Vintage clothes shopping can be extremely satisfying or exceptionally frustrating. The hopes of stumbling upon an ’80s Alaïa miniskirt or pristine Charles Jourdan heels from the ’70s at the local church thrift has become increasingly difficult. Enter curated vintage - where hard-to-find designers and amazing pieces are sourced and presented under one roof or website. Brick and mortar vintage stores can be a great introduction to finding designers that fit your body type and to also research and understand vintage sizing. Ebay is still the go-to source to find vintage online, however vintage e-boutiques have become more popular as well, allowing store owners to create an entire aesthetic that eBay cannot provide.

A couple of newcomers to the online vintage scene:

Vagabond NYC is like V magazine come to life. Slick studio fashion photography highlights special pieces each month in editorial spreads with a very downtown aesthetic. Vagabond’s goal is to find pieces that illustrate current trends while staying away from items that are too retro. There is a focus on very current designers (Alexander Wang, Marni, Balenciaga) while uncovering many forgotten designers of the near past (Kansai Yamamoto, Stephen Sprouse), many of whom have directly inspired the very current designers. The current drop-crotch pant craze is one such example - Vagabond has uncovered the originators of this trend, Yohji Yamamoto and Issey Miyake, respectively.

With a more upscale bent, British site Atelier Mayer’s aesthetic is more glamorous day dresses, sparkling costume jewelry and one gorgeous Bob Mackie evening gown. Pieces are presented in a visually clean way with pop-up “style sheets” detailing the fabric, and editor’s notes discussing the fit and even the time period of the piece. Also, for a brief history of each period in fashion (from 1900-2000), visit the Decades in Fashion editorial section.

Tags: Alaia, Alexander Wang, Atelier Mayer, Balenciaga, Bob Mackie, British, Charles Jourdan, downtown, ebay, fashion photography, Kansai Yamamoto, Marni, online boutiques, Stephen Sprouse, thrift, V Magazine, Vagabond NYC, Vintage Fashion, Yohji Yamamoto.

There has been much, perhaps too much, discussion about the wardrobe of Michelle Obama, especially her Election Night Narciso Rodriguez dress. At Wednesday night’s Glamour Magazine’s Women of the Year Awards in New York, Condoleezza Rice was asked her opinion about Michelle Obama’s style. Now, I don’t know about most people, but I do not want a Secretary of State giving fashion advice, however I am positive that she never read her job description properly. Websites like Mrs. O and Blacksnob have been keeping count of her every skirt and blouse like a data tracking team.

The hard-core fashion set, a.k.a. the folks that believe in the seriousness of a debate on an asymmetrical hemline, have recently been sent into a tizzy over Mrs. O’s Election Night dress. Though these are the same people who probably won’t be happy until she wears Balenciaga armor leggings and a Gareth Pugh dress.

Did she look beautiful? YES! Progressive for American Fashion? YES! If you were given that Narciso, you would have worn it! (You know you would have.)

Instead of looking into the shallowness of this conversation, why doesn’t someone commend Mrs. O on her support of the American fashion industry? Every retailer she has come in contact with is seeing sales rise based on a single publicity appearance. Maria Pinto is probably the only designer business on the rise right now. The small ready-to-wear designer based in Chicago has seen sales grow 45 percent since Obama decided to wear her favorite designer around the country. Traffic to jcrew.com was up 464 percent the night after Obama wore an all J. Crew ensemble on the Tonight Show.

And the Obama girls? Biscotti Inc., the childrenswear designer of Malia Obama’s Election Night bubble dress is in a mad rush to re-issue the red frock after being bombarded with new order requests.

However, there are some people out there who will never be happy. Bored to tears with Laura, now they finally have someone whose closet might rival their own. I’d hate to think that the insiders who set the rules, might not be pleased to have a powerful woman who doesn’t take notes from Vogue or use the “Buy me” stickers in her Lucky magazine. And it’s actually kind of refreshing.

Tags: Balenciaga, Condoleezza Rice, Gareth Pugh, J Crew, Lucky, Maria Pinto, Michelle Obama, Vogue.

Today’s New York Times Sunday Styles section featured a full page advertisement for Barney’s announcing:

“Balenciaga.Edition -

Masterpieces from the Balenciaga Archives. Limited Exclusive Offering by Order only.”

Surely this is going to cause fashion pandemonium as the carefully chosen words used are: “Balenciaga,” “Archives,” “Limited,” and “Exclusive.” If your heart is beating faster already, read on. For obsessive vintage designer-philes, Balenciaga is high up there on the list. If these pieces are from the archives of the 1950s and 60s when Cristóbal Balenciaga reined supreme, expect a world of difference from the Balenciaga that Nicolas Ghesquière has introduced to the modern fashion world, but expect nothing less than perfection. Balenciaga was revered by many as ‘the master’ and was known for his sculptural exact cuts; he was a perfectionist and would reset sleeves often after a client was already wearing the piece or after the item was shown in a collection. He was also one of the first to introduce the silhouettes that still influence so many designers today: the cocoon jacket, the balloon skirt, and the sack dress. Cristóbal left the house of Balenciaga in 1968.

Irving Penn photographed his wife, model Lisa Fonssagrives-Penn in this layered feather Balenciaga dress in 1950.

and this tiered sleeve cape

A sleeve detail

Although these stellar pieces are probably not a part of Barney’s offering, there may be similar cuts or silhouettes to behold.

Other amazing vintage Balenciaga pieces:

Courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Barney’s Balenciaga Archive is by appointment only, Thurs, Nov. 13th & Fri, Nov. 14th at the New York location (212-826-8900 x2152.) Chicago, Dallas, Beverly Hills and San Francisco locations follow.

Tags: Balenciaga, Barneys, Irving Penn, Nicolas Ghesquière, vintage.