Petrune » 1940-1950

Summertime Sandals

Petrune Vintage — Fri, 01 Jul 2011 20:48:37 +0000

This season we decided to bring back a summer staple of our childhood. Salt-water Sandals made their debut in the 1940s for kids, and then thankfully added a line for adults in 2007. We love how these classics are flexible and immediately comfortable– no breaking in required!

All styles and colors are priced at a wallet-friendly $38, and they’re going fast!

Also included in this collection is a modernized T-Strap silver sandal, sure to add a metallic pop to any beach outfit. Come in and give them a try.

ITHACA FEST 2011

Petrune Vintage — Thu, 02 Jun 2011 21:47:38 +0000

Tonight is the official start of this years Ithaca Festival ! Here’s a peek at our new window celebrating the theme of the festival, “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” by William Shakespeare. We’ve been drooling over this dress for a while now, wouldn’t it be the perfect whimsical wedding dress for Hippolyta, Amazonian queen?

Be sure to stop in and say hi, we’ll be here all weekend and might have a few surprises up our sleeves!

Storytelling

Petrune Vintage — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 19:51:33 +0000

We love it when our customers tell us a little something about an item that they are selling to us or an item that we sold to them. A few weeks ago someone came in to sell us some dresses that had once belonged to a woman who was a spy in World War II. They gave me her name, I googled her, and sure enough, a transmission from 1944 reveals that her code name was “Ivy” and she was given a mission in Sri Lanka. Her dresses included a beautiful silk embroidered cocktail dress with lovely beading on the cap sleeves. We also have a lovely bias cut pinkish-red gown and a fun lavender bubble dress from “Ivy”. One lucky gal is wearing one of her dresses to her prom!

Speaking of prom, just today, a woman came into the store and told us that her daughter had purchased a dress from Petrune a couple of years ago and wore it while posing for Mary Ellen Mark‘s Prom Series. She is on the right in the photograph (look fabulous, we must say).

Petrune is honored to have a dress featured in the work of the prolific and incredibly talented Mary Ellen Mark. Her prom series was on exhibition here in Ithaca at the Johnson Museum of Art in 2008; check her website for current exhibtions.

Prom photograph via WSKG’s blog.

1940′s full skirt coat

Petrune Vintage — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 22:57:49 +0000

We purchased this coat from our friend Betty, who lives in Corning, NY, and is 97 years old. She is more energetic and positive than most people a quarter her age, and we look to her has a great example of how to live.

This 1940′s coat features a nipped in waist and a full skirt. It has a lovely shape, with sleeves that start wide under the arms, and get tight around the wrists (warm!) and the full bottom has such graceful movement.

Remembering Irving Penn

Petrune Vintage — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 23:19:12 +0000

In the early 80′s a teenage girl picked up a book of extraordinary photographs of ordinary people, and decided then and there that she wanted to be a photographer. The book was the work of Irving Penn, the famous fashion photographer for Vogue. His portraits featured very plain canvas back drops, and his studio made use of the North light. We designed this window in memory of his passing away this week. The dress is a 1950′s Suzy Perette version of a “New Look” gown. There are a couple of 50′s era Vogue magazines on the black trunk. The camera is a Burke and James 8×10 view camera. Mr. Penn’s photographs continue to inspire.

Gowns gowns gowns

Petrune Vintage — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 14:00:27 +0000

1940′s teal blue satin gown. The draped bow on the hip adds a touch of movie star glamour. We can see this on a torch singer, a debutant, or a really cool girl who just likes to dress up to go to the grocery store.