Petrune Debut

This lovely black and white number marks the debut of our very own, Petrune-made fashion line. That's right, made with our very own hands, in our very-own store. Keep your eye out for more locally made, one-of-a-kind pieces like this one.

*Note: This dress sold moments after taking this picture, so you gotta be quick!

The Season of Sales!

Come celebrate the thaw with 25% off all vintage items! That includes all dresses, skirts, blouses, sweaters, pants...even our new Seychelles shoes and boots. So get in here and welcome spring with some new duds from Petrune!

Comet Skateboard Show

Local Skateboard company, Comet Skateboards, has commissioned two dozen artists to use the board as a canvas for self expression. Come check out the opening party and a their new video "Let's Come Back" this Thursday, Dec. 11, at Petrune, from 5:00-8:00. Live music by "Sophistafunk," and waffles from "Funk and Waffles." After party TBA!

Photography Exhibition

"Space for Rent" an exhibition of photography by Ithaca College photography students will be showing in our upstairs gallery.
There are two parties for this show. One Dec. 4, from 6-8pm, and one on Dec.5, from 5-8 pm. The show will be up all week, so come check it out.

Gettin' on cozy time...

Well that string of 60 degree weather days is over and the cold weather has arrived! Petrune has plenty of cozy things to keep you warm this winter, whether you prefer vintage styles or new looks. We have Tulle peacoats and sweater dresses and Jennifer scarves, along with our great collection of vintage coats and sweaters. We also have some new arrivals from local designer Yuliya Komska. Come and check out her fabulous re-imagined vintage coats, and original hats and bags.



New look:

Grey Tulle Jacket
Purple Tulle Sweater Dress
Jennifer Scarf in Brown
ILI Large Leather Tote in Brown
Seychelles Heeled Boots in Brown













Vintage Look:

Apple-red Double Breasted Wool Coat (with leopard print lining!)
Great Tri-color 80's Sweater
Black Pencil Skirt
Red Heels

Petrune Summer Sale!

It's another rainy day in Ithaca, but the looming gray can't dampen the bright pink/orange color of this Diane Von Furstenberg dress! Our lovely associate Miranda sports this sexy 80's secretary number with Valentino sunglasses and white leather pumps for a truly exuberant look. The dress is one of the featured items in our current summer sale, in which customers can enjoy 50% off men's and women's shirts, jackets, dresses, and skirts.




Here, Miranda wears another item from our summer sale - an elegant yet easy 80's dress (complete with shoulder pads), and pairs it with dark brown crocodile pumps. Who said you can't wear white after Labor Day - especially when you look this good!

Fab-u-lous

Wow ladies from the forties and fifties could sew! These two handmade dresses are so beautiful I had to put them on and feel fabulous for a couple of minutes. This gorgeous red dress was handmade in the forties by a lovely lounge singer! It has beautiful sequin and faux pearl detailing, and is shown here with a vintage fur and our great new Seychelles cut-out heels in teal suede.

This handmade stunning yellow chiffon dress with sequin details looks as good lying down on a setee as it does swingin' around the dance floor. It is shown here with a blue silk scarf and white 80's heels.

Photo credit: Gordon :)

We got a sweet email from a customer, and we wanted to share it with all of you! Petrune loves it when fabulous young things rock vintage looks at their proms!

Dear Petrune,

For prom this year, I wanted to stand out, but I was having trouble figuring
out what to wear. I had a dress, but it wasn't that unique (although it fit
great) and I had cool shoes, but that's not where I wanted people looking
the most! When I came into your store, I asked the associate if she could
help me, and she helped me to find the perfect hat and veil for it, which
completely pulled together my outfit. I got so many compliments on my hat,
it really made my night a special one.
Thanks for the helpfulness and fabulous look,
Cady Fontana


Lookin' good Cady!

Week 2: The Commons

This week we put our best foot forward with a stunning fall-inspired Pucci skirt in tones of brown and pink.

The Commons is treating us well as we start to settle into our new home; the paint is drying, we're getting to know our neighbors, and Petrune is meeting new people every day who just can't say enough about her. Oh the ego!

In other exciting news, this week we premiered one of our new clothing lines from Tulle: wool coats, knit tops and sweater dresses in a variety of sizes and colors compliment our expanded vintage collection. You must see for yourself...

The New Petrune Location

So... we did it, we moved around the corner to a much larger location, and we filled it up in a matter of days. The move went quickly and we are now installed in our new home: 126 East State Street, the Commons. Come check out our Fall collection of some of the best vintage finds ever.

Commons-bound!!

Hello all! Just in case you didn't pop in and see our large sign, you should know that Petrune is moving! Not to worry, vintage fans, we are only moving a few long strides away- to 126 The Commons! We will open on September 1st in our beautiful new space, so be sure to check out our new digs- and our new collection!

Let's hear it for the 80's

So many great things have come out of the 80's. Among my favorites are The Golden Girls, Depeche Mode, and Short Circuit. So why not embrace the 80's and replace your busted mp3 player with an awesome Walkman, or dress like a sailor girl from an 80's Pall-Mall ad? (Smoking is bad). Or just watch old episodes of The Golden Girls on youtube.

Dress of the Day!

Hannah looks ravishing in this lovely Gray Linen Double-Breasted dress, worn with a red ILI clutch and great red leather pumps with white piping
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Boudoir Essentials

This week Petrune's shop window is featuring a great line of new (not vintage) lingerie, by the company "Honey Dew." Also note the 1940's embroidered pink silk kimono, and the salmon colored slips from the same era. 1920's paper lanterns add a romantic note.

The Elle-Word

Despite rumors of Elle.com being in trouble, I maintain that it is a wonderful website worth my daily checking for fashion news. While browsing through a slide show of "pre-spring" trends to follow, I noticed that we have many of these trends right here in our own little store. Check out Elle's trend report (http://www.elle.com/fashionspotlight/14024/resort-2009-trends.html) and then come in and check out our versions of the new animal prints, bright florals, and denim.

80's "Batwing" Black Dress with Zebra print details, worn with an ILI Red Leather Clutch and Red Pumps



70's Summer Frock in Bright Floral print, worn with teal "Papagallo" Peep-toed Shoes


Denim "Ginny" Overalls, worn with a one-of-a-kind reconstructed tee-shirt made by local designer Dee-lux

Victorian Jackets

Two lovely jackets from the Victorian era. One is gold and blue striped silk, one is purple satin and velvet with lace. The textiles from this period of time are unbelievable.

Dress of the Day

Here is another adorable Petrune customer in a 1940's rayon dress, and a 1950's Saks Fifth Avenue sun hat. Sorry girls, she took the dress, but the hat is still available.

Suzy in 70's terrycloth romper

Suzy looks FIERCE in this little get-up.

Vintage Leather Bags

We picked these bags up in Wilkes Barre, PA, at their huge impressive Salvation Army thrift store. Petrune loves shades of tan this Spring, and these 80's purses embody the best way to wear that color. Add a bright dress and you are all set.

Thrifting in Baltimore

Justin and I just returned from the elegant city of Baltimore, MD, where we found bags and bags of merchandise for Petrune. People often ask us where we find the interesting things in the shop. Here's one place: The Village Thrift Shop in Baltimore. This place is well organized, and filled with all kinds of things. Last time I was here, I watched as a man purchased a genuine Juan Miro print, signed by the artist, for fifteen dollars. On this trip we found the black and white dress in the photo along with that 50's handbag, and lots of other nice things that I'll post later.

Posted By D.B.

Shop window

Petrune's shop window this week. Note the pink Suzy Perette dress from the 1950's, and the forcythia. Spring is just about to begin here in Ithaca

80's Belts

Huge collection of 80's stretchy belts came in this week. Many are brand new, never worn, but original 80's, not repros. We are selling them for $18 each. Get one while you can.

New Designer: Danielle Kearns Keller

Here is a photo of one of Danielle's remade t-shirts (described in the last blog post.) More to come later!

Spring!

It's here at last- at least in the shop at 115 South Cayuga Street. Petrune put out the Spring collection on March 28, during (what we hope is) the last snow storm of the season. Even though the outside was cold, inside the shop was sunny and the new vintage is flying out of the store faster than we can stock it. Petrune's most exciting new discovery is the work of Danielle Kearns Keller, a terrific Ithaca designer whose "Remade" T-shirts impressed everyone with thier great style an witty designs. We had twenty five of these beauties in the store, and half of them sold in the first two days. I didn't even get to photograph my favorites.

Spring Roll Out- March 28, 2008

Petrune's all new vintage Spring collection makes it's debut on March 28. Doors open at 12:00 noon.

75% Off SALE

OK- This is the biggest sale in the history of Petrune. Petrune has never had so much inventory and it has never been marked it down so much- 75% off for two days only. This includes jewelry, shoes, clothes, everything! Petrune just can't bear the thought of storing anything. She wants all her vintage clothing to be new to the store. She knows there are customers who know the inventory better than her staff, and she wants to provide novelty at every turn! So get down to 115 South Cayuga Street, on Wednesday and Thursday for the deals of the year. Whole sale buyers are welcome.

50% Off Sale

Well the 50% off sale is going full swing as of today. Petrune's favorite visitors were in to partake of bargains galore. Several birthdays were being celebrated today, along with St. Patricks day. One lucky birthday boy got a Pierre Cardin hand bag, some bowling shoes, and those great oversized 80's style sunglasses. Someone else snagged that Yuliya Komska coat I posted last week- the one with the goldfish on it. It seems like everyone is buying fur wraps too. This little girl got herself a pink hat. So GLAM!

Ella in NYC last week

Yves Saint Laurent Jacket, tiger striped pants, and LL Bean Boots. Need I say more?

Girdles, not just for under your clothes anymore!

This hot pink floral girdle is too pretty to cover up. Our model is wearing it with our favorite hot pink tights and A.J. Morgan sunglasses. Petrune thinks this look is totally hot.

That Felt Dress Again

Why don't they make felt dresses anymore? It's a great material, and relatively easy to work with. It doesn't wrinkle, and doesn't fray. Can you think of anything negative about clothing made of felt?

Summer Silk

This is a lovely '40's silk summer dress with red bakelite buttons. The dress is sleeveless, but it has a little jacket too.

Party Dress 50's

Fifties party dress with a calf length slim skirt. This dress is really elegant and sexy. Note the round/oval fifties hand bag. That's a shape that needs to come back in style. It's so graphic and adds a nice shape to the look.

Stripes!

60's black and white striped dress, with red belt, bag and shoes.

Burberry Trench

Here's a 60's wool knit shift ($38) worn with hot pink tights ($15), green t-strap sandals by Re-Mix Shoes ($180), and a classic Burberry trench ($125).

Outfits from the Spring Collection

This is a fab. 50's cocktail dress in blue satin. It has a sheer bodice with silf flowers underneath, and a cute matching jacket.

Spring 2008 Preview

Petrune asked us to arrange a photo shoot with her favorite model, L.G. There are a bunch of wonderful photos of our new Spring outfits which we'll post little by little. All the clothes will be available for sale in the store on March 28.

This dress is one of Petrune's favorites. It's made of turquoise blue felt, with silver lines painted on it! We added an orange vinyl hand bag and hot pink pumps.

This is a photo of portrait of Petrune, painted by Loretta Viggiano in 1974. Petrune pretty much looks the same now, but we have no recent pictures to show. She is quite exotic looking don't you think?

Flah Co.

Here's a label we love to find. Flah Co. was a fancy department store in Syracuse, NY, in the 60's. All the most well heeled ladies in the region shopped there, and any item bearing this label is high quality, the best of it's time. Yesterday we found this wool knit dress and jacket set in neon red at a junk shop outside Ithaca. We also found a lovely grey tweed wool dress and jacket set from Henri Bendel, probably from the same lady's closet. The sort of woman who shopped at Flah co. and Bendels, always kept thier clothes pristine, and even though these were discovered in a dusty barn with all sorts of junk all over the place, these two items were pristine in their dry cleaning bags.

True Button Cuffs

These are true button cuffs on a men’s suit jacket from the 1960’s. They are found only on Saville Row suits such as this, or on suits made by better tailors with British training. The best Hong Kong custom suits usually have them.

The proper way to wear them of course is fully buttoned, and only you know they are there. In practice of course one always leaves one or two unbuttoned in a careless déshabillé manner, as if one simply forgot to finish buttoning them up. There is a wonderful photo of Truman Capote dancing at Studio 54 with unbuttoned cuffs (view at:http://newyorksocialdiary.com/socialdiary/2005/07_18_05/images/3.jpg). I also met Paul Smith once, and noted that his were unbuttoned as well.

A customer informed us that they are sometimes called “surgeon’s cuffs”. Presumably this would be because a surgeon on an emergency call in a cold climate might need to fold his cuffs back, which would be impossible were the buttonholes false. The fact that he was a surgeon made the story more credible.

Posted by J.H.

Yuliya Komska Coat

This is one of our last Yuliya Komska coats. She is a great designer who makes exciting clothes combining vintage and new elements. This sixties fur collar coat is embelished with a crazy felt goldfish. Petrune thinks it's a portrait of Pepe, the gold fish who lives on the jewelry counter in the shop. This coat is $150, but goes on sale tomorrow, along with everything else in the store.

Mix it UP!

Here's an interesting combination: Striped Victorian silk jacket over a grey Petrune jelly fish t-shirt, all pulled together with a yellow wool scarf, and a purple wool skirt.

New York, New York

Here's a photo of Ella in Times Square yesterday. She's wearing a gorgeous teal satin Yves Saint Laurent jacket. You can't see it in the photo but she is also wearing tiger print velour pants (from her high school day in Poland) and LL Bean boots. Petrune loves when people dress creatively!

Ella and DB just got back from a quick junket to NYC. As mentioned before, Petrune sent them to the accessories show in Manhattan to ferret out extraordinary things for the store. It was a small show, but here are a few things they found:
Great Spring shoes, 80's style open toe (in yellow and silver!) Petrune is swooning over them.
Wood and snakeskin bangles, in crazy colors like purple, green, orange, and teal
Cropped leggings- in teal and black
and... in the interest of respecting Petrune's motto of "Buy nothing new," they found that Petrune's favorite sock company, E.G. Smith is making a wonderful new line of socks made from RECYCLED wool, so look for them this Spring in the shop.

More fun than the Accessories Show was walking the streets of the fashion capital of the world. DB and Ella went into "Cheap Jacks" the famed vintage clothing store. Petrune is a bit catty, she was pleased to hear that everything there was priced at ten times what she would sell it for. She loves offering good value.

The ladies had dinner with Mario at Boqueria, the best tapas restaurant in the city, and then took the bus back home.

Thinking Spring

It snowed all day today, but we were thinking Spring, so here's a photo from last Spring's Fashion show for inspiration. Can't wait to show you all our new Spring dresses.

Petrune is insisting that DB and Ella make a trip to NYC to check out Moda Manhattan and The Accessories Show at the Javits Center. What? Why would Petrune send her buyers to a "new products" show. Everyone knows Petrune sells the best VINTAGE clothing anywhere, and that Petune's motto is "buy nothing new." Well, it seems that Lady P. senses that there are some great companies out there that are getting in on the green, sustainability bandwagon. She wants us to scout out items that are made of recycled materials. Last year at this show we found adorable tote bags from Gecko Traders made of recycled Cambodian rice sacks, and some wonderful address books made of mysterious rubbery material that turned out to be recycled leather. The cute little bag in the photo was made from recycled felted sweaters. Petrune LOVED them (and so did her customers) and wants us to find more along those lines. Lady P. loves sustainablity and believes that one should never buy anything new when something old (and usually better) already exsists.

DB and Ella promise to post pictures of their adventure. Maybe some inspiration will come from the five hour bus trip...

Mirrors, the new Black

Today at the special request of Lady Petrune, we gave the shop a whole new look. Yesterday the glaziers came and put an entire wall of mirror in the back of the store. Petrune says mirrors are the new black. She wants the whole shop to reflect all her visitors. Today, in keeping with her theme, we brought in a couple of mirrored tables to display Petrune's favorite accessories, and Lady P. asked Ella and I to rearrange the clothes racks and the shoe displays. It looks like a whole new shop.

This month Lady P. has us working away in the basement, assembling the Spring collection, of all her latest "new to you" vintage fashion finds. We'll be posting photos of our favorite ensembles over the next few weeks. The new collection will debut on March 29th. Everything in the shop will be new to you, and to us too.

And- here's an early heads up about Petrune's end of season sale: Everything in the shop will be on sale 25% off starting Friday, March 7, 2008. This will be a great opportunity to get fabulous vintage sweaters, 1940's tailored suits, wool pleated skirts, tweedy men's suits, velvet party dresses, B. Ella cashmere socks, Remix vintage shoes, E.G. Smith tights, and lots of other things we all love to wear when it's cold.

FYI:
Petrune's shop is located at 115 South Cayuga Street, Ithaca, NY 14850