Magnoli Clothiers

This post was written by Lindy Shopper.

It’s back to reality, post-Experiment, but while I was away I did have a chance to chat with instructor Bobby White about some of his impeccable garments. He directed me to Magnoli Clothiers as a great source for vintage reproduction three piece suits. I must agree with Mr. Whi-te on this one, as the tailoring and fabrics look spot on.

Magnoli Clothiers is more than just menswear, it “is dedicated to the reproduction of vintage clothing, historic garments and popular film costumes. These reproductions, however, are not costume pieces, but tailor-made, high-quality clothing…any piece of mens clothing that you can provide images of can be reproduced. We can copy a garment you already own, or, by analyzing various images, we can reproduce any article from photograph or film stills.” The sky is the limit, or you can choose from their impeccable sample suits, pants, leather jackets, sport coats, shirts, vests, shoes, hats, and accessories.

The prices are no bargain, but for custom pieces…consider this an investment in looking awesome. Reasonably priced vintage repro menswear is hard for Lindy Shopper to find, but I am on a reproduction kick right now so I thought it best to share. Did I mention shipping is included in the price? That helps a bit.

Here are some of the great pieces you might want to own:

Cagney suit
Dillinger suit
Fairbanks suit
Marshall suit - more awesome belt-back action
Princeton tweed suit
Boardwalk linen blazer
McCoy jacket - with pockets and belted back for maximum sportiness
Highway jacket - because the Rocketeer is HOTTT
Hughes jacket
Joker vest
Hollywood pants
Oxford Bags

My Heinies

This post was written by Lindy Shopper.

The Carla

If you are wearing a dress at a dance, chances are, at some point in the evening, your hoo-ha will be in someone’s line of sight, be it upside down in an aerial or while being dipped by your dance partner. With modern hemlines sky high, the need for coverage is even more pressing. But where to get good coverage? Or better yet, where to get pretty coverage?

Enter My Heinies, “the original ‘pretty’ dance pant.” My Heinies is the brainchild of Carol Fraser, a dancer and choreographer from New York, has been dancing for her entire life and was inspired by her experience sitting on the floor at All Balboa Weekend and looking at the competitors, who had nothing necessarily pretty going on under their skirts during competitions. Necessity is the mother of invention and Carol took it upon herself to create this line of dance and athletic-specific bloomers that were made to go under clothing and provide the type of coverage we are looking for, but with a bit of flair for color and pattern.

The Shannon

From the website: “My Heinies addresses many concerns of dancers and athletes in all genres. All pants have the triangular crotch design which reduces the inner thigh from riding up and also eliminates “the front wedgie.” Additionally, all short inseam pants are 1 inch lower in the back to maintain maximum cheek coverage. There is no elastic on the low and mid rise pants thus eliminating bulges and allowing for more movement. And the high waisted pant offers a new option to current lingerie style trends.

In addition to new technology, My Heinies brings to the market modern prints and patterns in many styles as well as materials that perform. It allows dancers of all genres – contemporary, modern, jazz, tap, salsa, swing, ballroom, tango – as well as all athletes in yoga, running, gymnastics or cheer to add a little “pretty” to their attire.”

The Caroline

My Heinies is currently offering 9 styles of dance pants, with variations on waist height and length. The critical detail here with the shortest leg length is that the backside is lower, so when you kick or lift your leg, the dance pant will not ride up, leaving you with a bit of cheek hanging out (Carol noted that the guys will probably hate her for this 😉 ). With the highest waist model, any dress that does not have a defined waist/belt can have a smoother appearance, rather than seeing the waistband of the bloomers through the fabric of the dress. Taking that even further, you could incorporate the high waist into the layers of your outfit – spokes-model Carla Heiney wore the high waisted model with a regular skirt and tucked her shirt into the My Heinies dance pants, offering a new and interesting way to display her Heinies while keeping her shirt securely tucked in.

Carol also noted that the fabric stretches 4 ways, while most stretch fabrics only stretch 2 ways – the 4 way stretch allows for maximum movement and prevents the fabric from riding up. The fabric is very smooth and can function similarly to a slip, in the sense that the smoothness prevents the bunching of your dress fabric against the fabric of your undergarments and also creates a smoother line under your clothing.

The Lisa

To clarify, these are not Spanx. I detest Spanx and any other sort of nouveau-girdle. These are athletic/dance pants to wear under your clothing for comfort, modesty, style, and athleticism. We are athletes and it’s time for a product to withstand our intensity while looking immensely put-together!

In addition to bloomers, My Heinies will be selling some really hot/sexy/fancy hosiery by Leg Avenue – fishnets, seams, patterns, faux garters, bows, FANCY. When your skirt flies up, there will be plenty of pretty to see!

As if things couldn’t get prettier, Hy Heinies will also be selling lovely hair flowers, of the traditional silk kind as well as real orchids from Thailand that are dipped in resin to preserve them. You can have a real, one of a kind hair flower in your hair that’s frozen in time. Brilliant!

Carol is currently in talks with Arika Nerguiz, maker of some of the most divine tango shoes on the planet, to make shoes for the swing dance community. I am very excited about this development, as I have been drooling over Arika Nerguiz shoes for years.

You can order My Heinies online now or potentially at an event near you – My Heinies will be making appearances at All Balboa Weekend, Montreal Balboa Review, Camp Hollywood, and ILHC.

I am at the Balboa Experiment with Carol this week (we are roomies) and her excitement about the possibilities for this company is infectious. I love to see one of our own creating a new business that enhances our community and is driven by someone who knows dance, dance clothing construction, and our own unique sub-culture so well. She is diligently working to make sure these products live up to their intended function.

I look forward to seeing you and your Heinies on the dance floor!

The Sylvia
The Laura
The Courtney
The Sherry
The Linda

The Balboa Experiment

This post was written by Lindy Shopper.

Tomorrow I will drive 3 hours east, to a beach house on the coast of North Carolina, to participate in week 1 of The Balboa Experiment. I am excited at the prospect of what awaits – an entire week off from work to dance Balboa by the sea. I have no idea what our schedule will be like, so I may be on hiatus for a week (although I have been assured that there is wi-fi). When I am able to write, look forward to at least one vendor report, via one of the participants. 🙂

Johnson Shoes

This post was written by Lindy Shopper.

"A Brogue" oxford in brown and snake

I’ll keep the shoe theme going for another post…I stumbled upon Johnson Shoes in one of those lists of vintage clothing and shoe resources where most of the links are no longer working. Fortunately, the Johnson Shoes link still worked and I discovered a wonderful resource for 1930’s through 1950’s shoes for men and women. Based in the UK, Johnson Shoes has been selling hand crafted shoes since 1983.

From the website: “We always carry black, brown and white dance shoes, but all our ranges come in all colours. Different soles are available according to your needs. Whilst some styles and colours are in stock due to the fact we offer high quality handmade footwear so it can take a number of weeks to produce your shoes. We offer quality not speed.

Whether you want to dance all night or be comfortable all day we make quality footwear that caters for your needs. Whether you choose from one of the many designs you see on our site or design what you want it’s all in with the price.

Johnson shoes are dance orientated. We have jazz, rock and roll, swing, balboa and lindy-hop shoes, ballroom, and latin shoes, 40s jive, ceroc, leroc, salsa and jive shoes.

You can choose from a wide range of materials including, leather, suede, nubuck, patent, pony, non-leather and a choice of soles, leather, eva, suede , crepe and non-leather. We do all the above footwear from size 3 including half sizes to a ladies size 9 in selected styles and up to mens size 13”

You had me at Balboa…

In addition to custom footwear, Johnson Shoes carries some styles in stock, which are sold through the Rock and Roll Products website. The styles available in stock are also the styles you can customize.

Here’s what I’m loving from the site (there are no individual links, for some reason – sorry!):

Penny Loafer in black and white (I remember someone bemoaning Aris Allen discontinuing their white loafers...)
"Telephone" heels in gold and silver - I can't even begin to tell you how much I am in love with this pair of shoes
White bucks to go with your seersucker suit
"Spanish" shoe in purple with teardrop cutouts
Saddle shoe in brown and beige
"Clio" heels in brown croc

Men’s and Women’s Shoes on eBay

This post was written by Lindy Shopper.

This is definitely a good shoe week on eBay, so here are a couple of finds for the gents from the 1940’s and some more Remix shoes for the ladies:

Brown and white cap toes with wonderful broguing, $49.99
Brown Nettleton wingtips, size 8D - $24.99
Remix "Balboa" in gold, size 7.5 - $88
Remix "Pleated Toe" wedge, silver, size 11 - $39.99

Remix Deco Heels

This post was written by Lindy Shopper.

It’s been a while since I posted any Remix shoes from eBay, so in light of recent online debates about heels v. flats, I’ll post some heels in support of my pro-choice stance. 😉 Here, we have a pair of used Remix Deco heels, in brown and a sort of olive green, size 8.5, but the seller says they feel more like an 8. This shoe retails for $194, so with the starting price at $65, it’s worth a bid if you’ve had your eye on this lovely shoe.

More Shabby Apple Madness: Roamin’ Holiday

This post was written by Lindy Shopper.

The crew at Shabby Apple are turning out new collections so fast, it’s hard to keep up! Their latest collection is inspired by one of my favorite destinations, Rome, Italy, and features not only some fantastic dresses, but also a sweet red Vespa in the photo shoots – truly a collection after my heart!

Here’s what I’m loving from the new collection – ciao!

Spanish Steps Dress - the skirt on this has wonderful ruching and embroidery. Vespa and Trevi Fountain not included. 😉
Primavera Dress - love the shape of this dress, the color, and the shot
Bernini dress - this floral looks like clouds in the sky
Gondola Dress - my absolute favorite, definitely wearing this one for Vespa rides

$10 Threadless Tees – 2 Days Only!

This post was written by Lindy Shopper.

While Lindy Shopper and Lindy Dandy love to promote dressing well at dances, we understand that the daily uniform for most people is a tee shirt and jeans. However, there are, in our opinion, some superior tee shirts to be had and both of us are huge fans of Threadless.com for clever, witty tees. Right now, and for the next two days, Threadless is having one of their famous $10 sales – all tee shirts on the website are $10! Their tees normally run between $15 and $22, so this is a good time to stock up on some necessary tees to supplement your collection.

Here are some dancer friendly tees from Threadless:

I Wanna Dance tee
Discography tee
Puppet Ballet tee
In Case of Emergency tee

Golfknickers.com

This post was written by Lindy Shopper.

In honor of my trip to visit Knickerrocker this weekend and DJ at his and Bill Speidel‘s monthly dance event, The Southside Stomp, I decided to profile golfknickers.com, purveyors of men’s and women’s short pants, fancy socks and other classic golf attire. Arguably, if these knickers are made for a sport, wouldn’t they also be ideal for dancing? I’d like to think so.

Golfknickers.com has a clear purpose: “We specialize in our full line of men’s plus fours or golf knickers (knickers). To complement the knickers our company has a full line of matching socks, caps and shirts; allowing us to deliver the complete outfit to our customer. Our customers’ include Corporations, Golf Courses (outfitting Staff and Patrons), School Golf Teams, Tournaments and avid golfers around the world. We are committed to growing the game of golf by encouraging players to wear the game the way it was meant to be played.”

The way it was meant to be played. I’m already a fan – promoting dressing well and in a classic way is just what we do on this blog, as well. 🙂

Now for the goods! Just about everything on this site is vintage inspired and could be worn at a dance. Obviously the knickers are the highlight, with the men’s models in 20 colors of microfiber gabardine and cotton/linen, 6 plaids in cotton/linen, 4 plaids in a wool blend, and some models with matching caps. The microfiber knickers are a steal at $69.95. Ladies can choose from 6 colors and 3 plaids (although shouldn’t they be offering some lovely 1920’s-inspired golf dresses and cloches, a la Jordan Baker? *sigh*)

There are socks galore, argyle in just about every color combination you can think of. They also have a nice selection of caps, an inordinate amount of argyle sweater vests, and some nice cotton/linen blend regular length trousers in solids and plaids.

Having trouble deciding? Golfknickers.com anticipated that the unlimited combinations could be overwhelming, so they have collections of ready to go outfits, that include knickers, shirt, sweater vest, socks and cap already expertly matched – just pick a color. If you’d like to create your own look, but aren’t sure how the pieces will look together, the site offers a virtual model where you can try different color combinations.

Microfiber knickers
Argyle socks galore!
Oh, the sweater vests!
I would wear these green knickers in a hot minute
The only thing more awesome than playing golf in these knickers would be playing golf in a kilt

Oh I’m Evil

This post was written by Lindy Shopper.

In honor of St. Patrick’s Day and the wearing ‘o the green, I couldn’t resist posting this amazing green 1950’s party dress from Etsy seller pinupdresses. It’s a bit more expensive than I like to have on Lindy Shopper, but ohmygawd look at it! If Pamela Isley were “disguised” as Suzy homemaker/hostess for a night, would this not be the dress? Paging all villainesses, this dress is for you!

Check out pinupdresses’ store for some other good 1940’s and 1950’s finds, but the real jewels in this store are the 1980’s prom dresses, which are even better than what you’d dig up at your local Salvation Army.

Lindy Hop Necklace

This post was written by Lindy Shopper.

The creative talent of both Lindy Hoppers and sellers on Etsy never cease to amaze me – combine the two and you get a seller like MarKhed, who has crafted this wonderful Lindy Hop necklace, hand sawed out of silver.  The silhouette looks like it was taken from a photograph of Kevin St. Laurent and Jo Hoffberg.

Check out the rest of her Etsy store, as there are some really amazing cutouts in her jewelry, especially those of the human form. She even takes custom orders – perhaps your dance silhouette should be memorialized in a piece of jewelry!

World’s Fair

This post was written by Lindy Shopper.

Scarf from 1939 World's Fair

I’m still looking for the perfect compact and keep coming across ones I like from the swing era World’s Fairs. The World’s Fair is a series of large expos held in different countries, the highlight of which were the national pavilions, created by participating countries. According to Wikipedia, the early expos, starting in the early 1800’s and, until the late 1930’s, were focused on trade and “were the platform where the state of the art in science and technology from around the world was brought together.” After that, the World’s Fair focused more on cultural exchange. Key expos of the swing era held in the United States were Chicago in 1933 and New York in 1939 (the 1939 World’s Fair also featured performances from Whitey’s Lindy Hoppers). The merchandising opportunities for these expos were in abundance and you saw everything stamped with a world’s fair logo, from silk scarves to money clips to parasols.

Here are a few fun World’s Fair items on eBay:

1933 World's Fair pin - I think it would be hilarious to see this on someone's lapel - "You were there? Really??"
1933 World's Fair walking stick/cane - for that soft shoe routine you've been working on
1933 World's Fair Japanese silk scarf - seller says her mother-in-law kept it in her cedar chest for over 60 years
1939 World's Fair parasol
1939 World's Fair Persian lamb fur muff
1933 World's Fair Japanese silk scarf
1933 World's Fair radio in original box

Don’t Forget to Bid! The Carolina Fascinators’ Silent Auction

This post was written by Lindy Shopper.

Just a reminder that we are still conducting a silent auction for this wonderful 1940’s reproduction jumper and cherries print blouse to raise money for The Carolina Fascinators – bidding ends tomorrow at 11:00 p.m. All the auction details and the auction itself are in the LS post from Monday. The bidding is only up to $45.00 – less than the value of just the blouse itself!

Did I mention this outfit is one of a kind? And that, by wearing it, you’ll reach an astronomic level of cuteness?