Here's one I don't wear much.
I've owned this dress so long I can't remember where I purchased it. I do know that it is slowly falling apart, and is in need of being completely taken apart and restored. I have a box of items needing repair I call, "The Vintage Hospital" and I believe this dress is due for admission.
I'm not sure if it is 40's or 50's. There's a metal side zipper, and the length (which appears to be original) seems more wartime (rationing) to me, but the neckline feels later. It doesn't matter much to me, but it is a difficult piece to catergorise.
I added the brooch in the centre, but the other adornments are original to the dress. I'll get the stones replaced when I do the repairs.
The original belt loops are still there, but the belt is long gone-I'm not sure if I ever had it. A red belt would look better, but as fate would have it, none of my red belts are the right shade! That isn't a spot on the hem-it is the light shining through. Next time, I'll remember a slip.
Outfit Particulars:
Vintage rayon dress-Can't remember
Vintage rayon handbag-Hand-Me-Ups
Shoes-Goodwill
Belt-Goodwill
Blue sheer stockings-K Mart
Cinnabar bangle-Hand-Me-Ups
Vintage coat-Thrift store in Wahoo, Nebraska
Earrings-Can't remember
Brooch in centre of neckline-New Life Thrift
Fragrance-Vintage formulation Geminesse (haven't tried the re-issue yet)
Lippy-Revlon Fifth Avenue Red
If you've been wondering what's up with all the heavy fragrances I've been wearing lately I can only say it is a combination of strange weather, and strange moods. I seem to be wearing all the "Dead of winter" perfumes these past few weeks. Geminesse, Passion,Bandit, Cabochard, Knowing, l'Origan, Femme, Opium, Samsara, and Dark Brilliance. What's wrong with me? God only knows, but it has been interesting giving these a go without snow on the ground. One mistake I did make was spraying on a vintage bottle of Blue Grass.
NO, NO, NO. Oh god, no. I apologise if you love it but it was as I furiously began trying to scrub it off that I remembered it is known for some serious longevity. *Shudder* It might work better in warmer weather, but I don't think I'm willing to try it again to find out. It isn't grass I smell, but hay. Bales of hay left out in the rain that have started to mould. Blech. I'm not sure I've ever liked an Arden fragrance, though Danny is partial to the Green Tea range which are generally inoffensive.
Speaking of things that stink...the big stinky flower that only blooms once a decade is about to go at Lauritzen Gardens. I'm going to take Danny over there tomorrow sand with any luck we can witness the bloom. It can't be any worse than Elizabeth Arden Blue Grass.
Bwhahaha! That segue from elegant parfum to stinky flower made me chuckle.
ReplyDeleteTHAT DRESS!! Love it!!! Was it a thrift store find?? Rayon + red = my fav thing
I love rayon. I bitterly regret getting rid of my loose, flowy rayon clothing from the 80's. Thank you for sharing that dress. I'm glad you are still tornado-free. :)
....waiting with breathless anticipation for a photo of your "hospital".
Happy thrifting ;)
Gorgeous dress! The color looks great on you.
ReplyDeleteI have a vintage dress that needs repair, too, but I'm afraid I'll make it worse by trying to fix it.
The crazy, moody weather has been inspiring moodier fragrance - I'm a bit west of you, and the clouds and rain have everything all screwed up.
You and your son have the best adventures!
I'm also interested in this hospital of your! The dress is gorgeous, fits so elegantly and I love the adornments.
ReplyDeleteYou look wonderful in red! I love the neckline.
ReplyDeleteAhhh, the vintage hospital. I'm feeling rather smug as I've just seen to all my patients and released them back to the wilds of the wardrobe/stockroom. Amazing what you get done when the weather's crap. xxx
It is a wonderful dress, Goody, but it looks coral in the photo and coral really suits you. I think the black belt is a brilliant contrast. I wish you luck (and admire
ReplyDeleteyour skill) with your vintage repairs.
I love Blue Grass but haven't had any for years!
Today at a car boot sale I bought some original 'Madame Rochas' for £1.00. It still smells ok....
Always gorgeous is those brilliant warm reds, that is really your color! Such an elegant coat too.
ReplyDeleteMy mom loved Blue Grass & had an entire bathroom decorated and scented with it. The walls & towels were that robin's egg blue that the BG packaging is too. I can't say I hated it but I didn't love it either.
I wear Elizabeth Arden's 5th Avenue quite a bit. It is a tasteful, interesting, work appropriate white floral based on magnolia & linden blossom. (There's tuberose in it but it's not the stereotypical tuberose/gardenia orange blossom bomb white floral.) It wears beautifully start to finish and goes a bit sandalwood/iris powdery in the drydown which I surprisingly like. Be sure to get the original 5th Avenue as the numerous flankers of 5th Ave are boring or obnoxious.
Red Door is EA's best selling fragrance & is a rose & violet thing that smells like vintage makeup. Reminds me of Frederic Malle Lipstick Rose. It gets the 'granny/mature' label a lot. I don't really care for it- but that powdery scent isn't my thing. Last Summer I bought a bottle of the very citrusy Green Tea Summer which the Sheikh usurped and drowned himself daily in. Jeanne Arthes' Boum Green Tea & Cherry Blossom is a better, cheaper, longer lasting version of EA's Green Tea Summer.
I am so excited at the new white florals this year! Guerlain's Joyeuse Tubereuse, Gucci Bloom, and Alexander McQueen's Eau Blanche!
I don't think I have anything that old! The dress looks lovely on you, red really suits you, but I think you've heard that one before! I love the neckline with its original adornments, and the brooch works perfectly with it. I'd have guessed it was original too. I am drooling over those shoes ... xxx
ReplyDeleteI really love your dress, red is my favourite colour and it looks incredible on you! I love the detailing at the neck.
ReplyDeleteI have an original fifties dress desperate for attention. It's not my usual style, this is A-line and has the nastiest collar attached which has actually gone mouldy. A wash didn't sort it out, so I'm going to be brave and remove it as I am positive it isn't original, it looks like a nasty polyester sixties addition to me.
I adore red colour and your dress is elegant and adorable.I wear similar dress in black for my jam making club.Well quite few people are coming to my place to help me wash up and prepare jam.Mostly eldery and not working.We have 25 bottles of rum ,vintage to help us.Thank you .
ReplyDeleteHehehe, I love my vintage Blue Grass Flower Mist, but I know it probably offends people. I've always written off Red Door, but Bibi's description of it makes it sound rather good. Let us know how the stinky flower compares!
ReplyDeleteThe dress is lovely. I couldn't begin to put a date on it.
@Thrifty Parka
ReplyDeleteI can't remember where the dress came from but I probably didn't spend much on it.
@Bobbi
There's thing I won't repair, like zippers. I hate doing zippers, so I leave that to the pros. As long as you don't cut anything away, you're unlikely to do too much harm.
@Radostin
Maybe I can do a post showing some of the "Patients".
@Vix
You're better organised than I. Crap weather is just an excuse for sleeping in my world ;)
@Veronica
That's interesting how it can look so different-the dress is dark red and the belt and shoes navy.
I'm starting to wonder if my bottle is off. Madame Rochas is a great find.
@Bibi
I always hated Red Door-I couldn't even look at the print ads in Vogue without feeling queasy. Strange, I know. I really do think perhaps my bottle of Blue Grass has turned, but I'm afraid to try it out again at a cosmetics counter for fear it will happen again!
I really like that Arthes-bought it for Danny, but I'd wear it.
@Ann
The shoes are modern, but oh so uncomfortable as that buckle presses on the top of my big toe. Areosoles are supposed to be comfortable!
@Melanie
It is amazing the things people do to clothes in an attempt to modernise them. I have a Victorian dress that when turned inside-out shows several decades of changes to the length, width, and sleeves. I suppose clothes were much more costly then, and you'd want to keep using what you had.
@Hope
A club! How lovely. Yes, wear dark clothes-and use old towels.
@Mim
I like to think I have an open mind about fragrances but...it really must be my bottle. No sane person (you, Veronica, Bibi)n could like what I was smelling.
Yes, please, "patients" post!
ReplyDelete@Radostin
ReplyDeleteI'm trying to make a joke about, "Hospital Gowns" but it isn't coming to mind.