{"id":44242,"date":"2019-12-27T23:56:25","date_gmt":"2019-12-28T04:56:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.wendybrandes.com\/blog\/?p=44242"},"modified":"2019-12-28T01:01:44","modified_gmt":"2019-12-28T06:01:44","slug":"what-wendy-wore-nan-kempner-style","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.wendybrandes.com\/blog\/2019\/12\/what-wendy-wore-nan-kempner-style\/","title":{"rendered":"What Wendy Wore: Nan Kempner Style"},"content":{"rendered":"

I always attend the conferences organized by\u00a0Initiatives in Art and Culture<\/a>. At last month’s New York Fashion + Design Conference, I met designers Anna Sui and Zandra Rhodes — and Anna admired my vintage Ossie Clark dress, so I was on cloud nine.<\/p>\n

CLICK TO SEE ANNA, ZANDRA, AND THE DRESS.<\/a><\/p>\n

I wore a different Ossie Clark dress to the conference’s opening night, but I neglected to post an outfit photo — which I took after the event, obviously, because my co-star, Edward the dog, doesn’t attend many conferences. He’s got a busy schedule.<\/p>\n

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What Wendy Wore
\n<\/strong><\/em>Dress:<\/strong> Vintage Ossie Clark (probably acquired in 2006)
\n<\/em>Boots:<\/strong> Prada (2008<\/a>)<\/em><\/p>\n

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I wore the same boots with this dress in 2014.<\/p>\n

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Click for 2014 post.<\/p><\/div><\/center><\/p>\n

In warmer weather, I wear the dress with different shoes.<\/p>\n

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Photo from 2009 by Jennine Jacob.<\/p><\/div><\/center><\/p>\n

I have no idea what shoes I was wearing in the 2006 photo below. It was the pre-blogging era, and I didn’t go out of my way to take a full outfit shot.<\/p>\n

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A part of me, in 2006.<\/p><\/div><\/center><\/p>\n

The Ossie Clark dress was perfect for the panel I attended, which featured my old friend Cameron Silver<\/a> and stylist\u00a0Andrew Gelwicks talking about how it’s “Chic to Repeat.” I’ve known Cameron for over a decade (appropriately enough) through Decades, the vintage store he founded.<\/p>\n

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That’s Cameron helping me with a dress in 2007! Click to see the dress being worn out and about.<\/p><\/div><\/center><\/p>\n

The panel’s slideshow included Queen Elizabeth II …<\/p>\n

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Slideshow time!<\/p><\/div><\/center><\/p>\n

… and my personal favorite fashion repeater, Tiffany Haddish, who helped me get a few seconds of fashion fame on Inside Edition<\/a><\/em>.<\/p>\n

After discussing the many fashion triumphs of well-known women who rewore their own clothes or bought vintage, Cameron and Andrew got to musing about businesses like Rent the Runway.\u00a0 People who love and work with vintage and archival clothing obviously aren’t the right customers for a service that loans dresses for a fee. But I do think rentals are excellent in certain circumstances. Men have always been able to rent tuxedos,\u00a0 so why shouldn’t a woman be able to rent for a special occasion? It seems like a great choice if you’re pregnant; fluctuating in size for other reasons; need a hard-to-find size (unfortunately, that’s practically all plus sizes, and I don’t know Rent the Runway’s track record on those); have absolutely zero storage space; and\/or are blessedly immune to the sentimentality that plagues packrats like me. But if you can easily grab something off the rack, you’ve got no obligation to turn up in a different dress at every event, as if you’re an actress on a publicity tour. I question renting for novelty as much as I question\u00a0overly aggressive closet purges and fast fashion<\/a>.<\/p>\n

This is especially true because there are so many options for good, inexpensive fashion TO KEEP these days.\u00a0In the early 1990s, I had to rely on in-person sample sales, like the one where I got this feathered dress.<\/p>\n

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I got this dress in 1995 for less than $100. The photo is from 2010. Click for vintage pix.<\/p><\/div><\/center><\/p>\n

In the late ’90s, eBay came along with an online alternative, and there was a profusion of individual vintage dealers. I got the vintage Donald Brooks Couture dress below for $60.<\/p>\n

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Click for full length photo. This one’s from 2003.<\/p><\/div><\/center><\/p>\n

Now, I’m blown away by all the shopping options for vintage clothes,\u00a0used designer clothes, and any kind of current clothing at every pricepoint. Depop, Poshmark, The RealReal, 1stdibs, Vestiaire, Outnet, Yoox, good old eBay, Etsy … remember that the big department store websites sometimes have extraordinarily deep discounts.\u00a0 I say get one ultra-amazing, possibly used thing and wear the fuck out of it for as long as you can!<\/p>\n

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\u201cIt\u2019s chic to repeat,\u201d as @cameronsilver likes to say. I think I\u2019ve outdone myself with this @prada dress from 2012 #itschictorepeat #slowfashion #slowfashionmovement #homegrownvintage #30wearschallenge #reuse #rewear #prada #wiw #ootd #throwbackfashion #throwbackthursday #tbt<\/a><\/p>\n

A post shared by Wendy Brandes<\/a> (@wendybrandes) on