Sunday, December 20, 2009

pilgrim's place: 'my place & yours: my wardrobe'


this weeks theme for my place & yours is about one special piece in your wardrobe. this weeks theme was devised by the very cool sandra eterovic, whose blog i found last week while i was trawling the responses to my chosen theme! she seems pretty clever and rather interesting, as soon as i saw this jumper she made, i had to add her to my reader!

anyway, about that wardrobe treasure! i choose my groovy vintage maxi dress. i like to think it represents me in dress form, but perhaps its more like ideal-me...

i have owned this dress for ten years now, and while other vintage frocks have come and gone this beauty remains. it came from a thrift store (hey remember when you could find vintage stuff like this in thrift stores, australians? alas everyone is very savvy these days and unless you like faded promotional t-shirts and dresses from seven years ago, the thrift store is not for us retro enthusiasts.) i bought it in the dying days of high school and i took it away with me to england where it was worn out to parties and clubs with my amazing (but alas, gone) faux fur coat which was the same sort of colors as in rainbow ice cream.

the dress has a label that reads "designed by young act", and is 100% nylon. its quite flattering on me and is kinda sexy and clingy but very fun - which i prefer over vampy sexy any day! the landscape pattern of the fabric has always reminded me of a cross between yellow submarine and the pastoral symphony segment of fantasia.

recently it hasn't been worn so much, mainly for lack of occasion but also because maxi dresses kind of confuse me. its too nylon/sweaty to wear in summer, but too sleeveless to wear in winter! also, being a lady of er, generous chest, its maybe a bit raunchy for day wear! i have to admit i'm tempted to hem it at knee length just so i can wear it with some bright tights and a cardigan in the day. would that be sacrilege? i feel like its bad enough to have a dress i love so dearly languishing in the back of the wardrobe.

your thoughts dearest readers?


11 comments:

the yellow house in the U said...

Cut it. Sacrilege that you don't wear it - so you can only move up from there. Be beautiful with tights and boots. Do it!

marian said...

OMG i'm sure i remember that dress from my younger years in the 70s lol!!..here's a thought, sacrilege or not i'd be tempted to cut it short and then you could make a skirt from the bottom half..two from one, cleva or what or not..worth giving it some thought??

Hayley Egan said...

Found your blog through the theme-queening last week! Lots of lovely colour round these parts.. :)
I say wear it long at night through the summer, and hem it when it starts to cool off for some cardigan love. (I have one really similar and get the whole nylon problem)...

petapledger said...

DON'T CUT IT!!!!

This is a beautiful piece of fashion history and if we all cut up old dresses (which, I admit I regrettably did alot of in the '90s) we will have no history of these amazing creations left!

Wait for a cool Spring or Summer night and rock it with big hair and false eyelashes!!

Jackie said...

Definitely cut it if that means you will wear it. I think I can remember dresses like that somewhere in my youth too.

Sandra Eterovic said...

Thank you Pilgrim! My cheeks are glowing with those lovely, lvely comments. And may I repay in kind and say that I think your blog is mega cool too!!! That dress is a stunner, I love of crazy 60's landscapes dearly. And I want to see that fur!!! I am not one for letting things languish -- I reckon you might consider giving it the chop! ...But it's a hard decision to make.

74 Lime Lane said...

i'm new here, but wanted to say what a great find, it looks like you could have bought it today! Fashion's funny like that I guess.
But your dilemma reminded me this which I read today over at the Dos Family blog, by Jamie from http://prudentadviceformybabydaughter.blogspot.com/

There’s no reason to hoard your possessions in anticipation of life’s big events. Whip out your grandmother’s jewelry, the fragile dishes, or your sexy lingerie to create little special occasions whenever you can.

So I would cut it.

Pilgrim Lee said...

hmmm iiiiinteresting. 6 votes for chopping, 1 for not chopping ( but i know if i did chop it, peta would come and kick me haha)

i'm still quite torn over the matter. sigh! thank you for all your points of view!

Anonymous said...

I'd agree with Petapledger, don't cut it!

Leave it as a piece of fashion history. I'm sure that you'll wear it again soon as is.

quilary said...

I'm in the don't cut camp. Are you a cotton shrug kinda gal? You might be able to wear a short sleeved cotton knit or crochet shrug/cardy in anyone of those amazing colours to er...cover up a bit. It would still be in keeping with the era of this great dress. Also, I love the word play on supercalifragilistic...very clever!

Crafty Rose said...

i had a coat i kept (and frequently) wore for 20 years.

it was still good and new-ish looking... (yes, expensive style lasts...)

but after all that time, i was sick of the coat, but was still so attached and valuing my coat that i could only give it to a friend who would assure me she would wear it.

the pattern would have made very contemporary and upscale wool pillows, but i could NOT cut it up.

sooo. all this to say, i can relate to you still smiling at your fav dress, that 'must' by now show some wear??!!

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