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The Swelle Life
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A Paris-loving fashion destination with a focus on emerging designers as well as the Big Guns, including reviews from the front-row, art and design and everything in between, with a touch of humour - after all, fashion should be fun!
Recent Posts Tagged With 'vintage'
Vintage Beaded Dresses and Parking Violations
I visited The Cat's Meow when I was home visiting Toronto in the summer, it's my favourite brick and mortar vintage shop. And here's why. It was one of the few things I got to do between getting strep throat twice while home. I popped in to see what ...
WhiteFly Casts the Past in Precious Metals
WhiteFly takes delicate and beautiful things like vintage lace and satin ribbon bows and flowers and casts them in solid gold or sterling silver to make gorgeous one-of-a-kind pieces of jewelry. The Los Angeles jewelry maker cuts and finishes each pi...
Let\'s Take a Magic Carpet Bag Ride!
I am so in love with these luxury carpet bags by Mary Kaiser - they're such happy, happy bags! They've got it all: the lushness of gros point, cut velvet and tapestry fabrics from Clarence House, Lee Jofa, and Scalamandre; the interior boasts silk l...
The Arousing Style of Dita Von Teese
You would think that an international burlesque performer who is famous for taking her clothes off in an elaborately choreographed and propped stage show would be best known for her body. But it’s Dita Von Teese’s throwback starlet style tha...
Meet The Glamourai and Shrimpton Couture in New York!
If you're in New York you'd be mad not to stop by the W Hotel Monday evening to see Shrimpton Couture's exclusive presentation of Glamour Wraps by NYC accessories designer The Glamourai. These two amazing fashion forces - Shrimpton Couture having r...
Will Someone Please Buy This Vintage Mint Shrunken Tuxedo Jacket?
Why the plea? Because I would snap up this fantastic vintage tuxedo jacket from Mrs Doyle in a heartbeat but it's teensy weensy! It's mint (in colour and condition), it's got a great contrast trim on the pockets and lapel,......
Noa Noa\'s Splendid 1930s Autumn
I so look forward to seeing Noa Noa's catalogue imagery each season. It's always beautifully shot and the clothes are drawn from some era pre-1950 and the look is a mix of two or three decades which is what makes the layering of Noa Noa's looks so...
Beautiful Vintage Lingerie Will Never Get Old
One of the most gorgeous things to look at is vintage lingerie in delicate, dusty pastels and nude shades. And if layers upon layers of embroidered silk and tulle are involved and finished with slouchy stockings and floral garland neckpieces t...
Swelle Giveaway! Win a Supayana Reworked 'Parisienne' Top!
How adorable is this plaid, ruffle sleeve, bow-tie top? It's from Supayana and you could win your very own 'Parisienne' top that's made just for you! Supayana is a Montreal-based clothing line run by designer Yana Gorbulsky. Her one-of-a-kind upcycle...
Old School: Teddy Tinling's Slammin' Tennis Couture
It may seem that Maria Sharapova's penchant for tutu skirts and tailored shorts and Serena William's studded denim outfits and leather warm-up boots marked tennis' spectacular entrance into the fashion arena. But in fact, today's players are just beg...
Summer Re-run: Steampunk: Mr. Technology Meet Ms. Romance
Originally posted May 14, 2008 This is the last of the Summer Re-Runs. I'm back on terra firma Brittania, jet lagged and in need of a shower. I look forward to being lucid in the near future. Love your iPOD......
Milla Marries in her Own Creation
Correction: The original title of this post was 'Milla Marries in Vintage.' But as it turns out my source was wrong. Bah! Milla actually designed her wedding dress herself, which make sense as she designed for her own label Jovovich-Hawk......
I Was a Three Year-Old Austin Powers
Today is my birthday. And as a weird homage to myself I'm sharing this photo taken when I was three years-old in which I bear a striking similarity to Austin Powers. Of course that goofiest of characters didn't exist then......
Go on, 'Mad Men' Yourself
This is fun. The Mad Men website has an app where you can 'Mad Men' yourself, choosing everything from body type and face shape to accessories and scenery - in early 1960s style, of course. There really is only one......
Midcentury Postmodern
The perfect follow-up to yesterday's awesome photo of Kristin from Mette as a Mad Men character is this 'blast from the past' artwork from Jim Ward Morris. The Bellingham, Washington artist has created two series of works called Midcentury and......
You Can Put This Swelle Gal on Mad Men!
Isn't this photo an absolute dream? It's an entry for the Mad Men Casting Call Contest where one winner will be selected from submitted photos in the Mad Men style for a highly coveted walk-on role (and even more coveted......
Living Out of a Suitcase is Looking Pretty Good
I thought since today was all about furniture shopping I'd keep with the theme. This cat bed from Vintage Renaissance is made from a vintage suitcase and mid-century coffee table legs and is just so cool. But the cat doesn't......
Drown Me in LA Drama Queen
It's late July, everyone is suffering in the sweltering heat and the humidity is so thick it's suffocating. You do the charitable thing and offer to take your nieces and nephews to the community pool for a dip in what......
A Decorated House is a Happy House
Tonight I found another artist who loves Paris as much as I do (I'm referring to Fifi Flowers as the first, and I have a hunch there may even be more!). Donna Courtney of The Decorated House creates collages that......
Jena Ardell's Dreamy Summers 'Past'
Diver by Jena Ardell Hazy, washed out photographs that appear like a faded memory make me nostalgic for my childhood, even if the subject matter doesn't quite fit my own experience. Like this candy-coloured attraction-filled pier below that has me......
Louise Black's Victorian Beauties for Shrimpton Couture
My favourite vintage shop, Shrimpton Couture, has embarked on an exciting venture and enlisted the talents of a handful of carefully chosen independent accessories designers to create one-of-a-kind capsule collections for the boutique. Each is known ...
Shrimpton Couture Weighs in on the Future of Vintage
I've been so taken with the idea of vintage lately and it's due in part to my reaction to over-consumption which I'm as guilty of as anyone (except I'm not anywhere near as bad as that lady on Oprah whose......
C'est Magnifique: Bijoux Art Déco et Avant-garde
Jean Després. Bague, 1937 © Les Arts Décoratifs, photo Jean Tholance Paris always has the good stuff going on and at this moment the Bijoux Art déco et Avant-garde exhibit is on at Les Arts Décoratifs, which is part of......
Observing Atonement
If you've seen Atonement, you know what a gorgeous film it is. Set in the 1930s and showcasing all of the splendor the decade is known for, it's one of those rare events where you could watch with the sound......
LAINE: A Collection of Rare Gems
There's a quote that goes "The greatest treasures are those invisible to the eye but found by the heart", and a variation of these words came to mind when I first saw the new collection from artisan jeweller Courtney Laine.......
Elsa Shiaparelli Garments to be Auctioned in Paris
According to WWD, forty creations by the late Italian design legend Elsa Schiaparelli will be available to the highest bidder as part of an exceptional sale of vintage couture pieces. Included are the circa-1938 shocking-pink and black striped evenin...
