April 23, 2024

DRESSCODE: VERSACE

Mr. Gianni Versace was driven by extravagance and so was Nomi Malone, and neither of them are what you’d call subtle. Since 1978, the Versace family have been designing empowering clothes, elegant accessories and exquisite household goods made for people who aren’t afraid to break the rules; something Nomi Malone knows well.  

If you’ve not had the pleasure of getting to know her at switchblade point, Nomi (played by Elizabeth Berkley) is the main character in Showgirls, a deeply misunderstood satire movie about a grifter who is down on her luck. She moves to the City of Sin, Las Vegas, to leave her mark and make it big - and she certainly does - with a little help from Versace along the way. 

Elizabeth had suggested during filming that she mispronounce Versace as Ver-sayce, mainly because a small town girl wouldn’t know how to say the fashion house name, but the pop culture joke which has since made fashion history goes deeper than that. It’s not that someone classy doesn’t know how to say Versace, it's because that person wouldn’t be wearing it in the first place. As supermodel maker Gianni himself once said, 

Versace was inspired by the knights of ye olde medieval times, his seamstress mother and fashionable platinum blonde sister and above all, the ever watchful Medusa. The Medusa represents the brand in that once you look into her eyes and fall in love, there is no way back. 

Versace celebrates the female form rather than eliminates it and all forms of royalty have donned the Italian don dresses - from Elizabeth Hurley wearing THAT dress to Princess Diana, who attended Gianni Versace’s untimely funeral just before her own. 

Now available online is a selection of blouses with broad masculine shoulders mixed with softer feminine shapes, reminiscent of a Goddess statue in the Versace hometown of Reggio Calabria, or even the “ancient” Roman statues at Caesars Palace on the Vegas strip. So if anyone says to you, “Oh I love THAT blouse, where did you get it?”  You can proudly say, “Oh this? It’s a Ver-sayce from Recess.” 


 

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Vintage Adrienne Landau Mongolian Fur Shawl front on mannequin @recess la
Vintage Adrienne Landau Mongolian Fur Shawl side on mannequin @recess la
Vintage Adrienne Landau Mongolian Fur Shawl back on mannequin @recess la
Vintage Adrienne Landau Mongolian Fur Shawl front on mannequin closeup @recess la
Vintage Adrienne Landau Mongolian Fur Shawl hook @recess la
Vintage Adrienne Landau Mongolian Fur Shawl fur detail @recess la
Vintage Adrienne Landau Mongolian Fur Shawl labels @recess la

ADRIENNE LANDAU

Mongolian Fur Shawl

$269
Vintage Rudi Gernreich Op Art Wool Knit Dress front on mannequin @recess la
Vintage Rudi Gernreich Op Art Wool Knit Dress on 1970s model @recess la
Vintage Rudi Gernreich Op Art Wool Knit Dress side on mannequin @recess la
Vintage Rudi Gernreich Op Art Wool Knit Dress back on mannequin @recess la
Vintage Rudi Gernreich Op Art Wool Knit Dress back unzipped @recess la
Vintage Rudi Gernreich Op Art Wool Knit Dress belt @recess la
Vintage Rudi Gernreich Op Art Wool Knit Dress belt wear @recess la
Vintage Rudi Gernreich Op Art Wool Knit Dress label @recess la
Vintage Rudi Gernreich Op Art Wool Knit Dress snags @recess la
Vintage Rudi Gernreich Op Art Wool Knit Dress moth holes @recess la

RUDI GERNREICH

Op Art Wool Knit Dress

$975
Gai Mattiolo Carwash Back Maxi Dress front on mannequin @recess la
Gai Mattiolo Carwash Back Maxi Dress side on mannequin @recess la
Gai Mattiolo Carwash Back Maxi Dress back on mannequin @recess la
Gai Mattiolo Carwash Back Maxi Dress 3/4 back on manenquin @recess la
Gai Mattiolo Carwash Back Maxi Dress back open @recess la
Gai Mattiolo Carwash Back Maxi Dress signature label @recess la
Gai Mattiolo Carwash Back Maxi Dress tags @recess la
Gai Mattiolo Carwash Back Maxi Dress stains @recess la
Gai Mattiolo Carwash Back Maxi Dress tear @recess la
Gai Mattiolo Carwash Back Maxi Dress tear @recess la

GAI MATTIOLO

Carwash Back Maxi Gown

$475
Vintage Hermés Tropiques Silk Scarf on mannequin @recess la
Vintage Hermés Tropiques Silk Scarf front flat @recess la
Vintage Hermés Tropiques Silk Scarf print detail @recess la
Vintage Hermés Tropiques Silk Scarf signature @recess la
Vintage Hermés Tropiques Silk Scarf content label @recess la
Vintage Hermés Tropiques Silk Scarf stain @recess la
Vintage Hermés Tropiques Silk Scarf stain @recess la

HERMÈS

Tropiques Silk Scarf

$250
Vintage Judith Hornby Shirred Chevron Stripe Top front on mannequin @recess la
Vintage Judith Hornby Shirred Chevron Stripe Top side on mannequin @recess la
Vintage Judith Hornby Shirred Chevron Stripe Top back on mannequin @recess la
Vintage Judith Hornby Shirred Chevron Stripe Top front on mannequin closeup @recess la
Vintage Judith Hornby Shirred Chevron Stripe Top label @recess la
Vintage Judith Hornby Shirred Chevron Stripe Top snags @recess la
Vintage Judith Hornby Shirred Chevron Stripe Top discoloration @recess la

JUDY HORNBY

Shirred Chevron Stripe Top

$219
Christian Lacroix Golden Maltese Cross Earrings @RECESS LA
Christian Lacroix Golden Maltese Cross Earrings mannequin @RECESS LA
Christian Lacroix Golden Maltese Cross Earrings detail @RECESS LA
Christian Lacroix Golden Maltese Cross Earrings backs @RECESS LA
Christian Lacroix Golden Maltese Cross Earrings clips @RECESS LA
Christian Lacroix Golden Maltese Cross Earrings stamp @RECESS LA
Christian Lacroix Golden Maltese Cross Earrings patina @RECESS LA

CHRISTIAN LACROIX

Golden Maltese Cross Earrings

$425