Vintage Value Venture - Because It's A Jungle Out There

From her article Frugal Fall Fashion, in the Wall Street Journal, Jennifer Saranow has reported on the trend for buying higher quality and less trendy clothes.

The economic crisis is changing Nevena Borissova's spending habits, but it's not crimping her style.
Ms. Borissova, the 33-year-old owner of the Curve clothing boutiques in Los Angeles and New York, decided early this summer to stop shopping at stores like H&M and Topshop, where she says she was spending easily $1,000 a season on trendy clothes that didn't fit her well and that she never wore.
Instead, this season, Ms. Borissova, who is also a personal stylist, is updating her look with higher-quality designer pieces, such as a Balmain tweed jacket and Preen blouse, as well as vintage clothes including a Halston animal-print dress and a Thierry Mugler jacket. Not only are such styles likely to last longer than cheaper clothes; they also are investments that might have resale value. "I have completely stopped buying disposable clothing," she says. "Everything that goes into my wardrobe right now is something of value."

Well Ms Borissova...I'd glad to see that style setters like you are finally coming around to the BHB way to shop.
I'm not going to be buying any Halston animal print dresses...but I'm seriously considering buying this beautifully tailored vintage 1960's Abe Schrader dress with matching coat from Dorthea's Vintage Closet. It is a steal at $225!

Dorthea's Closet Vintage 1960's Animal Print Dress
And Matching Coat - The Price For Both $225!!!

But what kind of jewelry do you wear with such an ensemble?

I think these vintage Seaman Schepps earrings in rosewood and 18K would nicely complement the outfit.

Beladora Seaman Schepps Shell Earrings

Here's a little info about Seaman Schepps From Antiques and the Arts Online

Marlene Dietrich, Katharine Hepburn, Doris Duke, Wanda Toscanini Horowitz and the Duchess of Windsor, as well as members of the du Pont, Mellon and Roosevelt families, were among his clients. His eye-catching jewelry not only appealed to the modern independent Twentieth Century woman, who found his pieces visually striking and fun to wear, but also to Pop Art icon Andy Warhol, who was an avid collector.

What makes the jewelry of Schepps so distinctive and memorable is the way he incorporated an astonishing diversity of natural materials such as seashells, sandalwood, walnut, Asian carvings and rock crystals along with traditional gem stones.

As with so many jewelers, nature played an important role in Schepps' designs: flowers, animals, birds, butterflies, insects, grapes, fish, shellfish, seahorses, turtles and shells appear time and again in his own inimitable style.