{"title":"1970s","description":"\u003cp\u003eI think this decade never quite decided between the countryside and the dance floor, so it kept both, a prairie dress folded away near a fur coat built for somewhere far louder. Sequins from these years still catch me off guard, the way they hold onto light long after a room's gone dark. Each piece gets exactly the attention it's asking for, and then it travels out from Melbourne.\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"pale-pink-smocked-childs-party-dress","title":"Sugared Almond · Hand-Smocked Pink Baby Dress, 1970s","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ePin-dot cotton · hand-smocked bodice in honeycomb and lattice · picot collar and cuffs · back sash tie · 1960s to 1980s · AU size 2-3, approx 2-3 years\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe pink of sugared almonds, and a bodice hand-smocked in deeper rose, gathering the pin-dot cotton into honeycomb and lattice: each pleat held in place by a row of embroidery thread, done by hand, one stitch at a time.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSmocking began as a practical way to gather cloth so it could breathe and stretch with the body, and in the hands of a skilled needleworker it became something else entirely. The technique was revived with great enthusiasm through the 1960s and 1970s, and the women who produced pieces like this were working in a tradition that was already centuries old. The collar and cuffs are finished with a fine picot edge; the back closes with a sash that ties into a bow. Every detail is accounted for.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIt is the kind of dress that was made to be photographed, and it still is. The pin-dot print moves beautifully in the skirt, and the smocking gives and returns to shape the way only hand-work does.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"caitiedid","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44083976536198,"sku":null,"price":130.0,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0657\/5960\/8966\/files\/DSC_2447copy_ded124a0-1cc3-4c17-997d-e9e2e6d0c52a.jpg?v=1782792857"},{"product_id":"compacte-1970s-black-faceted-glass-bead-envelope-clutch","title":"Compacte · 1970s Black Faceted Bead Envelope Clutch","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eFaceted glass bead · fully-beaded envelope clutch · beaded shoulder chain · no label · 1970s · approx. 19cm wide, 13cm tall\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA flat envelope clutch covered entirely in small faceted black beads, not a thread of ground fabric visible anywhere, the shoulder chain made from the same beads strung end to end. The facets are what make this more than a plain bead bag: each bead has many cut faces, which means the surface catches light differently at every angle, and the bag shifts from deep black to a kind of dark silver depending on where you are standing.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eNo label, 1970s. Fully beaded bags of this kind were produced in workshops across India, Hong Kong, and the Philippines from the 1950s onward, each bead strung or sewn individually, the chain assembled by hand. The labour involved in producing a piece like this is considerable and the result reflects it: a surface with real depth, a weight in the hand that feels like substance, a bag that will look right in sixty more years for the same reason it looked right sixty years ago.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe beadwork is dense and intact, nothing loose on the surface, the chain sound and functional.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"caitiedid","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44108985008262,"sku":null,"price":70.0,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0657\/5960\/8966\/files\/DSC_2869copy.jpg?v=1782256970"},{"product_id":"quicksilver-1970s-silver-sequin-clutch","title":"Quicksilver · 1970s Silver Sequin Clutch","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eSilver round sequins · rectangular silver-tone frame · ball clasp · grey satin lining · no label · 1970s · approx. 22cm wide × 12cm tall\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOverlapping round silver sequins, so that the surface shifts and ripples as the bag moves: not a flat mirror but something alive in the light, constantly renegotiating. A silver-tone rectangular frame, a small ball clasp, a grey satin lining. The kind of clutch that changes the room.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eNo label, 1970s. The sequin evening bag arrived in full force with the disco era, but this one is from the side of that decade that understood restraint: the frame is architectural, the proportions deliberate, the sequins allowed to do all the talking without any additional decoration. Sequins as a technique are ancient, found in Egyptian burial cloths and medieval church embroideries, but the 1970s industrialised them, made them democratic, put them in the hands of women going out on a Tuesday. The bag looks like water.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eUnsigned masterwork in the way that unsigned things often are: made well, kept well, arrived here with its beauty fully intact. Approximately 22cm wide, 12cm tall.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"caitiedid","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44108985172102,"sku":null,"price":45.0,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0657\/5960\/8966\/files\/DSC_2875.jpg?v=1782257053"},{"product_id":"the-stage-andrea-pfister-1970s-black-satin-heels-eu-38","title":"The Stage · Andrea Pfister 1970s Black Satin Heels, AU 7","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eBlack satin · cone heel · almond toe · bugle bead bow · silver metallic leather insole · \u003cem\u003eAndrea Pfister\u003c\/em\u003e signature · made in Italy · 1970s–1980s · AU 7 · EU 38 · UK 5 · US 7.5\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBlack satin, cone heel, almond toe, and at the toe cap a bow built from black and silver bugle beads: three-dimensional, dense, rising slightly from the surface with the weight of its own construction. The silver metallic leather insole carries \u003cem\u003eAndrea Pfister's\u003c\/em\u003e signature in script. This is a shoe that announces itself before you have crossed the room.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eAndrea Pfister\u003c\/em\u003e, made in Italy, 1970s to 1980s. Pfister was born in Pesaro and trained in Paris before establishing himself in Florence, where from the 1960s he made shoes that occupied the intersection of fashion and sculpture. His clients included Catherine Deneuve and Lauren Bacall, and his footwear was collected by the Victoria and Albert Museum. What Pfister understood, that a shoe is worn at the furthest possible point from the face and therefore must do its communicating entirely on its own terms, produced shoes of uncommon authority. The bead bow on this shoe is not decorative embellishment applied to a court shoe; it is the reason the court shoe exists.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe shoe you wear when the occasion has to rise to meet you.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"caitiedid","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44108990087302,"sku":null,"price":250.0,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0657\/5960\/8966\/files\/DSC_2904copy.jpg?v=1782266767"},{"product_id":"command-1970s-black-satin-sequin-evening-belt","title":"Command · 1970s Black Satin Sequin Evening Belt","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eBlack satin · disc sequin wave pattern · silver bugle bead border · no label · 1970s · approx. 8cm wide · hidden velcro closure\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe entire outer surface of this curved belt is worked in overlapping black disc sequins arranged in a wave pattern, and both long edges are bordered with a standing row of silver bugle beads, each one set perpendicular to the surface so they catch light at a different angle from the sequins behind them. The effect is layered, dimensional, and deeply beautiful.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eNo label, 1970s. The decade that understood that a wide belt was not merely a functional object but a statement about where the waist was, and what it deserved. Sequinned evening belts like this were made for the disco era but designed to outlast it: the construction is too considered, the materials too substantial for a piece intended only for one season. A hidden velcro closure keeps it secure at the inner edge. The kind of belt that changes what you are wearing.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"caitiedid","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44109002965126,"sku":null,"price":50.0,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0657\/5960\/8966\/files\/DSC_3617.jpg?v=1784613163"},{"product_id":"midsummer-field-solo-1970s-mixed-floral-maxi","title":"Midsummer Field · Solo 1970s Mixed Floral Cotton Maxi","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ecotton voile · mixed botanical and ditsy floral prints · keyhole collar · 3\/4 balloon sleeves · sash tie · tiered maxi skirt · Solo · 1970s · L 114cm flat · AU 10–12 · Very good\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTwo prints walk into the same dress and the conversation works completely. The body is cream cotton voile, printed with large botanical bouquets, the flowers generous and unprecious, the kind of print that looks best against light or outdoors. The yoke and collar, the cuffs, the waistband: a smaller ditsy in the same warm palette, more contained in scale, that holds the silhouette together from throat to hem. A self-fabric keyhole tie fastens at the collar. Three-quarter balloon sleeves gather to a fitted cuff. A self-fabric sash ties at the back waist. The skirt is tiered and moves freely.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe two-print dress was a considered decision in early 1970s Australian domestic fashion. It required a confident hand to make the pairing cohere rather than conflict. \u003cem\u003eSolo\u003c\/em\u003e was an Australian label working in the romantic-peasant idiom, producing pieces for women who wore colour and movement without apology.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"caitiedid","offers":[{"title":"Default","offer_id":44143277408390,"sku":null,"price":165.0,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0657\/5960\/8966\/files\/DSC_3061.jpg?v=1783498434"},{"product_id":"the-chocolate-hours-carol-horn-1970s-plush-coat","title":"Cappucine · Carol Horn 1970s Plush Fur Coat","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cem\u003ePlush pile · chocolate and amber two-tone · turned-back cuffs · red satin lining · single hook closure · Faux Fur · Carol Horn - Captivity \/ Saks Fifth Avenue · 1970s · AU 10 · L 77cm flat · Very good\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis coat does not enter a room quietly. The pile is dense and plush, a chocolate-brown that shifts toward amber at the turned-back cuffs where the nap catches light differently, two tones of the same warmth layered over each other. The silhouette is boxy and squared at the shoulder, the kind of geometry that looks deliberate against a long skirt or over wide trousers. A single hook holds the open front. Inside: red satin, vivid and precise, the lining colour chosen to be found.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eCarol Horn\u003c\/em\u003e established her label in the mid-1970s as a designer for professional women who wanted clothing with genuine intention. The\u003cem\u003e Captivity\u003c\/em\u003e line, stocked at \u003cem\u003eSaks Fifth Avenue\u003c\/em\u003e among other prestige retailers, brought that vision to outerwear. A coat like this was not a seasonal purchase. It was a decision.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe plush is deep and full, with no matting or bald patches across the surface. The red satin lining is clean and bright. The hook closure operates well.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"caitiedid","offers":[{"title":"Default","offer_id":44143282651270,"sku":null,"price":300.0,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0657\/5960\/8966\/files\/DSC_3045.jpg?v=1783498156"},{"product_id":"the-bertha-1970s-handmade-blush-all-lace-occasion-dress","title":"The Bertha · 1970s Handmade Blush All-Lace Occasion Dress","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eRose-floral lace · blush peachy-pink · satin lining · scalloped choker collar · wide bertha ruffle, 18cm · puff sleeves · fitted bodice · tiered skirt · handmade · 1970s to early 1980s · L 134cm flat · AU 10–12 · Very good\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eEvery part of this dress is lace. Not appliqued over another fabric, not lace trim on a base cloth, but all-over rose-floral lace in a warm blush with the satin lining doing the structural work beneath. The construction is theatrical and precise. A high choker collar in scalloped lace hooks at the back of the neck. Below it, a wide bertha-style ruffle frames the V. The sleeves are full puffed, the cuffs scalloped. The bodice is fitted and darted. The skirt gathers into tiers at the waist, the hem finished with horizontal tuck rows.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis silhouette sits at the hinge between the 1970s romantic revival and the early 1980s occasion dress moment: the choker collar and bertha are pure 1970s, the volume of the puff sleeves and tiered hem belong to the early 1980s formal. The piece was made by hand, which accounts for the careful calibration of each section against the others.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"caitiedid","offers":[{"title":"Default","offer_id":44143286747270,"sku":null,"price":185.0,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0657\/5960\/8966\/files\/DSC_3085.jpg?v=1783497913"},{"product_id":"soft-architecture-rago-of-new-york-1970s-longline-bra","title":"Soft Architecture · Rago of New York 1970s Longline Bra","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cem\u003e70% nylon, 30% spandex · rose-patterned lace cups · boned panel construction · triple hook-and-eye back · wide elastic waistband · adjustable straps · Rago of New York,  Style 2202 · Made in USA · 1970s to 1980s · 36-B, stretches considerably · measured flat L 42 · B 43 · W 35 · Excellent condition\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis is a piece of architecture worn close to the body. The cups are shaped in rose-patterned lace, and soft wired for support. The body descends in alternating panels of floral lace and firm mesh, boned through the torso, the kind of construction that creates shape beneath a dress rather than waiting for the dress to do it. The back closes with three parallel columns of hooks. The bottom edge is a wide satin-elastic band finished in scalloped lace trim. Adjustable straps.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eRago of New York \u003c\/em\u003ehas been making foundations since 1944. \u003cem\u003eStyle 2202\u003c\/em\u003e is one of their longline bra styles, constructed to provide support and a smooth silhouette from cup to waist. The vintage versions, in grey-mauve nylon and spandex with lace cups, have a different character to the contemporary equivalents: less seamless, more considered in their structure.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"caitiedid","offers":[{"title":"Default","offer_id":44143319679110,"sku":null,"price":95.0,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0657\/5960\/8966\/files\/DSC_3162.jpg?v=1783495396"},{"product_id":"villa-on-the-hill-1970s-handmade-palladian-maxi-dress","title":"Villa on the Hill · 1970s Handmade Palladian Maxi Dress","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eLightweight woven fabric · scenic novelty print · Palladian buildings and topiary on sage green · self-covered dome buttons in matching print · V-neckline · long blouson sleeves · button cuffs · full A-line maxi skirt · green zip back · handmade · 1970s · L 140cm flat · AU 10–12 · Very good\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eEvery few centimetres another neoclassical building appears, seated on a low hill surrounded by rounded topiary trees in vivid green and golden amber, the landscape undulating in soft horizontal waves across the fabric. The print is a scenic novelty in the 1970s mode, detailed enough to read differently at arm's length versus up close, the buildings Palladian in their domes and colonnades. On a sage-green ground. In a full maxi. With self-covered dome buttons in the same print running from the V-neckline to the waist.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eScenic and architectural prints in fabric reached a particular peak in the early 1970s, when designers and textile houses on both sides of the Atlantic worked through a nostalgia for formal European landscape. This dress sits firmly in that tradition. It was made by hand, with careful attention to pattern matching at the seams and a considered approach to button placement.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe fabric is clean and has not faded. The dome buttons are all intact. The zipper at the centre back is green and functions correctly.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"caitiedid","offers":[{"title":"Default","offer_id":44143321251974,"sku":null,"price":245.0,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0657\/5960\/8966\/files\/DSC_3179.jpg?v=1783494920"},{"product_id":"drawing-room-armando-caruso-1970s-80s-illustrated-cotton-scarf","title":"Drawing Room · Armando Caruso 1970s Illustrated Cotton Scarf","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cem\u003eCotton · illustrated deco-revival print · hand-rolled hem · Armando Caruso · 1970s · 44cm x 42cm · dye bleed present, best as a wall piece\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOnly the birds got color. Everything else on this square holds still in charcoal and cream, fine pen lines describing curled hair and lace collars, while a whole flock of small birds in blue and crimson move through the print, each one carrying a flower between its beak like a piece of gossip too good to put down.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWhoever set the screens for this print was working in at least four passes: the fine grey line work first, then the deep charcoal ground, then the small bursts of blue, crimson and orange laid in afterward with enough precision that from a distance the birds read as embroidery rather than ink. Armando Caruso signed the corner of the design itself rather than a woven label, the kind of accessory house that made handkerchiefs and pocket squares as often as scarves, working in cotton rather than the silk twill more expensive names reached for, sometime in the 1970s, when illustrated novelty scarves like this one were having a real moment.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe hem is rolled narrow and machine finished all the way around, tight enough that the square holds its shape without curling. A couple of sections carry a small run of black dye that has bled slightly into the white ground, visible across a few of the photographs and not fully water fast, which is the one thing standing between this piece and the wash. Framed or pinned flat, as she is shown here, the bleed reads as part of the drawing rather than a flaw.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"caitiedid","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44179820347526,"sku":null,"price":95.0,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0657\/5960\/8966\/files\/DSC_3728.jpg?v=1784772125"},{"product_id":"ledger-raphael-1980s-windowpane-check-prairie-dress","title":"Ledger · Raphael Late 1970s Windowpane Check Prairie Dress","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cem\u003eAcetate faille · black windowpane check · leg-of-mutton puff sleeves · gathered flounce hem · Raphael · late 1970s · tagged a vintage 10 but fits closer to an XS · well-loved, a wounded bird\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe check on this dress runs so fine and so even it reads from a distance like ruled paper, a page waiting to be written on rather than a print at all. Up close it breaks apart into hundreds of small white crossings on black, patient and exact, the kind of pattern that only makes sense once you stop trying to look at all of it at once.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe leg-of-mutton sleeve keeps resurrecting itself: properly Victorian first, then again in the nineteen-seventies, when designers went looking backward for a volume they had forgotten how to want. Whoever made this dress reached for the same well, folding a prairie silhouette and a dropped yoke around a fabric more often seen on a schoolboy's shirt than a woman's dress. Raphael left no trace beyond the label, but setting plain black against so fine a check, rather than matching the two, was a real decision, not an accident of the cutting table. It is that decision, small and slightly contrary, that makes her worth keeping.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA solid black yoke drops low across the chest and shoulders before the checked body gathers in fully beneath it, full enough to swing. Three small buttons in the check fabric sit fastening at one shoulder seam. The sleeves balloon into a full leg-of-mutton puff at the bicep, nearly twice the width of the wrist, before narrowing sharply just beneath the puff and running fitted down to a neat check cuff. The hem finishes in a single gathered flounce, also in the check, that runs the full width of the skirt. Under both arms the black has worn down to a soft, bruised purple, the mark of a body that kept her close and warm for years; dealers call a piece like this a wounded bird, and she carries the name without shame.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"caitiedid","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44183850287238,"sku":null,"price":115.0,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0657\/5960\/8966\/files\/DSC_4073.jpg?v=1784851625"}],"url":"https:\/\/checkout.caitiedid.shop\/collections\/collections-1970s-vintage.oembed","provider":"caitiedid","version":"1.0","type":"link"}