Beene's Beautiful Bazaar

From 1963, when he opened his first boutique till his death in 2004, Geoffrey Beene continuously proved he was one of America's greatest fashion designers. His style varied widely but always managed to maintain a quintessential Beene-ness (Beene-a-tude?). His daywear feminine shapes of the 60's gave way to the playful juxtapositions that would form the rest of his career and identity.

"Plastic is perfect in its own ways, so is a diamond. Why shouldn't the two go together?"

Throughout his career, Beene played with the ideas of fashion and art, usually in a tongue-in-cheek manner starting with his sequined football evening gown of 1967 (and continued play with sequined gowns) to his "elegant" dresses of cotton fleece, menswear-inspired bow-tied blouses and jackets, contrasting graphic patterns + ethnic-infused layered ensembles.

If you've been following our eBay store, you may have noticed we've been pretty smitten with Mr. Beene lately. We currently have some great Geoffrey Beene pieces up for sale:

Perfectly-pocketed LBD -- Beene Boutique, early 70s


Poppy-colored full skirt dress with contrasting sash -- Beene Boutique, early 70s


Purple heathered jersey dress -- Beene Boutique, early 70s


Black gold sheer drawstring-side top -- Beene Bag, 80s


Black sateen palazzo pants + tasseled blouse -- Geoffrey Beene, late 70s

For additional information, please email us at info@bustownmodern.com or visit our website at http://www.bustownmodern.com.

Dogs in Vogue

As many of you know, we love dogs. Like, REALLY love dogs. We have 5 little loves (4 chinese crested + 1 one-eyed japanese chin) that mean the world to us. So, how excited were we to finally get this little coffee table gem:


Dogs in Vogue: A Century of Canine Chic by Judith Watt.


Organized by decade, it's literally the long + interlaced history of dogs in Vogue with wonderful stories about each photo, the dog(s) + the owner. It's chock full of incredible photos of beautiful ladies, beautiful fashions and, of course, beautiful dogs. Here's a few of our favorites:


The Duchess of Windsor wearing Mainbocher + accompanied by a greyhound. Cecil Beaton, 1937


'Double take: coat-dress, dress-coat' by Gjon Mili, 1943


In what has to be one of the most all-around glamorous photos ever taken -- Millicent Rogers with her dachshund. John Rawlings, 1945


'Year-round luxury' by Helmut Newton, 1957


Princess Radziwill with Thomas, her Pug. Henry Clarke, 1960


Jean Shrimpton and Bertie, her Yorkshire Terrier. Eugene Vernier, 1963


And how could we not include this one? Nadja Auermann with 3 Chinese Crested. Eric Boman, 1992


Darling as ever -- Yves Saint Laurent. Max Vadukul, 1994


Kate Moss + harlequin Great Dane. Herb Ritts, 1997

Daphne Guiness, Going, Gone!

Ever wanted to get your hands on something from Daphne Guinness' closet? Well, you're in luck! Christie's has announced an auction of approximately 100 pieces from Daphne's wardrobe with sales to benefit the Isabella Blow Foundation. The auction will take place at Christie's South Kensington salesroom on June 27th, 2012 with preview showings from June 23-27. The catalog will be available online in mid-May.

Guinness famously bought the Isabella Blow collection before it could be auctioned in order to keep the collection's integrity as a whole. It is that dedication to fashion + art that has led her to launch the Isabella Blow Foundation to continue Blow's work in supporting young designers + artists. So, not only will you be buying a piece of fashion history, you'll be helping to support fashion's future -- just expect to have to dig deeply into your pocketbook.

A portion of the Daphne Guinness collection was on display this past fall/winter at FIT in NYC featuring the works of Alexander McQueen, Lagerfeld/Chanel + Gareth Pugh, among others, and was definitely worth a few hours. Whether any of the pieces from the FIT show will be part of the Christie's sale is unclear at this time, although Christie's did mention the sale will include, "exceptional designs by the likes of McQueen, Chanel, Balenciaga and others."