Vintage Homes and Decor Inspiration
July 20, 2012Book Review: Her Ladyship's Guide to Running One's Home
July 25, 2012Todays addition to my occasional featurette on iconic fashion styles is the Shift Dress.
Although drawing on the drop waisted straight shift styles of the 1920s Flapper, the classic shift really owes more to the 50s “sack dress” and evolved into the 60s into the style we know today.
More fitted than a sack dress, but less than a wiggle dress, the classic shift has a bust shaped with darts, no shaping at the waist and goes into a straight or slightly A line skirt. It’s not a shape that’s particularly flattering on me, as I need a bit more definition on the waist, but for the slim hipped amongst you it’s a classic and elegant look.
Part of the shift dresses popularity in the 1960s, particularly in the US, was down to a Miami juice bar owner named Lilly Pulitzer. She started to make her own shift dresses in brightly coloured and patterned fabrics to hide juice stains, and customers so frequently asked about them that she started to sell them. Then when the ultimate shift dress wearer Jackie Kennedy was photographed wearing one and the whole world wanted one too. By 1961 Lilly had closed her juice bar and was selling her dresses full time.
Jackie O is probably the most famous wearer of shift dresses, but Audrey Hepburn, Twiggy and Mia Farrow were all frequently seen in the style.
The shift dress is such a classic and elegant style that it’s rarely gone out of fashion and is often favoured for smart wedding and work outfits. It’s so versatile that changing accessories, colours, prints of lengths can entirely change the whole feel of the dress.
Wear a plain shift with a box cut jacket, pill box hat and big sunglasses for the full Jackie O effect, or a brightly printed shorter dress with ballet pumps and a beehive for a younger 60s style.
Like I said, the shift dress is generally most flattering on less curvy figures than mine, but I do own a couple of dresses that owe a lot to the shift dress. The purple Kitty Copeland shift I always wear with a belt to define my waist, the Lady K Loves Retro Chick dress was made to my measurements, so has a bit more room in the hips and a slimmer torso than your regular High Street shift, and in the the third dress I’m looking all a bit trendy in a short Laura Ashley shift (though if you look closely you can see it pulls on my hips, which is why it’s no longer in my wardrobe!)
Much like the pencil skirt, shift dresses can be hard to find on the High Street if you’re not a standard size. The “average” modern figure has a much smaller waist to hip ratio than women in the 1950s, which actually makes them far more suited to this style of dress. If you’re one of those people without a lot of curves, then the shift dress is your easy answer to elegant vintage style.
I’ve dug up some great versions from High Street and reproduction sellers to get you started….
Vintage Fabric Shift Dress £79.95 Poppy Valentine
Shift Dress with Embellished bow £65 £23 ASOS
Yumi Pearl Spot Shift Dress £44.99 £22.50
7 Comments
Ah I am like you I would look horrendous in this style, a big bust doesn’t help either, just makes you look pregnant, though it looks great on slimmer less curvy figures I agree!
Great post. I love shift dresses. In my late twenties/early thirties, they were what I wore to work the most. Since I was ‘blessed’ with children, my womanly hips don’t really suit shifts anymore.
That Poppy Valentine shift is gorgeous! Shifts definitely look better on the non-curvy but I think they can be unflattering on some slim figures too (they can make boxy figures look boxier). It depends on how they’re cut. You look nice in all your dresses as always, Gemma.
I actually love a shift dress (cuz I am a shifty person haha), although they make me look bigger at the waist than I actually am (as I have to buy them big on the hips/bust). Actual 60s ones are sometimes an easier fit as I seem to have rather old fashioned measurements.
Gail Ann Thompson liked this on Facebook.
how weird i wore a shift dress today. its on my instagram. im kinda loving it and want to buy more.
Erika Somogyi liked this on Facebook.