Well lookey, lookey! Somebody found herself a swing dress! And in purple no less! A color of which my closet, get this, has none. Seriously. I have one dress that is black that has a bit of the print color in purple, but that is it. I love the color, but typically the color doesn't like me. This purple seems to have once been a deep blue violet though, which is why I think it works. Purples, like grays, tend to wash me out, but blue is my friend. Now they've joined forces to create a purple/blue loveliness that I can wear! Yay!!
I found this swing dance destined dress at Dronning Vintage during, you guessed it, a sale. Believe me, I would love to just pick out items I love and pay these wonderful people a full retail price for their gorgeous vintage pieces. But, unfortunately, the money tree orchard I planted didn't do so well and I have to stalk the sales of these lovely shops like a hungry waiting vulture. That sounds gruesome. Like a hungry swing dancing vulture. Yeah, that's a better image.
Dresses like these are always on my list of wants. This one specifically hit a number of must-haves for my taste. It is 1940s (the style era I most love), super light-weight, flowy skirt, and zips up the front (most from the 40s zip on the side). A zipper on the front just makes it easier for me to alter and to get on (no scary sausage casing incidents where the lower half of my body remains laughably nude, my arms pinned above my head by a bunched dress as I yell for my husband to help me for the love of god!). Yes, front zippers can be nice.
This dress didn't even need alterations! Zipped right up and ready to dance. Again, no original belt to be found, so I made this one out of a spare satin ribbon and a vintage pearly gray buckle. Judging by the inside and some of the outer portions of the fabric, the color does seem to have been a cobalt violet type of color and has faded beautifully to this heather purple/blue. The fabric is quite thin from age so I will have to be a bit gentler with her. Case in point: I gave a girlfriend too big of a hug at a dance and tore the shoulder (not on a seam). Blast! I'll just patch it up and be more careful next time.
This is a different look all around for me, I think. You usually see me with my hair down and in pastels and such. I guess it was spring and summer though so that makes sense. This outfit is getting more into a fall look. Deeper color, black and gray accessories, hairstyle more muted.
Speaking of accessories, you may notice a couple other recent snags in this ensemble! First, my shoes! I finally found some black 40s darlings in a classic mary jane type style in patent leather. This is the only pair of black shoes I have that I can dance in (all my others are brown). These were a steal at $15 plus shipping on Ebay. I've been lucky lately with shoe purchases. I wear a size 6 1/2 or 7 (kinda small for my height, 5'4"). Even though I have smaller feet, the vintage shoes I find are usually still much too tiny (or too narrow on the toe box). As you can see, I paired the shoes with my contrast seamed stockings, which made a surprisingly cool effect on the back of the shoe (almost like a pump instead of a strappy shoe)!
My purse is modern (from maybe 9 years ago?), but in a classic shape with chain mail black sequins and silver hardware. My bracelet is a recent find. It looks to be a 1910s-1940s silver filigree with flowers made of lace metalwork. Most bracelets are too big for me. Luckily this one had connectors that I could figure out how to remove and take away one flower link to make it fit me. My brooch (seen here in a previous snag) is the same type of lace filigree silver (probably a little older than the bracelet though) in a pretty orchid shape. My ring is one from my shop, "Beachy Keen", that really was the perfect gray/pink shade to go with my belt buckle and accessories.
My hairstyle was not my original attempt. I had put in my normal pin curl set, but didn't have it dry as long. That mistake, mixed with the fact that the humidity was near 100% because it was raining off and on that day, made my stick straight hair give up on the curls. However, the front section (basically my long bangs), tends to hold curl a bit better so I decided to use the opportunity to do my hair a bit differently than normal. I brushed my hair back into a loose ponytail, making sure to brush the pin curls under so as to make a nice chignon type look. I left the curls in the front loose to frame my face and I added two of my hair flowers, "Picked Me A Plum", to the top of the ponytail to finish it off. I quite like the effect and now I have a back up for when my hair won't cooperate!
Side Note: This was the shortest photoshoot I've ever done because it started sprinkling soon after we started. It was a race against the clock too! The wind picked up quickly and we managed to snap some quick pics and ran to the car before a downpour started. Phew! The lighting was just beautiful before the rain, so I'm glad we took the risk!
Outfit Details
Dress: 1940s from Dronning Vintage
Belt: Handmade by me with satin ribbon & vintage buckle
Stockings: Reproduction Contrast Seamed, What Katy Did
Shoes: 1940s Patent Leather, Ebay
Purse: Modern from 9ish years ago
Bracelet: Pre-1940s Filigree, Ebay
Brooch: 1910s? Lace Work Filigree, antique mall
Ring: "Beachy Keen", my shop ChatterBlossom
Hair Flowers: "Picked Me A Plum", my shop ChatterBlossom
Last Week's Sunday Snag:
