You make me blush

Lace dress from cheepvintage, church&state Maple dress via francesmay

Generally I like my outfits to include some good solid colours, black, grey, dark blue are all good. Pale colours scare me a bit and I don't really like pastels. However I have found myself becoming drawn to blush coloured clothing lately, the idea of something light and more spring like is definitely appealing on these long grey days of winter we seem to be experiencing.

I really like the label church&state, especially since they focus on dresses, which as we know are my favourite thing. I love their current collection, where each dress is named after a tree. There are so many pretty details on each dress, I can just imagine them being permanent wardrobe staples I'd want to wear again and again. This dress would be a lovely addition. I found this one via francesmay, which looks like a great online shop, shame It's in the America, they have some interesting labels.

I have also been after a lace 60's style dress for ages, and although I imagined it in cream, this little number from cheepvintage is pretty special. The only items of clothing in blush I already own are this 1950's lace suit and this blouse I got ages ago in a jumble sale. I really love this suit, although it's falling apart, the lace is very worn down and it is all very delicate, but i have worn the jacket once or twice. As for the blouse, it had a very 90's silhouette, with giant overlong cuffs, so I hemmed it to a more wearable length. Still it reminds me of a waitress uniform a little bit, so maybe I will wait a while longer before admitting blush to my day-to-day wardrobe.

The Fall

In general I am always thinking about a dress. There is always a dress in my head, fighting to get out. I often see dresses, on catwalks, in shops, brand new and vintage and I think, surely I could make that. Then sometimes I find a pattern and attempt to alter it until it resembles what I see in my mind. The finished result is rarely the same as the picture in my head, but I like to think this is a learning process and eventually I will create something that is an accurate representation of my initial idea. I'm not sure why it is generally a dress rather than some other item of clothing, like a top or skirt, I think it's because a dress is a total look, with instant impact. Today's post is about one such dress. It was inspired by the Autumn collection from dear creatures, which I have seen posted on many blogs already, so forgive me for posting the images from their charming lookbook once more.

I initially thought I was trying to create a version of the dress on the right, which I absolutely love, the mustard colour, the checks, the black bow? Perfect. However having seen the finished result, it looks like I was subconsciously thinking of the dress on the left. Judge for yourselves.

I used a pattern for this dress but then changed it. The body is made of a black sateen cotton and the little capelet is made of an autumnal ikea fabric which was something silly like £1.99 per metre. The thing I really liked about the dear creatures dress was the black piping as a contrast to the mustard on the bodice. Instead of piping I used black bias binding around the edges. Below are some close-ups of the back of the dress and fabric. I added the keyhole back, just beacuse I like keyhole backs, although it turned out to be uneccessay since I can get the dress on without undoing the closure, the pattern was oddly large for a size 8. Still I like the grey faux-leather button. I am pleased with the finished result, although it's a bit big, and more 1950s then I expected, it still makes me think of autumn, bonfires, and fallen leaves.

Beginnings

Hello and welcome to my brand new blog, The Dandelion Girl. Firstly I will introduce myself. My name is Rebecca and I love nothing more than foraging for vintage treasures or losing myself in a good book. I decided to start this blog so I could share some of my vintage adventures with people who might understand why I get so excited over a beautiful 1960's dress or the perfectly distressed pair of leather boots.

For this first post I thought I might explain the title of the blog. The dandelion girl is the title of a short story by Robert.F.Young, first published in 1961. I saw the title and just liked it, before I knew the story. Although I've never been a fan of science fiction, it's actually quite a sweet little story. It is set in the future and is about a middle aged man called Mark, alone on holiday while his wife works, who meets a girl called Julie four times on a hill - I won't give away the rest. The most famous line (repeated six times throughout) from the story is -

'Day before yesterday I saw a rabbit, and yesterday a deer, and today, you' .

It is also mentioned what Julie wears on each occasion her and Mark meet.

On the first day she wears a white dress that reminds Mark of 'cotton-candy, sea foam and clouds.' On the second day she wears a blue dress and on the third a yellow dress.

For the full text of the story please look here.

I hope you've enjoyed my first post, I will try to update this blog every couple of days with my vintage finds and other inspirations. Thank you for reading.