 |
 Cabotine Rose Parfums Gres for Women 34 oz EDT NIB $23.95 Time Remaining: 28d 12h 13m Buy It Now for only: $23.95 |
 GRAIN DE FOLIE PERFUME BY GRES EAU DE TOILETTE 50ML 169OZ MADE IN FRANCE NICE $9.99 Time Remaining: 17h 6m |
 CABOTINE DE GRES WOMEN PERFUME 34 OZ EDT SPRAY NEW TESTER CAP $17.50 Time Remaining: 14h 22m Buy It Now for only: $17.50 |
 Cabochard Parfums Gres Perfume for Women 34 oz New In Box $28.95 Time Remaining: 28d 11h 55m Buy It Now for only: $28.95 |
 CABOTINE DE GRES EAU DE TOILETTE LARGE 34 oz SIZE SPRAY NEW No Box $0.99 (1 Bid) Time Remaining: 4d 7h 50m |
 Cabotine by Parfums Gres 34 oz EDT Spray women NIB $19.52 Time Remaining: 23d 10h 30m Buy It Now for only: $19.52 |
 CABOTINE Parfums Gres Perfume 34 NEW in BOX $16.35 Time Remaining: 7d 5h 39m Buy It Now for only: $16.35 |
 DANGEROUS Perfume Sammi Sweetheart Women 17 Oz EDP Spray $31.95 Time Remaining: 21d 19h 20m Buy It Now for only: $31.95 |
 ASSORTED LOT OF 10 HIGH END WOMENS PERFUME MINIATURES LANCOME ESTEE GRES ETC $9.99 Time Remaining: 4d 8h 13m |
 CABOTINE By GRES EDT 34 OZ SPRAY NIB $15.99 Time Remaining: 29d 16h 7m Buy It Now for only: $15.99 |
 CABOCHARD by Parfums Gres 33 34 oz edt Perfume Spray for Women New In Box $17.37 Time Remaining: 21d 11h 44m Buy It Now for only: $17.37 |
 CABOTINE BY GRES PERFUME WOMEN 34 OZ EAU DE TOILETTE SPRAY TESTER WITH CAP $17.50 Time Remaining: 10d 17h 49m Buy It Now for only: $17.50 |
 CABOTINE de GRES Perfume EDT 338 oz 100 ml Spray $10.95 Time Remaining: 8h 49m |
 Cabochard by Parfums Gres for Women 33 oz Eau De Parfum EDP Spray $23.36 Time Remaining: 26d 14h 24m Buy It Now for only: $23.36 |
 Cabaret by Parfums Gres 34 oz EDP Spray women NIB $22.31 Time Remaining: 23d 10h 30m Buy It Now for only: $22.31 |
 CABARET BY GRES FOR WOMEN 34 OZ EDP SPRAY $24.78 Time Remaining: 26d 10h 51m Buy It Now for only: $24.78 |
 Parfums Gres Cabochard Vintage bottle 2oz Womens Eau de Toilette $50.00 Time Remaining: 17h 12m |
 Cabochard by Gres for Women 33 oz EDT Spray $20.68 Time Remaining: 11d 10h 2m Buy It Now for only: $20.68 |
 CABOTINE BY PARFUMS GRES Women 34 oz EDT NIB $23.63 Time Remaining: 8d 20h 53m Buy It Now for only: $23.63 |
 Cabotine De Gres Women Perfume 32 ml 10 oz EDP Mini Eau De Parfum Parfums Gre $9.95 Time Remaining: 27d 3h 3m Buy It Now for only: $9.95 |
 CABOTINE DE GRES Perfume EDT 34oz Spray 90 $22.00 Time Remaining: 1d 15h 13m |
 CABOTINE MOON FLOWER BY PARFUMS GRES Women 34 oz EDT $19.63 Time Remaining: 4d 10h 52m Buy It Now for only: $19.63 |
 Cabotine for Women Parfum GRES EDT Spray 33 oz NEW $17.95 Time Remaining: 2d 7h 32m Buy It Now for only: $17.95 |
 CABOTINE de Gres Parfums Gres 34 EDP PERFUME WOMEN NIB $24.89 Time Remaining: 22d 9h 2m Buy It Now for only: $24.89 |
 Cabotine Rose by Parfums Gres Gift Set 34 oz EDT Spray + 67 oz Body Lotion $31.40 Time Remaining: 13h 38m Buy It Now for only: $34.54 |
 CABOTINE ROSE by Parfums Gres 33 34 oz edt Perfume Spray Women New In Box $22.39 Time Remaining: 5d 21h 29m Buy It Now for only: $22.39 |
 Cabotine by Parfums Gres for Women 34 oz Eau De Toilette EDT Spray $20.33 Time Remaining: 13d 18h 16m Buy It Now for only: $20.33 |
 Cabotine GOLD PARFUMS GRES PARIS 34 oz NIB $14.99 Time Remaining: 16h 34m |
 Cabotine by Parfum Gris EDP 34 oz 100 ml Eau De Parfum Spray $26.59 Time Remaining: 10d 16h 54m Buy It Now for only: $26.59 |
 Cabotine Parfums Gres Perfume for Women 34 oz NIB $20.95 Time Remaining: 4d 14h 20m Buy It Now for only: $20.95 |
 CABOCHARD PARFUMS GRES Women 34 oz EDT NIB $24.63 Time Remaining: 10d 20h 50m Buy It Now for only: $24.63 |
 Cabotine by Parfums Gres 3 Piece Gift Set for Women $28.91 Time Remaining: 13h 46m Buy It Now for only: $31.81 |
 CABOTINE Parfums Gres Perfume 34 NEW in BOX $18.44 Time Remaining: 7d 6h 31m Buy It Now for only: $18.44 |
 CABOCHARD by Parfums Gres Eau De Toilette Spray 34 oz Women $26.50 Time Remaining: 28d 12h 19m Buy It Now for only: $26.50 |
 CABOTINE BY PARFUMS GRES Women 34 oz EDT NIB $22.95 Time Remaining: 24d 18h 14m Buy It Now for only: $22.95 |
 CABOTINE DE GRES by Parfums Gres 33 34 oz edt Perfume Spray New In Box $16.16 Time Remaining: 1d 8h 45m Buy It Now for only: $17.79 |
 CABOTINE de GRES PARFUMS 34 oz edt Perfume Sealed $22.00 Time Remaining: 21d 12h 34m Buy It Now for only: $22.00 |
 Cabochard by Parfums Gres 34 oz EDP Women Perfume NIB $25.34 Time Remaining: 7d 6h 18m Buy It Now for only: $25.34 |
 CABOTINE MOON FLOWER BY PARFUMS GRES FOR Women 34 oz EDT Spray NIB $21.95 Time Remaining: 15d 5h 48m Buy It Now for only: $21.95 |
 CALINE by Parfums Gres 169 17 oz edt Perfume Spray for Women New In Box $11.39 Time Remaining: 2d 7h 5m Buy It Now for only: $12.54 |
 Cabotine by Gres for Women 17 oz EDT Spray $15.75 Time Remaining: 24d 6h 33m Buy It Now for only: $15.75 |
 CABOTINE ROSE by Gres 34 EDT SPRAY FOR WOMEN NIB $25.89 Time Remaining: 8h 5m Buy It Now for only: $25.89 |
 CABOTINE parfums de Gres 34 oz EDP eau de parfum Womens Spray Perfume NIB $26.88 Time Remaining: 22d 15h 7m Buy It Now for only: $26.88 |
 CABOTINE GOLD by Parfums Gres 34 oz edt Perfume Spray for Women New In Box $18.07 Time Remaining: 2d 7h 25m Buy It Now for only: $19.89 |
 CALINE by Parfums Gres 338 34 oz EDT Women Perfume $28.99 Time Remaining: 17d 20h 36m Buy It Now for only: $28.99 |
 CABOCHARD BY PARFUMS GRES Perfume 338 oz EDP 34 $25.95 Time Remaining: 16d 14h 15m Buy It Now for only: $25.95 |
 Cabotine de Gres Women Eau de Parfum 10 oz Mini $12.90 Time Remaining: 4d 7h 26m Buy It Now for only: $12.90 |
 CABOTINE ROSE by Parfums Gres 33 34 oz edt Perfume Spray Women New In Box $17.12 Time Remaining: 2d 7h 25m Buy It Now for only: $18.84 |
 Cabaret for Women by Gres 34 oz 100 ml EDP Spray $24.95 Time Remaining: 9d 2h 38m Buy It Now for only: $24.95 |
 CALINE PARFUMS GRES 338 OZ EDT 34 NEW IN BOX WOMEN 100 ML $22.95 Time Remaining: 12d 22h 4m Buy It Now for only: $22.95 |
 CABARET PARFUMS GRES 34 EDP SPRAY WOMAN NIB $25.89 Time Remaining: 24d 16h 19m Buy It Now for only: $25.89 |
 CABOTINE FLORALISME by Parfums Gres 34 oz edt Perfume Spray New In Box $18.07 Time Remaining: 2d 7h 25m Buy It Now for only: $19.89 |
 Cabochard by Parfums Gres for Women 17 oz Eau De Toilette EDT Spray $14.92 Time Remaining: 15d 14h 40m Buy It Now for only: $14.92 |
 Cabochard for Women Parfum GRES EDT Spray 33 oz BRAND NEW NO BOX $20.95 Time Remaining: 3d 7h 30m Buy It Now for only: $20.95 |
 CABOTINE CRISTALISME by Parfums Gres 34 oz edt Perfume Spray New In Box $18.07 Time Remaining: 2d 7h 25m Buy It Now for only: $19.89 |
 CLINIQUE Aromatics Elixir Eau De Parfum Spray for Women 34oz 100ml unboxed $56.90 Time Remaining: 7d 3h 45m Buy It Now for only: $56.90 |
 CABOTINE PARFUMS GRES Women 17 oz EDT NIB $17.63 Time Remaining: 8d 20h 40m Buy It Now for only: $17.63 |
 CABARET by Parfums Gres 33 34 oz edp Perfume Spray for Women New In Box $24.89 Time Remaining: 18d 6h 39m Buy It Now for only: $24.89 |
 CABOTINE MOONFLOWER by Parfums Gres 34 oz edt Perfume Spray New In Box $17.59 Time Remaining: 2d 7h 25m Buy It Now for only: $19.36 |
 Cabochard for Women by Parfum GRES Body Lotion 67 oz BRAND NEW NO BOX $14.95 Time Remaining: 3d 7h 22m Buy It Now for only: $14.95 |
 CABOTINE de Gres Parfums Gres 34 EDT PERFUME WOMEN NIB $21.89 Time Remaining: 5d 10h 27m Buy It Now for only: $21.89 |
 Cabochard by Gres Eau De Toilette 33 oz Spray $18.00 Time Remaining: 18d 9h 37m Buy It Now for only: $18.00 |
 CABARET by Parfums Gres 33 34 oz edp Perfume Spray for Women New In Box $18.07 Time Remaining: 2d 12h 45m Buy It Now for only: $19.89 |
 Cabotine Gold perfume by Parfums Gres for Women EDT Spray 34 oz Tester $20.19 Time Remaining: 9d 13h 12m Buy It Now for only: $20.19 |
 CABOTINE DE GRES BY PARFUMS GRES FOR WOMEN 34 oz EDT NEW IN BOX $17.50 Time Remaining: 5d 11h 41m Buy It Now for only: $17.50 |
 NIB CABOTINE DE GRES GIFT SET $24.99 Time Remaining: 20d 8h 52m Buy It Now for only: $24.99 |
 CABOCHARD by Parfums Gres 33 34 oz edt Perfume Spray for Women New In Box $17.59 Time Remaining: 3d 12h 45m Buy It Now for only: $19.36 |
 CABOCHARD BY PARFUMS GRES 338 OZ EDP SPRAY FOR WOMEN NEW IN BOX $20.95 Time Remaining: 3d 20h 3m Buy It Now for only: $20.95 |
 Cabotine by Parfums Gres for Women 34 oz Eau De Parfum EDP Spray $25.92 Time Remaining: 5d 14h 8m Buy It Now for only: $25.92 |
 CABOTINE GOLD BY PARFUMS GRES Women 34 oz EDT NIB $23.63 Time Remaining: 18d 10h 24m Buy It Now for only: $23.63 |
 Parfums Gres Cabotine Rose 17oz Womens Eau de Toilette EDT 169 SUPER DEAL $7.98 Time Remaining: 4d 13h 10m Buy It Now for only: $8.98 |
 Cabotine for Women by Gres 676 oz 200 ml Body Lotion $12.90 Time Remaining: 21d 15h 44m Buy It Now for only: $12.90 |
 CABOTINE MOON FLOWER BY PARFUMS GRES Women 34 oz EDT $18.95 Time Remaining: 6d 13h 30m Buy It Now for only: $18.95 |
 Cabotine Fleur De Passion by Parfums Gres for Women EDT Spray 34 oz $18.05 Time Remaining: 10d 1h 12m Buy It Now for only: $18.05 |
 CABOTINE DE GRES EAU DE TOILETTE NATURAL SPRAY 169 FL OZ 50ml $9.99 Time Remaining: 3d 8h 24m |
 CABOTINE ROSE Parfums Gres 169 oz Women Perfume $21.99 Time Remaining: 12d 12h Buy It Now for only: $21.99 |
 Cabotine De Gres 17 oz EDT spray for Women $21.95 Time Remaining: 17d 19h 24m Buy It Now for only: $21.95 |
 PASTEL DE GRES BY PARFUM GRES PARIS EDT 17 OZ 50 ML WOMEN SPRAY NIB $28.17 Time Remaining: 5d 11h 7m Buy It Now for only: $30.99 |
 CABOCHARD BY GRES FOR WOMEN 338 OZ EDP SPRAY $25.49 Time Remaining: 12d 10h 50m Buy It Now for only: $25.49 |
 CABOTINE ROSE BY PARFUMS GRES Women 34 oz EDT $24.63 Time Remaining: 12d 16h 2m Buy It Now for only: $24.63 |
 Cabotine by Gres for Women 3 Pc Gift Set $27.53 Time Remaining: 16d 6h 16m Buy It Now for only: $27.53 |
 cabotine de gres perfume set 34 $34.00 Time Remaining: 12h 59m |
 CABOCHARD GRES 34 EDT PERFUME SPRAY WOMEN NEW IN BOX $21.89 Time Remaining: 21d 14h 25m Buy It Now for only: $21.89 |
 Cabochard for Women by Gres 34 oz 100 ml EDT Spray $23.90 Time Remaining: 21d 15h 50m Buy It Now for only: $23.90 |
 Cabochard by Parfums Gres 338 oz EDP Spray women NIB $24.65 Time Remaining: 2d 8h 47m Buy It Now for only: $24.65 |
 Cabochard by Parfums Gres EDT Spray for Women 338 oz GREAT GIFT FREE SHIP $21.99 Time Remaining: 5d 11h 8m Buy It Now for only: $26.99 |
 Gres Cabotine Eau De Toilette Spray 30ml 1oz NEW $26.00 Time Remaining: 28d 3h 26m Buy It Now for only: $26.00 |
 CABOTINE MOONFLOWER by Parfums Gres 34 oz edt Perfume Spray New In Box $22.84 Time Remaining: 8d 22h 4m Buy It Now for only: $22.84 |
 CABOTINE BY GRES 32 ML EDP SPLASH MINI FOR WOMEN NIB $6.99 Time Remaining: 3d 9h 2m Buy It Now for only: $6.99 |
 gres CABOCHARD EDT PARIS VINTAGE $9.99 Time Remaining: 6d 12h 59m |
 CABOCHARD BY PARFUMS GRES 33 34 oz EDT SPRAY NIB Perfume for Women $17.95 Time Remaining: 20d 9h 20m Buy It Now for only: $17.95 |
 Pastel by Gres Women EDT 34 oz 100 ml New Unused $23.80 Time Remaining: 17d 22h 1m Buy It Now for only: $23.80 |
 CALINE by Parfums Gres 169 17 oz edt Perfume Spray for Women New In Box $17.89 Time Remaining: 8d 22h 4m Buy It Now for only: $17.89 |
 Cabotine Bleu 17oz Womens Eau de Toilette $15.00 Time Remaining: 2d 15h 33m |
 Gres Cabotine Moon Flower Eau De Toilette Spray 50ml 17oz NEW $42.00 Time Remaining: 28d 3h 27m Buy It Now for only: $42.00 |
 CABOTINE Parfums Gres 34 oz EDP Women Perfume $27.99 Time Remaining: 12d 12h 1m Buy It Now for only: $27.99 |
 CABOTINE DE GRES 34 OZ Mint In Box Still Sealed In Box $21.00 Time Remaining: 28d 19h 13m Buy It Now for only: $21.00 |
 CABOTINE DE GRES by Parfums Gres 33 34 oz edp Perfume Spray New In Box $20.93 Time Remaining: 6d 6h 25m Buy It Now for only: $23.04 |
 Cabochard by Parfums Gres for Women 33 oz Eau De Toilette EDT Spray $20.62 Time Remaining: 8d 11h 47m Buy It Now for only: $20.62 |
 FOLIE DOUCE Perfume for Women EDT SPRAY 338 oz Tester $21.99 Time Remaining: 26d 5h 12m Buy It Now for only: $21.99 |
Gres Women
The Ballad of Vintage Couture
The Ballad of Vintage Couture
Less than a decade ago, Vintage Couture clothing was merely old clothing, an unnamed category of inventory, unappreciated at every thrift shop in America. No resale shop would accept this type of merchandise, or passé clothing for consignment. Children of couture-clad mothers and aunts and grandmothers disdained their legacy and donated these items. Volunteers were indifferent, tagging the merchandise at low prices and tossing them on racks where they would swing month after month, snubbed by the impoverished and most foraging bargain hunters.
Few valued clothing produced and styled forty to fifty years ago. The couturiers fell into public obscurity: Jean Muir, Pauline Trigere, Rafael, Madame Gres, Donald Brooks, Gloria Scherrer, Hanae Mori, even Chanel by CoCo. There was a minuscule market, and it was a refined market. Instructors at Fashion Design Schools would forage, find, and purchase definitive items to teach their students construction, fabrics, detailing, and styling. Treasure hunters would rummage and purchase an item that triggered a girlhood memory of an aunt, their mother, a cousin, or a movie star, whose panache was evoked by this clothing. It was unlikely they wore these purchases. They were mementos, purchased in an impulsive, nostalgic recollection moment for a song. Another type of shopper was the home sewers, not seamstresses or tailors by vocation, but home sewers. They would hunt for the perfect piece to take apart and study, re-construct couture, and make and update patterns from the pieces. Thrift shops selling vintage couture become a staple of modern cities near the turn of this century. Theme parties, Halloween, cross dressers, transsexuals would bring customers to thrift shops for costumes. It was no longer the excitement of vintage clothing that was driving the traffic, but the sheer nature of mimicking an earlier time.
I was not in any of the refined markets listed above when I happened upon a severely abused, moth ridden, red and blue striped, wool jersey Chanel suit with a skirt tagged $13 in 1995. I was, instead, looking for merchandise for an as yet nascent resale shop which would specialize in used couture clothing and accessories. My shop was to be located somewhere wonderful in wonderful Chicago devoted to obtaining couture merchandise by outright purchase, not consignment. My money for inventory was very tight. I had to resort to thrift shops to obtain sufficient inventory to stock a shop whose square footage ultimately could be no more than 300 square feet. The sleeve and its clearly identifiable Chanel button caught my eye. Neither stripes, nor red, nor blue, nor suits with skirts, nor wool jerseys were in style. The jacket was unstylish, a fitted jacket; the skirt was unfashionably designed with a pleated torso.
I bought it in a moment, along with each and every other couture item I could find that day and each successive day until the 'starter' store opened on June 10, 1995. I paid hundreds of dollars to renovate, recondition, and dry clean these items. I blew my budget and resorted to consignment for current couture clothing and accessories to bulk up to 450 pieces. I arranged the Shop by couture label, interspersing current with passé. I sold to encourage
women to try on styles from 40-50 years ago, reminding women of couturier names from the past, drawing up similarities between then and now styling and associating obscure couturiers as muses of present couturier houses. Many customers called it “Old crap.” I had no response.
And to this day, 13 years of operation later and in another shop four times larger than the starter shop from ten years ago, I cannot tell you exactly why I did this. What I can tell you is that I had to, was compelled to, because the clothing and accessories were simply wonderful. Now, this merchandise is called Vintage Couture. It's very difficult to find at reasonable prices for it's very popular. I find it here and there at somewhat reasonable prices and stock it in the Shop, where it proudly hangs amongst its younger cousins.
You might ask about the red and blue striped wool jersey Chanel suit with a skirt which began the epiphany. I renovated it, reconditioned it, had every moth hole repaired, replaced the lining, shortened the skirt and wore it for a publicity shoot at the kickoff of the starter store. I can' tell you why I choose it. Turning fey, I can pretend it called to me from my closet, "I'll be a good luck talisman during the heady first year of operation roller coaster all new merchants are required to ride." Maybe; maybe not. The roller
coaster has smoothed out to a highway where I drive The DAISY Shop car, steering it this way and that and loving the merchant qualities I've learned to acquire.
The suit has transmuted into my uniform. I wear it to speaking engagements, where I sit nervously through the MC's introduction and zone out concentrating on the rippling stripes until I hear the polite smatter of applause. Then, I stand up, feel well turned out, as I proceed to the podium, and do my best to give back to the entrepreneurial community. I wear it to preview parties, where I mingle and munch with other merchants from Chicago's wonderful Oak Street and feel well turned out and a part of the merchant community. I wear it to business meetings, where I listen or am listened to and feel well turned out. The fact is I never tire of wearing it.
I don't know who purchased this suit originally from Chanel, but I wish I did. I know she was a small-framed, lean person, for the suit is small, and only thin women are willing to wear horizontal stripes. I imagine she was fair-haired, for red and blue look well on fair-haired women. I know she had a relatively large disposable income, for Chanel was always pricey. Frankly, it's a rather jazzy outfit, and I'd like to think she was a jazzy lady, not quite quietly elegant, sometimes outré and other times conservative. I'd rather not think it was a fashion mistake that she put in the back of her closet, never wore, but couldn't bear to donate for the high price she had paid. I think she went to the Chez Paree in Chicago on Saturday night dates with her husband and smoked cigarettes there from long cigarette holders. I think she did volunteer work some where worthwhile and had a long and happy life with her large family around her. I think she would enjoy knowing her suit is still valuable and doing its job of making its wearer feel well turned out.
I think CoCo would be pleased, too.
About the Author
Barbara Nell, owner of The Daisy Shop on Oak in Chicago, has been a couture devotee since she was six and accompanied her Aunt Esther to a fitting at Marshall Field's 28 Shop in Chicago
Sad, alone, and hating it! Please read and help!?
I am a 22 year old woman. I just graduated college in December, and am studying for GREs and applying to grad school. I want to be an English professor someday, and have a summer job lined up at a community college. I did great in college, made lots of friends, socialized, and got involved. I had internships, many different jobs, etc. I was confident, nice and outspoken. I still am all these things. I have dated a lot over the years, but every guy I’ve gotten involved has ended up leaving for some reason or another. I’m considered attractive, intelligent, and everything, but I don’t know it just never works out for me. I hate, hate, hate being single. I hate not having love, sex, and companionship, and I hate not having someone to interact with and grow better with. I’ve tried dating sites as well, nothing works. I feel like there is a gaping hole in my life where someone special should be, and I feel incomplete. I don’t know how to feel better--any advice?
you're young! you'll find the right guy, it takes time but I have no doubt when you least expect it there he'll be. Make sure he's nice to you, don't put up with a self-centered douche-bag. My girlfriend and I broke up after 9 years when I was 25 and I found the love of my life 8 months later when a friend talked me into auditioning for a play. We now have 3 kids and life is great 
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