You Never Know!

It is no secret...I have a soft spot for vintage high fashion.  It is the epitome of great vision and love and shaped what the world of fashion is today.  Well, those pieces do pop up once in a while in the most unlikely of places.  Part of the magic of these vintage pieces is that they were so well-made and loved that they do survive in great condition.  What happens to many of these pieces is a mystery (and a tragedy) and are probably tossed on to the rag heap like what happened to most Poiret.  

This jacket is a vintage New Look Paquin...and it was found at a Salvation Army store for $2.50.  I KNOW!!!  Paquin was one of the great early 20th Century French fashion titans that disappeared into all but obscurity.  The stuff is very rare and HIGHLY coveted and is 

held in many major fashion collections, such as The Metropolitan Costume Institute Collection.  What makes it so amazing is that it represents one of the golden ages in fashion--its rise from the ashes of World War II and its re-vision of what it means to be a modern woman.  Just imagine the woman who first bought this jacket and what she wore it to!  And, what it saw in the intervening years and how it ended up forgotten in the Salvation Army heap.  But, the happy ending is that this work of art has been rediscovered and will be auctioned off by Sothby's London in the coming months!

Pictures courtesy of ebay memeber "erinspotofgold"