Thrifting Jackpot: The Dresses

As promised, here are pics of the dresses I got from the Goodwill last weekend. Given the crazy changes in the weather, I managed to wear almost all of them this week. Lately, I have been in a mood for very feminine dresses, and I have been wearing dresses or skirts whenever practicable.

The first one that caught my attention has the most interesting print--lush green background with columns of green arches and a few flowers here and there. The shirtdress has gold buttons that I'm a bit ambivalent about--they could almost be tacky, but they also lend that vintage feel. The dress is really comfortable. To update the look, I slipped on some ultra modern shoes and a beachy ring I made a while back.

[Vintage shirtdress, ring made by me, Maison Martin Margiela lucite wedges]




I found another green dress that I absolutely love--it has a 1950's feel to it. It has a beautiful emerald green color which, unfortunately, is difficult to capture accurately (the first picture below is the most representative shot I could take). The fabric is light and soft with a subtle silky shine, which makes it perfect as a summer dress. Unfortunately, the fabric wrinkles very easily, and ironing doesn't help much. I'm sure I can figure out how to solve this problem soon enough. Another problem is that the buttons have a tendency to pop out (yikes!), so I have to wear something underneath to avoid "accidental exposures." I wore it with the Margiela wedges again...seems like a trend I'm on when working with vintage dresses.

[Vintage dress, Maison Martin Margiela wedges]



I wouldn't even call this next garment a "dress," but that's what it was classified as. My friend commented that it looks more like a tennis dress. It may very well have been, but probably for someone shorter. The lace trim and the buttons are the cutest. I decided to wear it for work with more sharply tailored companion pieces. On the weekends, I can see myself wearing it with straight-legged jeans or even those vinyl leggings and platform sandals.

[Vintage "dress," Forever 21 fleece cropped bomber, Forever 21 pants, Abaete for Payless pumps]




I don't know why, but nautical pieces lure me with their Siren calls. Not having the will of Odysseus, I succumbed to it. Fortunately, the consequences of my weakness is not quite so dire. I haven't worn it yet, since I just got it back from the dry cleaner, but I probably will wear it next weekend.


The last dress I picked up from the Goodwill is just loads of fun. The dress is clearly from the 1980's, an era I usually have no affinity for fashion-wise, but the mod appeal really gets me. The asymmetric columns of color, evocative of Piet Mondrian's paintings, make this anything but an ordinary black shift dress. There is a flap in front of the dress that stops short of the hem, adding another dimension of wonder.

It only seems natural to wear the dress with another really bold color. When I saw a pair of hot pink tights for $1.50 at the Target clearance section, I picked them up with this dress (and my army of black garments) in mind. I wore it out for dimsum and grocery shopping with friends today, and got a bunch of stares from older folks who didn't even bother to hide their disdain. I'm not that offended, just amused by the reactions. The fun was all mine.

[vintage Liz Claiborne dress, Forever 21 fleece bomber, Matchstick ring from Gemmafactrix on Etsy, tights from Target, Ciao Bella peeptoe booties]









I got a couple of other things from the thrift store, but one of them has yet to come back from the dry cleaner's, so I'll save them for another post.