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Parasol Perfection

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If you ever Google for parasols, you will find that the majority of the top results are stores selling garden parasols. An eBay search gets you the variety that only fit babies’ prams – and of course, plenty of items that are not parasols. Stores selling parasols sized for the adult human to carry are quite difficult to find. Luckily, my bookmarks contain a few websites that I have been previously recommended, so when I was asked if I could suggest any, I could supply some links immediately. Also, I searched Etsy. How on earth did we survive before Etsy?

Brollies Galore have got the Chinese paper variety, Edwardian parasols, lace parasols and frilly Can-Can parasols. The prices range widely as well, so you can get very pretty cheap ones or if you want to splash out you can get some expensive extravagant madness! They are based in the UK but they ship worldwide. The Black Rose have a black and white polka dot parasol on their website (worldwide shipping) and more at their Camden store.

Victoriana.com have a page that lists antique and vintage parasols in eBay auctions. There are a range of varieties, and as you might expect, a range of prices. You can also order their Amazon Drygoods general catalogue which includes parasols. The Oriental Trading Company do a small selection including one in white lace and some paper paint-your-own parasols. They ship to the USA and Canada.

From Etsy I would suggest Umbrella Heaven, and if you have Cash To Flash or just want to look, Darna’s East Angel Harbor Hat Shoppe has a few absolutely extraordinary Victorian-style parasols. They are too over-the-top for my taste (all that lace and all those bows!) but I can still appreciate the work that goes into them, as I am sure you will too.

If you want to do it yourself, here are some instructions for converting an umbrella into a parasol, thanks to that bastion of style advice, the alt.gothic.fashion FAQ.

My only parasol is one my parents got me from Disney World when I was two and a half – it’s pink and minimally frilly, and has my name written on it. Obviously this makes it practically perfect in every way – Mary Poppins reference intended – and so maybe I can live without Loretta!

Book Review: Shopping for Vintage

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This is possibly the most exquisitely designed book I have ever held between my two hands. It is a style classic in it’s own right; a little hardback covered in beautiful fabric. The first 176 pages are full colour and glossy and the rest of the pages, which make up the vintage source directory, are quality matte paper printed in gold. The tag and ribbon you can see on the picture of the cover (scroll down – I am cameraless so the Amazon picture is all I’ve got) is in fact a bookmark, which I love because using an old receipt or postcard to keep a page would spoil the act of reading this book.

Shopping for Vintage covers designers from La Belle Époque to the “aspirational Eighties”, most are illustrated (by Richard Merritt) and short paragraphs introduce who they were and describe. There is also an overview of vintage accessories by type and designer or decade, which is fairly broad, although it covers luggage but unfortunately not hats! Anyone who knows me will know how much I am offended by this omission!

I think that as far as vintage design goes, this book provides a good place to begin – if there are any designers or looks that you find particularly interesting you will want to do more research because the information in Shopping for Vintage is so brief. However, the last sections of the book – a directory of vintage stores and other sources – are brilliant. When I read through them they made me desperately want to go shopping. This is not your typical back-of-book directory focusing on the author’s home country and skimming a few other locations, this is detailed and well researched. Names, addresses, phone numbers and websites (where they exist) are given, sometimes with a paragraph about store content and pricing. Stores the authors has clearly visited and loved are covered in more detail, and although stores from the United Kingdom get a lot of emphasis, these picks range from The Diva’s Closet in Sydney to a store called Granny’s Goodies in South Carolina, by way of Dongtai Lu Antiques Market in Shanghai! The directory is also peppered with quotes from various fashionable personages, giving shopping advice and insight into why people like owning vintage clothing.

There are tips for buying vintage, which you will find most useful if you have cash to flash, and a section entitled “Vintage going forward”, where the author suggests which contemporary designers and “pieces” will become collectible in the future – again, for those with enough money to consider fashion as an investment! Despite this, the book would be enjoyed by both collectors and people who are hunting for a vintage bargain to actually wear and although the author focuses on vintage designer labels, she does not assume that every reader and fan of vintage fashion will have excessive amounts of money to spend on it, or will want to. The shopping advice and price information in the directory is very helpful if you are looking for a bargain.

I recommend this book for anyone with a burgeoning interest in vintage fashion and to any fashion tourists who want to know where some of the most interesting clothing stores on the globe are. It is a well designed, informative little book that you won’t want to hide away on your bookshelf – it’s far too pretty and inspiring for that!


Eight out of ten!