I am wearing that coat every damn day. You New Yorkers with your puffy down coats got nothin’ on this Texas girl stylin’ in vintage. Seriously, it’s not even that cold.

Need a fur??

Keeper of the furs, on his own Persian Lamb blanket, of course!

If you can’t afford the WHOLE fur…

So, we promise, we are back. There’s a lot of Mad Men to catch up on and those always fun awards show red carpets. If there’s anything you’re curious about or would like us to write about, please let us know! We missed y’all!!!

For more info on NYC Flea Markets, go to http://www.hellskitchenfleamarket.com/home/

*Lindsay Lohan starred in the TV Movie Dick & Liz about the life of Elizabeth Taylor back in December. Our post was going to be about the fabulous outfits in the movie and how they made it almost worth suffering through the horrendous “acting”. Alas, after trolling the internet for 2 days looking for images of such fabulous outfits, we gave up and hence our 5 month long blogging sabbatical.