The shirt is Country Suburbans, a ruffly top for the peacock print of the skirt without a label. I found the skirt at Bittersweet in Charlottesville, Virginia (the owner has a wonderful eye for vintage that she mixes into new pieces).
Plumes call for heels, and these are by L.A.M.B.
And even though you’ve told me you like to see my face, this blog is really all about the clothes; I like the the way the magenta comes forth in the fabric in the darkness—
The label on this vintage dress (that I found at Williamsburg, Brooklyn’s infamous Beacon’s Closet) is “a Pomette,” which sounds like a girl group that might have been slightly out of touch with the groove of their decade.
My favorite parts of this dress are the big bow at the collar and the outrageous chartreuse in the pattern.
The first time I wore the dress, a man stopped me walking out of a Manhattan subway station to tell me he thought I looked incredible.
The compliment goes to the dress; it was one of my first oh-how-I-love-New-York moments.
I’m wearing leggings underneath (and a rose belt—looking for a purple belt to match the color in the fabric or a white belt for the spring), so it’s a little Flashdance at the ankles. I’m in a house full of dancers this week, though; what a feeling…
A few years ago, I wore this Leslie Fay dress to a meeting at PBS (I was the Associate Director of Online Content and Social Media at PBS HQ then) and the director of the large project we were working on paused the meeting to comment that the dress print reminded her of (John) Cheever.
Here’s the print itself (maybe the horses made it a nostalgic print for her? I think the figures look Eastern European) and the belt with its fringe that looks like a window treatment end:
and earrings from even earlier (1942 London) that began as horseshoe buttons:
This skirt is from a consignment shop in Atlanta; I’ve noticed that vintage material often has this garish red color and a true white in the pattern.
I like where the red and black threads overlap and the vintage shirt (the label is “Notches” in a fake Western font) has black vertical lines, ruffles, three buttons on the cuff.
The cameo earrings belonged to my grandmother, and I think the profile looks like Jane Austen. I wear them often when I write.
I really like the subtly puffed sleeve.
The label on this dress is Plu, and I cannot remember where I found it.
I always pull this out for holiday parties (I am having a housewarming tonight for the new apartment), and the gold trim makes me smile every time. The print looks like colored snowflakes.
Here’s a closer look at the fabric at the bottom, which reminds of retro cartoons:
a chronicle of vintage dresses from kthread.
dedicated to my grandmother.
