Photo Shoot Love!

East West Parrot Jacket / High-Waisted Denim / Vintage Plaid Shirt

Sheer Dolman Dress / Chanel Belt

YSL Blazer / Dior Sweater / Navy Slacks / Emerald Green Dolman Dress

Patchwork Pattern Shirt / Garnet Velvet Blazer

Jeweled & Sequin Shirt / Leather Shorts

Recently finished a photo shoot for Goodbyeheart.com at the Lost Art Salon and the images came back so beautifully! Photos were taken by Brandon Joseph Baker and styled by yours truly. Makeup was done by Gina Novotchin. All the looks will be available on the site shortly. Who says it's hard to wear vintage?

Spotlight on: Valentino Night

Here are some awesome Valentino Night print ads we found. We hope you enjoy them in all their 80s glory as much as we do.

And don't forget to check out the incredible Valentino Night dress we've got up on the site. It is TRULY a show stopper.

East West Musical Instruments Company "JANTI" Vintage Leather Jacket

the janti makes it's debut.

i'll admit i've held onto this jacket for awhile. cherished it, really.

one of the rarest east west musical instruments company leather jackets you can imagine.

butter soft deerskin with appliqued leaves and hearts, topped off with hand painted cameos. if you look closely at the paintings you will notice that the leather used as the canvas for the painting is one of the rarest leathers east west used, their seldom seen metallic blue!

a truly inspirational piece that will not easily be found again. click here to go to www.goodbyeheart.com and find out more.

summer luggage.

summer is here and a weekend trip out of town could be yours at a moments notice. the days of throwing your overnight goods into a garbage bag and hitting the road are over. its time to get classy.

thats right no more hefty bags. from classic oversized leather totes to a vintage canvas day pack. we've got you covered.

click here to head over to www.goodbyeheart.com and take a look.

east west musical instruments leather jacket "rodeo" model.

here we have a classic vintage leather jacket by east west leather. this is one of their iconic pieces, the "rodeo" model. great rock 'n roll western style with curved chest pockets and flower appliques on the collar and sleeves.

click below to head over to www.goodbyeheart.com where you'll find more photos and details.

East West Musical Instruments "Rodeo" Leather Jacket

SOLD

vintage gucci suitcase

gucci has been at the forefront of luxury luggage for nearly 100 years. their pieces are timeless classics that look as modern today as they did 50 years ago.

recently we were lucky enough to acquire an ANCIENT piece of gucci luggage.


this is the oldest gucci piece we've come across in over 10 years of collecting. the hardware points to this bag being 1940s - 1950s era. it has the classic gucci monogram throughout with leather accents.

the size is perfect to be used as carry-on luggage, an over sized briefcase or even as storage on display in your home.

click here to head to www.goodbyeheart.com and see more photos. act fast this bag will go quickly!

Balenciaga 2010 Resort Collection vs. East West Musical Instruments Co.

the east west musical instruments "parrot" jacket is one of our favorite leather jackets of all time. easily one of the most iconic (and popular) pieces that east west produced.

recently nicolas ghesquière showed off balenciaga's 2010 resort collection to acclaim. one of the most talked about jackets looked a bit familiar to educated bloggers:

addicted to YSL

fashion-incubator

jezebel

its not an exact reproduction, but its pretty close. ghesquière streamlined the jacket, severing the heads of the parrot and cutting back on a bit of the detail. other than that its an east west knock off. the east west version came in several different color patterns. ghesquière's is pretty true to the standard "parrot" by east west. the cut also looks pretty similar to the original, fitting high and tight.

our thoughts? imitation is often called the sincerest form of flattery... but who wants to wear a knock off? personally we'd prefer a vintage original. would you rather have an anna sui dress or a slightly different interpretation by forever 21?

of course, balenciaga is no forever 21. they are a high end fashion house and the materials used will most likely be top grade leather and hardware. so rather than dwell on the negative that east west was essentially knocked off (not even close to the first time this has happened), we'd rather focus on the positive.

all the coverage this topic is receiving only helps to bring east west musical instruments co to a wider audience. the company is well known to a select few, mainly vintage collectors, stylists and designers. this is just another step towards exposing east west to more people who will appreciate the huge impact east west has had in influencing modern designers.

original east west parrot jackets are extremely rare and will remain an exclusive piece owned by few. these jackets rarely come onto the market.

one recently sold at christies of london for $4500.

another one sold on our site: www.goodbyeheart.com

sad to have missed out on these?

don't despair. we still have one. and its one of the rarest color combinations. it's the one below, click here to see it on our website.


speaking of photos... the photo of the balenciaga jacket was borrowed from wwd.com. the other photos of the east west parrot jacket are owned by goodbyeheart.com. these photos are not to be used or reproduced without our permission. want permission? just ask. we're nice.

soft launch.

goodbyeheart.com is here. finally.

this is the result of 10 years of treasure hunting. holding onto my favorite pieces in the hopes of one day showcasing them for others to enjoy and be inspired by. the last few months i've spent sorting through the collection. each piece bringing back memories and thoughts of it's life before me.

its been quite a task sorting through everything. deciding what items to offer first, organizing, photographing, etc. months went by. the site was slowly coming together. friends and family were constantly asking when i was going to launch. i wanted it to be perfect. then i realized that if i waited until i thought it was "perfect" that it could be years from now. it was time to jump.

i started off with some basics. vintage leather jackets by east west musical instruments co., north beach, oshwahkon, gandalf, glasswater, etc. rare vintage bags and select designer pieces. this is just a small selection of the collection. in the coming weeks i will be adding more rare vintage leather, men's vintage suits (yves saint laurent, christian dior), vintage dresses, jewelry, the list goes on and on!

i'm excited to launch and share the site with everyone. thank you amanda (my wife) for pushing me to finally do it.