ILHC 2014 – Vendor Report

This post was written by Lindy Shopper.

I was excited to see some new vendor faces and an old favorite return to the International Lindy Hop Championships this year. Particularly, with a focus on menswear – it is so easy for women to find good dance clothing, but most of our vendors (who are mostly women themselves) cater to women. This year, the men and women had some great vendors to choose from, from pieces you could take home to custom-made garments to order.

Did I mention my love for Chloe Hong? After her stint at All Balboa Weekend, I was suprised (read: elated) to see her back in the U.S. after such a short time. Not only did she clean up on the dance floor, she set up shop at ILHC to take custom orders for her wonderful selection of women’s skirts and classic men’s suiting. Just going through her fabric swatches makes me happy! If you have never considered ordering something custom and you find yourself at an event with Chloe Hong, I would recommend at least looking into ordering a custom piece – she can get your measurements in person and has lots of experience dressing dancers for a range of movement (she counts Bobby White, Thomas Blacharz, Pontus Persson, Laura Keat, Jeremy Otth, and Juan Villafane as customers, and I could go on…)

Returning for another year (have they been at ILHC every year?) is Forties Forward, with an array of lovely hair blooms, feathers, and accessories. One can never have too many hair accoutrements and I was also pleased to see that Forties Forward shared their table with A Woopie! Handmade Bowties (another menswear vendor!), which had a nice array of ties and even included some adorable instructions on how to tie the ties! I always need a little help when I tie my ties, so an adorable instruction card on my vanity beats, say, that YouTube tutorial I have to pull up every time I do this…

Perhaps the most impressive display belonged to Brown & Williams Clothiers, who specialize in vintage British menswear – yes, they import and they curate a stellar collection, a portion of which was on display at ILHC. I wish could sport the amazing jackets, sweaters, and trousers I spotted in their booth (none of them small enough!) – a seriously delicious collection for anyone who digs British style, collegiate style, boating, and especially tweed. If you are interested in checking out some of their stock, it looks like the best way to purchase is through their Etsy site – that green and white crested blazer *drool*…

Then there was this mysterious banner for Behind the Beat – Clothes that Match Your Rhythm and a link to a website that says it is launching July 7 (checks calendar…still no). Upon further inspection, a Facebook page yields evidence of graphic tee shirts and hoodies, so I guess we will stay tuned? Stay tuned.

And that’s all, folks, check out the goods below – happy shopping and happy dancing at ILHC!

Collar options - FROMChloeHong — Collar options – FROMChloeHong

An array of sample jackets at FROMChloeHong

The fabulous Chloe skirts - look at those colors! — The fabulous Chloe skirts – look at those colors!

Some signature blooms from Forties Forward

A selection of A Whoopie! ties — A selection of A Woopie! ties

Belt back jacket spotted at Brown & Williams - definitely a good sign — Belt back jacket spotted at Brown & Williams – definitely a good sign

Red vest, for a more formal look - at Brown & Williams — Red vest, for a more formal look – at Brown & Williams

This striped jacket would be a great attention-grabber in a competition - at Brown & Williams — This striped jacket would be a great attention-grabber in a competition – at Brown & Williams

Lots of interesting details on this vest, especially the button lapels - at Brown & Williams — Lots of interesting details on this vest, especially the button lapels – at Brown & Williams

Four Bow Ties

This post was written by Lindy Dandy.

Four more of my favorite accessory: bow ties. As you may know, I’m a sucker for polka dots, so that blue one immediately grabbed my attention. The tartan bow tie is a bit out there, but it has those splashes of color that really catch my eye.

Get in while the bidding is low! Good luck!

Four Bow Ties — Vintage Lot 4 Bow Ties Sherman London Beau Silk & More, starting at $8.99

Happy hunting!

Lumina Clothing: Ties and Bow Ties

This post was written by Lindy Dandy.

My apologies for the hiatus (though you might not have realized I was gone since LS does such a great job. Steady bandwidth is hard to come by on deployment!) Ok, on to something really exciting (to me, at least).

As has been discussed before, the trick to dressing seasonally is all about wearing seasonally appropriate appropriate fabrics. Is the thought of wearing a seersucker or madras jacket too intimidating? If so, you can always start with something small, like a bow tie. Check these out!

Gingham, seersucker, madras… the gang’s all here.

All of this lovely neckwear comes from Lumina Clothing, based in Raleigh, N.C. According to their twitter: “Lumina Clothing is a custom tie and bow tie company out of Raleigh, NC. Our products mesh the classic style of the south with the Ivy League style of the 1960s.” Style of the south plus Ivy League style? I like!

And even cooler: “Our name, Lumina, comes from an old dance pavilion once located on Wrightsville Beach, NC. Opening in 1905, at the time it was the premier social venue in the South, hosting many of the biggest names in entertainment.”

I’ve only posted a couple of their ties and neckties, but they have a very cool collection of fabrics from which to choose. A huge bonus is that you can get the ties and bow ties at different widths. Skinny neckties are “in” at the moment, but general idea is to match the width of your jacket’s lapels. (So skinny lapels means skinny ties, etc.) It’s all about balance and proportion (and personal taste). Prices are reasonable with bow ties for $39 and ties for $59.

I plan to pick up a couple bow ties and ties here, but am pretty sad that I won’t be able to wear them this season. I’ll be interested to see what they produce for Fall/Winter.

Lumina Clothing:

http://luminaclothing.com/

http://twitter.com/luminaclothing

http://luminaclothing.blogspot.com/