Wendy Brandes Jewelry Blog

Never Is the Next New Thing

Shopping My Closet, in a Way

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Every so often, I check out the vintage fashion listed on 1stdibs.com.  This time I felt like I’d gone shopping without spending any money. First, I noticed this tie-dyed, velvet Todd Oldham dress from the 1990s. It’s being sold by my gorgeous friend Cherie of Shrimpton Couture.

$950. Click to purchase.

After a moment, I realized why I liked this dress so much. I already have the skirt version.

Click for my original 2009 post about my Todd Oldham skirt.

It’s kind of a relief to know my taste hasn’t changed. I felt the same way at a dinner recently when a friend brought up something I said to her about men when we first met 14 years ago. While she told the story in a long and winding way, the suspense was killing me. I was sure I was going to be mortified by whatever I’d blurted out when I was young(er) and dumb(er). When she finally got to the punchline, I said, “Oh, I absolutely stand by that opinion.” I was happy I didn’t have to disown my 1998 self,  at least not for that particular incident. (Despite that, I’m not going to tell you what I originally said.)

Anyway, the second item that I noticed on 1stdibs.com was a pinstriped Jean Paul Gaultier pantsuit, which has been sold.

Click for more information.

My Gaultier pantsuit is from a later collection.

I can't find any pictures of me wearing this.

It’s fun to see what Gaultier has done over the years to liven up suits. I felt quite daring wearing my suit when I worked at Lehman Brothers. Yes, that’s what passed for radical there.

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. It’s interesting how in many ways we DONT CHANGE, not even a bit. I always wore skirts and dresses and liked to dress differently than those around me. Always second hand shops as well. My thoughts on romantic love etc etc… those opinions are still pretty much the same too hehe.

    • I’ve definitely changed (and needed to change!) in many other ways, but I’m relieved to find I wasn’t all bad back then 😉

    • I love seeing video of his runway shows. They were so fun! I have quite a few of his pieces, always looking for them on eBay.

  4. Classics don’t have to be stodgy – and you’ve proven this so many times, Wendy! I adore that long dress and your skirt version. It’ll never go out of style.

    That suit is awesome – you should wear it again!

    • I will if the occasion ever comes up! I definitely won’t get rid of it because I think it’s classic and who knows…maybe I’ll go back to a conservative corporate workplace 😉

  5. I love 90s Oldham and I’d wear that dress in a heartbeat. I have a sorta knock off of it actually but it is way, way tackier

  6. btw, I wanted to say that one reason I like your blog in particular is because you smile regularly in your photos instead of this new “bitchface” trend.

  9. As much as I love the dress I would go with skirt too more versatile and can wear year round. Regarding maturity now and then I feel like I’m at either end of the spectrum never in between eiher ultra conservative/stuffy or 45 going on 25. Until communicating with you friends think my music taste is repulsive – I could also dance in a club all night. The stuffy me loves good wine, gasps when I see people dressed badly at functions and will listen to vivaldi, whaow I sound like a quak:) but I’m not I promise. The suits are beautiful, who wouldn’t like them I’m rolling my eyes that Lehman thought the one was “too much”
    Marti

  11. The dress and your skirt are fabulous.

    I’ve noticed my tastes have pretty much stayed the same, they’ve just “grown up” and merged into what I hope is becoming a more cohesive style… Although that may have something to do with finally finding stores that suit my taste.

  12. This skirt is sooooooooo cool. I love all the colors. I’ve done that before too–thinking I NEEDED something only to find something very similar in my closet. Well done! Thank you so much for your kind words on my post about Bob. I really appreciate that.

  14. Wendy,
    I think Fran Drescher wore the rainbow dress on The Nanny. Todd Oldham is her cousin on the show and does costumes for Mr. Sheffield. Or something like that. Anyway, I remember her in it. She looked great. She wore it with a matching yellow wrap. She really wore what she wanted!

    • That’s right, she wore a ton of Oldham on that show! I loved her style on it. Wow, that was really a big coup for Oldham.

  15. I really want to know what you said.

    I just tried on a suit I’ve had since the early 90s and, while the fit is PERFECT, the suit is wrong. I mean, it’s not terribly wrong, but the pants have front pleats and they’re pegged and high waisted. I think a 25 yo could get away with it but on me I look like someone’s mother. The jacket is very curvy (if slightly too shoulder padded) but this whole freakin’ thing is like a yellow beige?! I look sort of like I’m on safari. Trust me, the workmanship is good and, in its day this thing was chic.

  16. I have a beautiful Gaultier pink silk and pinstripe wrap vest that I bought in 1983, and tried on today for the first time in around 15 years. Am going to wear it next week!

  19. I’ve never seen the post with the skirt, wow is it pretty! I like it better than the dress.

    Also, the JPG exhibit has finally made it’s way to SF. It’s at the DeYoung museum. I’ll keep an eye out for your suit!

  20. that’s a very good sign that you were instantly drawn to these items because, as you said, your taste hasn’t changed. that means you have true style(which we all knew!). i love that JPG suit… mixing up fabrics like that is one of my favorite things to do. athletic stripe rib with an office suit… BRILL.

  22. Please tell us what you said! Those JPG suits look cool. I can’t wait to see the JPG fashion exhibit in San Francisco. We’ll think of you when we go :).