The Black Swan of the family

Greetings loved ones,

As you read this, one imagines that you find yourselves al fresco, shivering in the British wintertime, in a queue that could give Kate Moss at Topshop or the 80's opening of 'The Empire Strikes Back' a run for its money. The queue I speak of is not for The Affordable Vintage Fair in Leeds, Durham and Newcastle [which take place next weekend. Expect a similar level of enthusiasm however - a camping stool and a thermos could be a must!] but a line at your local picture house, waiting to see Black Swan.

Yes, Aronofsky's tale of one tiny dancer's decent into darkness has the nation and the awards boards solidly gripped. In addition to an intoxicating storyline, stellar performances by golden girls Portman and Kunis and, er, enough explicit content to make even the most liberal amongst us turn a shade of red, another aspect has ruffled some feathers; the costumes. With scores popping the Pilates ball and turning to tutus, ballet has never been so right now - whether working out or out on the town, a pirhouette has never been so acceptable. Created by those Mulleavy sister whizzkids at Rodarte, here's an example of their costume sorcery...

And that's just the beginning. With various controversies and gripes coming from ballerinas and critics around the world, it seems that scandal has also seeped into the House of Rodarte. Nominated for an 'Excellence witihn Contemporary Film' award by the Costume Designers Guild [CDG], it has recently come to light that all credit will lie with costume designer Amy Westcott and not the sisters themselves. Whipping up the fever, once again the Black Swan causes some to see red.

In keeping with our vintage theme, we recently stumbled upon two gorgeous images of fifties creations by Jean Patou and Christian Dior. One light, one dark, the old-school oracle has spoken once more, predicting one of this year's most elegant and enjoyable micro trends; prima ballerina.







When shopping the fairs, look out for lace, ruching, feathers and the theatrical - there are some real bargains to be had. With a strong overlap between retro and the stage, many of our traders feature old-world creations like those above which are perfect for introducing a little bit of drama into your day [as well as being bang on-trend] Never knowing where a piece has been, where it has come from, what it has seen or which boards it has treaded - that's the thrill [frill?] of shopping vintage.

That's all for now folks - more musings next week.

xVVx