The Wiseling Blog

I had a crush on this guy in my freshman high school drama class. He looked like a much better looking version of Billy Corgan and he always wore those vintage 1970s poly-printed disco shirts that were really popular at the time. This was 1993. To impress him I started to wear vintage, which was mostly 1960s because at that time there was so much of it in thrift stores. One piece was a bright kelly green 60s wool boucle car coat I found at Salvation Army. To this day it has left me with a vintage coat hoarding habit of extreme magnitude. Anyway, my mother just couldn’t understand why I was wearing an old coat and threw it away. I felt the loss of this coat so intensely, that I just kept on collecting and looking mainly to find it again. To this day, I am still looking for that coat! The upside of this story is that I have fully converted my mother into a vintage fan since then, she being a vintage handbag collector. Over time it has changed so much and I’m assuming it probably will change again and again. In my teens it was all about the 1930s and 1940s. Very romantic and lots of velvet and lace all paired with Mary Janes. A bit of the Victorian pieces as well- tea dresses cut into minis and that sort of thing. Now, I would most definitely have to say the 1980s. To me there is nothing more glamorous and exciting than wearing a Mugler dress or a YSL skirt from that period. The best part about the 1980s is that it’s rooted in the submissive silhouette of 1950s so that you have this lovely mix this, but in fabrics like leathers, viscose, and patent. It’s was such a clever way of offering women the luxury to look ultra femme and tough at the same time. I love that push/pull and juxtaposition in fashion, when things aren’t what they seem. For me, that is the moment when things get incredibly sexy.
Hands down, Vienna. I am a huge fan of Wiener Werkstätte and anything that goes along with this magnificent period. The first time I went there- it was love. You have amazing time capsules of cafes like Cafe Prückel and museums such as the Leopold. I thought what could be more perfect than looking at Josef Hoffmann furniture all day while exploring a beautifully city full of incredible history and stopping into drink coffee and snack on apple strudel. Also, a duty free Wolford shop at the airport? Yes, please!
The Walter Steiger Gold Metallic Suede Curved Heels. Miu Miu did a great recap of this idea last year and now Dior is taking this curved heel notion and expanding it into more sophisticated space age meets film noir 1950s vibe. I just feel these are so right for evening this coming spring and fall, from the gold and silver metallic combination to the elegance of the heel. Also, the quality of vintage Steiger shoes from the 1980s really is just unparalleled if you haven’t experienced it. Overall, it’s such a clever way of possessing high end designer quality shoes that are completely on trend without paying upwards of $1,000 for the pair. That’s one of the points I stress about my philosophy towards vintage; In a fiscal sense it’s about having that rarity and extremely high quality pieces without the extreme price tag.