Decadence: Fashions from the 1920s at Galleria Dallas - Review

So today I stopped by the Galleria Dallas for the Decadence: Fashion from the 1920s exhibition.  Filled with glorious examples of 1920s sartorial bliss, this exhibition made me wonder why we Americans have migrated to the jeans-tshirt-flip-flops ensemble?  These 1920s dresses were fabulous, meticulously beaded and cut, and screamed feminine rebellion a la age of the flappers and their high spirited glamour. You'll long for the days when flip flops and jeans and athletic leisurewear just didn't exist.  Curated by Ken Weber of Vintage Martini, a Dallas vintage store that has everything this here vintage lover could ever want, this exhibition features about 100 pieces.  Exhibition location:  Dallas Galleria, Level One, across from Tiffany & Co.  Runs daily from 12-6 through February 28, 2016.

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Dallas Vintage Clothing and Jewelry Show - Review

PROS:
Condition:  Most of the pieces I looked at were in really great shape without any tears or stains or pulls.  Really beautiful and unusual pieces with great detailing.
Prices:  Beyond reasonable and fair.  I used to live Los Angeles for quite some time--I'm guessing that if this was a show in Los Angeles instead of Dallas, prices would be at least twice as much.  Today I ran across a two-piece silk Chanel maxi evening dress in perfect condition for only $595.00.  Let's just say I definitely did not get the sense that vendors were trying to gouge customers with outrageous prices.  And if I ever move out of Dallas I'm going to have to run around and hog up all the fantastic buys in this city because the pricing elsewhere will just be too high.
Selection:  There was a mix of both authentic designer and street vintage options complete with purses, hats, shoes, scarves, eyewear and any other accessory you could think of.  You'll find many more dresses than tops and pants though.  Jewelry fanatic paradiso.  A lot of the vendors display their pieces by decade which I love.
Vendors:  Friendly vendors.  Not pushy.  Helpful and knowledgeable.  Vintage Martini is one of my favorites.  Ken Weber, one of the owners, has a film costuming background and fabulous taste.

CONS:
Admission:  I have never liked the idea of paying to get into a show where you are planning on buying, but who does?  Although admission was only $10, I'd certainly rather spend the ten bucks at one of the booths.  Free parking though.
Selection:  It's not a huge show where you'll find booth after booth after booth.  All told there are about 25 booths.  I actually couldn't decide if this was a pro or a con, because I liked how it felt more intimate and how it was not overwhelming.  For me, there was soooo much to look at and I didn't know where to start.  Hard core vintage shoppers though might find it to be too small of a show.


I just had to try on this fuzzy coat cha-cha-cha
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Christian Louboutin Presents...80s Neon?

As I was driving around Dallas yesterday, I decided to wander through the cute and cozy Highland Park Village.  I spotted the Christian Louboutin boutique, and hoping to find really cute shoes in the window, was instead taken aback by the plethora of neon-colored heels--orange, turquoise, yellow--clogging up the glass. 

As much as I love pretty much everything about the 80s I simply cannot get on board with the neon Louboutin heels with spikes.  Louboutin creates beautiful shoes but this neon..."fashion" reminded me of cranky sea urchins or even worse those "As Seen on TV" spiky rubber laundry dryer-ball-thingies that are advertised during late night sitcom reruns.  What am I missing here?  I love theatrical fashion, but these shoes were an assault on my senses.  Are these supposed to be sexy on a woman?  The only time or place I could see them being worn is perhaps during a pseudo-punk music video where some unidentified I-hate-the-bore-of-bourgeois model plots hyper-feministic revenge on her former lover by "kicking him where it counts" (yes, admitting I would delightfully use that phrase in the third grade to warn a scrawny but determined little boy named Scott to stop chasing me on the playground).  On a side note, after leaving the store and driving some more through Dallas, I had to wonder...why is there always one single cow who has wandered off away from the herd in the field, standing at the edge of the fence and people watching to boot?  Perhaps I just answered my own question about the aesthetics of the Louboutin neon spike--only for those who dare to step away from the herd?