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:
this dress looks beautiful on you! and i love those tights, i have the same pair but they're by a different brand but they're some of my absolute favourites. purple isn't really a colour i wear much either but it's funny, i have i think one purple blouse and two vintage pastel purple gingham dresses and that's it! i don't know how i ended up with two really similar dresses representing almost all the purple in my wardrobe but i do really like them both.
ReplyDeletelittle henry lee
Weird right?! Bizarre how certain colors just miss your attention somehow when they are really lovely.
Deleteoh, how beautiful and chic! I do love this look, it's just perfect from head to toe!! Hair do and those lovely tights are mesmerizing) Those photographs are adorable!
ReplyDeleteWish you a blessed day ahead!
www.svetusvet.com
Lovely look :)
ReplyDeleteNew Post Up: http://beauty-fulll.blogspot.com/2013/09/basketball-caps-from-choies.html
So pretty. Picture perfect.
ReplyDeleteI'm surprised you don't wear more purple. Any of the jewel tones I would think should be good for you.
Are the days that you take your photos and get dressed up the same day you go out dancing?
bisous
Suzanne
Sometimes. I like to have a reason to get outside and the photo days are usually a dancing day or a date day or something like that, so I have a good excuse to dress up a bit. :-)
DeleteLove this dress on you! Your dress looks to have a great drape effect. Classy lady:) The whole outfit is beautiful and so glad you were able to snag a pair of vintage shoes. It's not easy buying shoes without trying them on. I've had to keep a few that didn't fit right because of return policies:(
ReplyDeleteYup, I've only had one crappy experience with shoes and that was a lady completely misrepresenting a pair of shoes that turned out to not even be vintage! But otherwise, I've been terribly lucky. ;-)
DeleteThis is such a beautiful dress and adds to your wondrous charm!
ReplyDeleteYou hairstyle is fabulous and looks wonderful on you, and, again, I love the seamed stockings!
ReplyDeleteah, this outfit is perfection. i love the tights and the love the purple dress. and your hair?! i need to be taught these things you do with it!
ReplyDeletelindsey louise
hellomrrabbitblog.com
It really isn't terribly hard! I really need to do a tutorial but just haven't gotten around to it yet...
DeleteGorgeous outfit and purple looks splendid on you! I love your little brooch too.
ReplyDeleteyou look divine in this color and the accesories are perfect
ReplyDeletekate the old fashioned way
This purple swing dress is totally darling! I too have to stalk the stores for sales, I usually never pay full price for anything. Love the front zipper on the dress, such a wonderful detail and I love the belt you added! Your hair sure looks fantastic like that!
ReplyDeleteRebecca
www.winnipegstyle.ca
Lovely dress and jewelry. And those stockings!
ReplyDeleteYOU LOOK STUNNING! This is just perfect perfect perfect!! I like the seam in the stockings too. I always thought those were fun to have. It's been a long time since I owned a pair though.
ReplyDeleteHave a great week!
They are soooo fun! You should bring back a pair for yourself!
DeleteYou just made me splutter into my tea! I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been stuck in a dress in a too small fitting room yelling at my husband to “For The Love Of God Help Me!” :O) The Mary Jane’s and hair flowers and your dress are all adorable At this point I will have to use one of my mum's sayings “you look a picture."
ReplyDeleteAwww, first of all, the saying of your mother's is just darling. Second, I'm sooo glad that I'm not the only one that gets desperately stuck in clothing and panics! Hahaha! ;-)
DeletePerfect look. This is so beautiful and gorgeous in every possible way.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful dress, and I love your hair like that.
ReplyDeleteKate x
Kate at Home
This is gorgeous! And I love the ponytail!
ReplyDeleteWowww, how beautiful and chic! I do love this look, it's just perfect from head to toe! Love the dress and tights but your hair is just amazing <3 Kisses honey <3
ReplyDeleteYou know, I never realized that your hair was naturally straight, because I've never seen it straight on the blog! That is a very lovely dress--I do wear a lot of purples, it's generally one of my favorite colors!
ReplyDeleteI know, I love and desperately wish I had curly hair! But alas, my baby sis got all the curls and there were none left for me...
DeleteYou look like a princess! In love with your blog!
ReplyDeleteSee my blog- MFT
you look beautiful with your dress, love the handmade belt by the way..:)
ReplyDeleteOh good! Amazing what a little bit of shiny ribbon can do!
DeleteWow, how beautiful is this! The dress looks like it is made for you. Love the styling and your pictures.
ReplyDeleteblue hue wonderland
You look precious Jamie, and your stockings are super cute. Have you this amazing hair naturally, or do you wave them beautifully? Anyway, super!! Love
ReplyDeleteCoco et La vie en rose
Coco et La vie en rose on Bloglovin
Coco et La vie en rose on Facebook
I have super stick straight hair and must do all the work to get those waves unfortunately. ;-)
DeleteThis is such a darling dress, and you look fabulous! I love every detail of your outfit, from the clutch to the shoes.
ReplyDeleteMy word, you look magnificent!!! Love this great swing dress and how you styled it (perfect shoe choice). I've been feeling so pulled towards purple lately - it's going to be my official colour of 2014 (yes, I'm calling it this far in advance :D).
ReplyDelete♥ Jessica
I know and I was so happy to get a dress in the color when you said that purple was going to be your fave for the new year. Green this year and purple next? Why, I believe I have some mixing to do! ;-)
DeleteI love the zipper detailing on your dress! If you get a sec, I'd love to hear your thoughts on my latest post. xo
ReplyDeletehttp://kacieskloset.blogspot.com/
you look stunning :) and that dress is beautiful!
ReplyDeletebeautiful look, now seems to me that you look like Nicole Kidman :D
ReplyDeletexo
About women and not only Blog
Ha! Well I will most certainly take that because she is heavenly! Thank you!
DeleteI'm obsessed with vintage looks. You can pull this look off so well! Teach me your ways! Thanks for linking up with Style Elixir and co-hosts. You are stunning!
ReplyDeleteLove, Lace
Love & Lace
Hahaha! Stick around and I would be quite happy to bring you over to the dark side! ;-)
DeleteThank you to everyone for all your wonderful comments for my very swingy Sunday! I love reading your reactions and favorites and can't wait til next week!
ReplyDelete