Now, I COULD have put these photos in Mondays post.
I COULD have done, but I like this dress, and I like the photos we took, so I decided to award them a blog post all of their own. This was Saturdays outfit for wandering the streets of Paris on really quite a warm autumnal day.
⤠Dress - Vintage 1940s ⤠Beret - eBay ⤠Shoes - StylistPick â¤
Friday was freezing, but Saturday was so warm that I abandoned my cape and went about short-sleeved all day. I was pleased about that, as it meant the dress got a proper airing, it’s such a shame to hide it under a cape.
It’s not very often I buy what can be termed as “full price vintage”. I hunt down eBay bargains and trawl through Charity Shops, but when I saw this in Vintage by Appointment’s attic I had to have it, and had her put it by until I could afford it’s over £50 price tag.
It’s a 1940s dress from American department store Lord & Taylor. Lord & Taylor still exists, though not really in its original form. In the 1940s Lord & Taylor was a very upscale department store, and, fittingly for the time of year, the first to do themed Christmas windows, rather than just filling them with goods. It was also the first of the fancy Fifth Avenue stores to appoint a woman president in 1946.
The dress has a lovely trompe l’oeil trim at the neckline, that looks like a collar, but isn’t, and 2 deep pockets at the hip. It also still has an original covered belt.
It’s a shape of dress that often doesn’t always suit me, but this is so beautifully and cleverly made. It has little darts at the waist, and the kick pleat at the front of the skirt gives it a slightly bell shape skirt that is far more flattering than a straight skirt.
I did worry slightly teaming quite so much “french navy” with a beret to walk around Paris in case I appeared to be in some kind of fancy dress. But in the end I decided sod it, I like it, the shoes are comfy to walk in the and the beret stops my hair getting blown about so ner! I do kind of wish I’d had the dress with the tiny Eiffel towers on it that I foolishly didn’t buy at War & Peace in July though.
I am also wearing the “not at all red” Soap & Glory Fabulipstick in Red My Lips. It really is a brilliant, easy to wear lipstick for days when maintaining a perfect red pout is a little too much effort.
Don’t forget, I bought you back a present from Paris, but sadly I can’t give you all one (fnarr). If you would like some Parisian tat, namely an Eiffel Tower keyring and a Folies Bergere fridge magnet, then pop over to Mondays post.
Comments
16 responses to “40s Frocks and Parisian Fountains”
Lovely pics and I agree gorgeous dress! Shame you didn’t buy the Eiffel Tour dress, I once wore a mexican print skirt in mexico, I just couldn’t resist :o)
The last photo of you with the fountain looks magical.
Totally in love with that dress, you look lovely!!!
Sooo lovely to see you in that beautiful dress. It looks amazing on you! Thanks so much for blogging about it (and taking it to Paris)! I wonder what other countries its visited and what stories it could tell! xx
Looking lovely!! Loving the photos….especially the black and white one! Hope you managed to sample some nice sweeties and cakes whilst you were in Paris! Nothing does it like a fabulously fluffy croissant in the morning!
may x
http://walkinginmay.blogspot.com/
Tres bon! Dress suits you down to a tee!
Love that dress! Looks like it was worth every penny.
That dress is gorgeous, and love hearing a bit about the history of the shop it came from originally too.
The pictures are lush as ever, can I possibly ask, what camera do you use?
xxx
I use a Canon 550D, it’s a DSLR, so quite big to carry around, but fairly easy to use!
I really really like this dress, and am very glad you singled it out all by itself….it and the pictures deserved it! I’m totally with you on the ‘really shouldnt but cant help it’ dressing for the place where you are….I might have just been sporting a bit of nautical chic that time I went on a mini cruise. Just might.
I was totally fooled by the trompe l’oeil collar, so it did its job and especially like all your facts about the dress’s makers! It just all works so well for the setting and for you, and actually that soap and glory ‘not red’ red lipstick goes well with the outfit….if it had been a proper red colour then it definitely might have been abit much!
But yeah, fabulous all round, basically.
Lady you look so beautiful! Very Parisian, did you love it? xx
I had a lovely time, nice and relaxing!
That’s an excellent dress, very flattering. There’s nothing wrong with a bit of navy and a beret in France. When in Paris …
This is divine! You’re looking très très chic.
Hello, very nice dress and very nice pictures! I know this place quite well(I worked near by a few years ago). Next time you come to Paris, let me know just so we can have a quick chat about your blog that I discovered quite recently and that I like so much! And the beret!!!!!
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