Hello hello! First off, thank you for all the sweet sweet birthday wishes! ♥ ♥ It was a wonderful birthday and a great weekend spent celebrating with friends. Just perfect!
I have to say, the longer I go not blogging as regularly, the easier it becomes! It’s been a struggle to try and get back the desire to hang around these parts, write, and catch up on all my favorite blogs lately, I have to admit. 🙂
But today I have an outfit post to share! Frankly, we’ve been doing so much lately (and egads, I’ve just had a look at the calendar and we have at least one out-of-town trip scheduled almost every single month from May through October when it culminates in a trip to Europe)… I have absolutely no idea where we went when I wore this outfit! None at all! So it was a great outfit to… do something… somewhere… it’s a mystery!
I do know it was a good few weeks ago, just when Spring was starting to feel like it was coming around to stay, when the grass was juuuust starting to turn green, I could actually stand outside in the yard (albeit with everything surrounding me kinda dead). My face was full of super big grins as a result.
Totally not joking about the grins, obviously.
Since I have no idea where I wore this, let’s talk about the actual outfit instead, shall we? This is my new favorite dress. It’s a vintage house dress! The print is bright and crisp and being a house dress, zips up the front. Plus, it has a bit of elastic at the waist for extra comfort. I bought it in February at a vintage clothing expo (the same place I got the periwinkle 49er-style jacket).
I have no problem wearing house dresses out into the world because… well obviously the first part of the answer is “who the hell cares”, but the second part is that since we don’t really have house dresses anymore at this point in time, I don’t think anyone is going to be looking at you as if you’ve gotten dressed up in a nice outfit, but left the house wearing an apron or rollers or something akin to that. But really, this still falls under the category of “who the hell cares”.
I piled on the red, pink and white accessories for this outfit, throwing on a Luxulite brooch, some vintage Bakelite and lucite bangles, and Desperate Beatnik earrings.
I topped it all off with a cashmere cardigan since it was still pretty chilly, added my favorite vintage belt (I don’t have many belts so you see this one a lot), and light pink BAIT Footwear Ida shoes.
I love how the pocket and collar are both trimmed with tiny white rick rack! Generally speaking, I don’t tend to add rick rack to my sewing since it usually feels a bit over-the-top, but I definitely like it in certain applications, especially on vintage pieces.
Many of my vintage purses don’t see that much action since they’re pretty small and thus annoying to try and fit anything in, but this outfit was just dying for my brown wicker and lucite-trimmed purse.
The shoes obviously look a lot cooler when they’re not standing in mostly-still-dead grass, but you get the idea.
Red has long been my favorite color, but I’ve been enjoying throwing pink into the mix a lot more this year. I’m pretty sure that happens to me every spring, when I’m waiting for things to bloom!
Even though the grass is mostly lush and green now, we still are getting some occasional super chilly days mixed in with the lovely ones (this week is a prime example, it’s pretty nasty out!). But that being said, no complaints here. I’m so happy to be enjoying something other than oversized wool pullovers and long underwear under everything I’m wearing. Hip hip hoorah for Spring!
outfit details
vintage dress: Cat’s Pajamas vintage show
cashmere cardigan: Boden
brooch: Luxulite
earrings: Desperate Beatnik
vintage belt: misc.
Bakelite and lucite bangles: misc.
vintage wicker purse: misc.
shoes: BAIT Footwear Idas
GASP! The print on that dress is FANTASTIC!!! (insert one million heart-eye emojis here) Love love love this outfit <3
Thanks! I do really love that print!
So pretty Tasha! ‘Why don’t I have more house dresses’ I’m asking myself?? Incredibly practical, and so sweet. I love the pattern. Thanks for a lovely post and for always inspiring me. 🙂
Thanks! I have very few myself, but I’m always on the hunt for them!
The repeat on this pattern is PERFECT. So delicate. 🙂
I know, isn’t it great? I love it!
Your coordinations are always awesome, but I love how even your chest piece tattoo fits in perfectly with this outfit.
Thanks! Funny about the tattoo. Well it having a lot of red in it, does lend itself to match things I like, huh? 😉
Splendidly pretty outfit! I have zero qualms with wearing housedresses out into the great, wide world either. Not the least (reasons) of which is because they’re still, in the eyes of most 21st century folks, “dressing”. I can’t begin to tell you how many times I’ve been asked, while wearing a 40s or 50s housedresss, “what I was dressed up for?”. Umm, buying kitty litter and going to the post office. Important tasks, but not ones that I consider myself, by vintage standards, exactly dressed up for. I always have to fight the urge to the tell person to wait there for half an hour while I go home, scramble into something velvet or taffeta, throw on a fur stole and a 40s tilt hat, some elbow length gloves, and a pair of 3 or 4 inch heels, plus evening makeup, then I’d be “dressed up”, by my own standards. 🙂
<3 Jessica
Thanks! And ha ha, yes that’s definitely the definition of dressed up, by anyone’s standards! 😉
I’m glad that coming back to blogging feels easier. We miss you! This is an adorable outfit. I was very curious about Bait Footwear because they aren’t made of leather. Do they make your feet sweat? I’d like to buy a pair but the shipping costs are a killer.
Actually that’s the opposite– I meant the longer I go not blogging, the easier not blogging becomes. lol
I don’t have an issue with them making my feet sweat, but I’m probably not the best authority to go by, since I’ll also wear jelly shoes in the summer and my feet don’t get very sweaty in those either! 🙂
Such a lovely dress!
That dress really is fabulous! And I’m a big fan of the zip-front. Every time I wear one of mine out, women always envy the simplicity of it. God bless zipper.
That dress is AMZING!!!!
I think I like these casual coton dresses more than evening wear… so fun and colorfull!
This dress is lovely, such a pretty print and I do like a bit of ric rac. Your bag is amazing!
Ric-rac! Wicker! Be still my beating heart! I love the zipper front on the dress as well. That’s the great thing about vintage house dresses. They are comfortable, but still so stylish compared to today’s standard of dress. And that might be why I have at least half a dozen house dresses in my vintage pattern collection. ;P ❤
xox,
bonita of Lavender & Twill
I think a “house dress” like this is meant to be seen! Super cute.