Déjà Vu Vintage Finery: Palm Springs Vintage Clothing: May 2012

Friday, May 25, 2012

The Shift Dress: Vintage History

This weekend is our HUGE Memorial Weekend Sale at Deja Vu Vintage Finery. Earlier during the week when gearing up for our big sale, I was adding onto the sale rack fun and flirty vintage dresses that I knew our customers would love. Most of the dresses that were on the rack were the popular recognized "shift" dress, most popular and worn during the 1960's. I had asked my boss, why are these called shift dresses? I know what a shift dress looks like and feels like, but where exactly did the name come from? Bill, owner of Deja Vu, did some reseacrh and came accross why the "shift" is called that way.

So vintage lovers, if you did not know why the shift dress was called a shift, well now you do!

A shift dress is a short, sleeveless dress that hangs from the shoulders. It is suitable for all body types and sizes. It has been popular since the 1960s. Though it is easy to shift or move around in a "shift dress," the term signifies a shift in culture. When the dress became popular in the late 1950s, American youth culture was at its height. The dress represented the youthful, free and revolutionary attitudes of the time.

The credible shift dress entailed many features, it's short and straight with a simple line. It hangs loose on the body from the shoulders and is held together by side panels. The dress is sleeveless with a short hemline. The neckline is high, typically with a boat-neck collar. The dress has almost no detailing, beyond side panels and breast darts. The waist is de-emphasized. This allows women to move around freely without constraints.

The history of the shift dress, I read the dress can be traced back to 1920's flapper trends. Dresses of Coco Chanel had featured exposed legs and arms with simple cuts and loose in shape with minimal waist definiton.

This movement caused many women to slowly drift from the corsets and offered women both with style and ease of movement. The shift dress was not only a new look, but was also promoted independence, modernitity and redefined the females shape. The shift is a symbol of youth culture. It was all about mobility at casual ease.

here are some photos of the shift dresses we currently have in stock at Deja Vu Vintage Finery.

If you see anything you love, please give us a call at 760 699 5365 and we'd love to put a shift on hold for you.

Reference: http://www.ehow.com/about_5486253_shift-dress.html#ixzz1vvBFiV00

Wednesday, May 16, 2012

Ready for Summer with Lilly Pulitzer Style!!

Summer is here and at DejaVu Vintage Finery in Palms Springs, We are gearing up with a wonderful selection of summer vintage dresses.

One of our favorite designers of these great retro summer shifts, is Lily Pulitzer, known for her bright colorful sleeveless dresses of the 1950’s and 1960’s. Lilly didn’t start out as a dress designer, but fate and creativity sent her in a direction as a style icon that she never expected.

Lilly and Peter Pulitzer settled in Palm Beach, Florida, shortly after their marriage in the early 1950’s. Peter owned several Florida citrus groves.

Lilly opened a juice stand in Palm Beach Florida where she decided to make colorful Sleeveless dresses for herself to hide the stains. These sleeveless shift dresses made of bright, colorful printed cotton were admired by her customers. so she produced more in order to sell them at her juice stand. Eventually, she was selling more dresses than juice, and decided to focus on designing and selling what had become known as her "Lillys".

Lilly's schoolmate Jacqueline Kennedy (former first lady) wore one of the dresses while on vacation. After Jacqueline was photographed, people everywhere wanted the dresses designed by Lilly.

In 1959, Lilly became president of her own company, Lilly Pulitzer, Inc. The company's main factory was located in Miami, Florida .From the 1960s to the early 1980s, Lilly's bright, colorful clothes were very popular, worn by elites such as First Lady Jackie Kennedy and her daughter Caroline, and members of the Rockefeller, Vanderbilt and Whitney families. In 1984 Lilly retired, closing down her entire clothing operation.

In 1993, the rights to the brand were purchased by Sugartown Worldwide, Inc.

Lilly is not involved in the day to day administration of the company, but she continues to serve in the role of creative consultant, approving new designs, fabrics, and collections, and branching out into other product lines.

At Deja Vu Vintage Finery, we have multiple styles of the Lilly Pulizter collections in pristine vintage condition. Below is just a glimpse of what we

currently have in or inverntory! Come stop by Deja Vu to see the complete collection by Lilly Pulitzer.

If you see any dressesyou would like us to put on hold or would like to purchase, please call the store!

Deja Vu Vintage Finery

760 699 5365