Tag: vintage fashion

Outfit Post: My Favorite Summer Dress

Lindy Bop Lily
The bodice only crinkles like that when I’m climbing playground equipment…which is seldom.

It’s not acting like August this week in Chicago, which makes my plan of focusing on summer clothes feel kind of silly.

Nevertheless, here is my current favorite dress: Lindy Bop’s Lily dress. I have been wearing this dress everywhere, and yet, it proves to be difficult to photograph. We’ve been shooting it all summer, and either the dress or my face (admittedly, it’s usually my face) looks odd in pictures.

I love it so much because it’s:

  • Gorgeous.
  • So comfortable–it’s got a little bit of (not vintage) stretch.
  • Easily dressed up or down
  • Wearable with or without a crinoline
  • Blue. I love blue dresses. I would buy every blue dress, left to my own devices.
  • Floral–I am finally recovering from years of avoiding florals. I wore a LOT of florals as a teenager-young adult, and I was convinced they made me look like a fundamentalist. Suddenly, I’m into them again.

Continue reading “Outfit Post: My Favorite Summer Dress” →

Vintage Style: Black and White

Monochromatic, and shoeless.
Monochromatic, and shoeless.

As you have probably guessed, I wear a lot of vintage, or vintage-style, or vintagey-looking clothes. I also wander around a modern city, doing modern person things. This series of posts demonstrates how I do it.

It’s easy to dismiss fashion as frivolous, materialistic, and vain. I know I’ve always felt vaguely uncomfortable with how much I’m interested in clothing, as though it makes me a shallow person, or somehow less serious. But as I’ve thought about it, I’ve come to these conclusions:

  • We decide what to put on every day. It might as well be something that makes us happy.
  • I love reading about other people’s style choices, and I know I’m not alone.
  • Personal style is a means of expression. I’m not going to call it art, exactly, but it’s definitely creative. And I think that has value.
  • Liking pretty dresses doesn’t mean you aren’t aware of problems in the world.

There we go.

So this outfit was put together for a night at the theatre. I like it. It’s casual, but nice. It looks vintage but not costumed. It’s comfy. Definitely a combo I’ll repeat.

It consists of:

Dress: Thrift Shop (label says dBy Ltd.) I’d guess it’s fairly recently constructed. I bought it in 2011. It looks quite 1950’s, all shirtdressy and polka dotted.

Cardigan: Ann Taylor (on very significant sale)

Stockings: Hand-me-down. (I’d bet you they’re at Taboo Tabou, though)

Bag: Also the thrift store. Made by who knows? I paid $3 for it.

Shoes you can’t see: Angel Steps, Margie in black.

The shoes look like this.