Saturday Soiree @ Brasserie du Vin
It was Springtime in Paris on Saturday at Brasserie du Vin, as the Chinatown bistro held a vintage fashion show featuring clothing from Catherine’s Closet Vintage Boutique. During the fashion show, the models strolled through the restaurant, representing decades of iconic women’s and men’s French-inspired fashion.
The women’s looks were reminiscent of the Golden-Age of fashion. We spotted a Dior-inspired white sequin and pearl gown, vintage flowered head pieces, a Givenchy-inspired tuxedo beaded halter dress, a romantic pink floral gown, a Chanel-inspired chartreuse dress and jacket, and an authentic 1930s red beaded purse. The men’s fashions included 1920s-style Panama hats, a Clark Gable tuxedo with panache, Gatsby-like linen trousers and red-jeweled cufflinks.
“When it comes to the French-inspired items chosen from my boutique, I channeled artists from the Jazz-Age — the beauty and elegance of artists like Billie Holiday and Bessie Smith,” says Catherine Fong, who owns the Downtown vintage boutique. “I chose the crochet dresses because of the way it complements a woman’s curves, while remaining subtle and sweet. The men’s looks are the epitome of masculine elegance, what a Parisian man may have worn in the 1920s and 1930s, then post- war and again, today.”
At the evening event, two tables wearing their best Parisian outfits won bottles of wine. For dinner, chef Marco Elder cooked up a classic French stew, pot au feu, with slow-braised oxtail and vegetables.
Photos by Tracy Chan
