Weekend Finds: Halston, Anyone?

Good morning! 

Well, it's Wednesday! Halfway through this workaday week (the holiday on Monday certainly didn't hurt, either). And do I have a whopper of a Goodwill find for you today. I went to the one in Rivergate on Thursday night after hitting Sapporo with Matthew. As he trotted off to the electronics to look for tiny old tv's and video game components, I rifled through the dress racks. I was walking by for a second glance on the way to the dressing room, when a light coral, ultrasuede dress caught my eye. This one, to be specific:

In my divide and conquer style of vintage shopping, I usually just grab anything that catches my eye or looks particularly old and make it part of my "spoils to be tried on" pile of hangers. After all, it doesn't cost anything to try it on! Seeing that the dress look relatively seventies', and who can resist ultrasuede, I added it to the pile, which included a ruffled taffeta eighties' number (too small!), a couple of beach dresses (still trying to stock up for honeymoon and the sea!), and a polyester dress in fall colors I ended up getting. In the dressing room,  I had a moment of actual dumbfounded shock to see this label neatly stitched into the collar of the ultrasuede dress:

Interesting, right? It's not that I haven't seen a Halston label-- sadly, the label's life extended long past its popularity as a sexy, high-end fashion line. In the mid to late seventies', Halston's dresses were THE "it" clothes to wear to your job as a budding young professional in NYC (shirtdresses), or a night out at Studio 54 (slinky disco spaghetti strap gowns). Like Bill Blass, I associate the label with things-you-can-buy-at-Sam's-for-some-reason in the 21st century, long divorced from its illustrious past as a luxury line. However! This label looked very seventies' to me, and Halston's days of department store branding were squarely 80's-based. A quick iPhone trip to the Vintage Fashion Guild Label Resource website, and oh! The snakey "s" and the close-together AL? Totally from a seventies' dress by the designer (NOT the much maligned department store collection, Halston III, which about sunk the label).

When I got home, I found this photo, which doubled as promotional material/the dvd cover of the extremely interesting Ultrasuede: In Search of Halston. It didn't get particularly stellar reviews, but any documentary that has Liza Minnelli, Glenn O'Brien, and André Leon Talley in it is jake with me, kids. Here's the image:

Could it be! I think this pink blouse is a kissing cousin of my dress! I didn't take the time to iron out the collar flat, and I would really like this better with some gold colored scarf sticking out of the neck, ascot style, but I have to say, with gold belt and gold shoes, this dress is killin' it! It's a tiny bit snug in the hips (this senseless shape of mine refuses to conform to even a generous A-line skirt) but who am I kidding, I would have bought it even if it didn't fit:

I did some digging online, but was unable to find another dress exactly like this one. Here are three pretty close versions, though! You can see their listings here, here, and here. With a $7.99 pricetag, and $5 off my purchase of $25 (Matthew found an Playstation II for $10, and I had a that other dress), this dress ended up with a final cost of about $2.99. SCORE. SCORE. SCOOOOOORE!

So! What do you think? Have you ever found a major brand name for a minor leagues price? If you could find a famous designer's clothes in the thrift heap, who would you be most pleased to unearth? How's the Goodwill been treating you lately? Let's talk!

That's all for today, but I'll see you back here tomorrow. Have a great Wednesday! Til then.