Vintage Look- 1940's Green Gingham Housedress

I'm calling this vintage 1940's housedress my Happy Dress.  Green has always been one of my favorite colors. My living room is green. Green woods and fields are some of the things that make me the happiest. But my wardrobe had a serious dearth of green. Remember back when I told you that Paris was filled with clothing in a bright Kelly Green? You rarely see that here. So when I found the sweater below at Goodwill I snatched it up. I wear my summer dresses well into fall with the addition of a good sweater.

Several years ago I got myself a bunch of gingham fabrics and made me sundresses in red, black and turquoise checks. Yes, I love gingham to distraction. I looked and looked but there was no true green. Ever since, I have been on the hunt for a green gingham dress. When I discovered this one on eBay it did not deter me one whit that it was almost three sizes too large. I would simply take the seams in and wear it! 

 It's still a bit too big, but I just adore everything about this dress- color, checks, rickrack, pockets. It just make me so happy. I went to the dentist one day to have a tooth fixed and the assistant said that my dress made her think of the ones that her mother had worn. She said it was such a happy dress. I agreed, and after the drilling and filling and being questioned while my mouth was numb and drooling, the dentist looked at me and said, "She's right, it is a happy looking dress."

A fun vintage metal mesh purse that goes perfectly with the dress.

 Hubby took me and the kiddos to the fair that night. My tooth didn't hurt at all and I was starved enough to eat brisket sandwich, a funnel cake, and cotton candy. We ordered our food from the Cattlemen's booth and they were taking people's names to call out. When I started to tell the white-haired old man my name, but he said, "Don't worry, honey, I won't forget that pretty green dress." My hubby is not impressed with my vintage clothing, he thinks I look old-fashioned and out-dated. I grinned at him real big when the man said that and he just rolled his eyes. But then he got my daughter-in-law and I tickets for the two-headed snake booth, so it was all good ;)!

On a different day I was in the Dollar Tree and a tiny little old lady stopped me. She said, "Where did you get your dress? I used to wear housedresses like that and now I can't find them anywhere!" She was disappointed to learn that it wasn't anything you can buy in today's stores. She said she had to buy big mumu dresses that were ugly and had no shape. Even housedresses used to have style, she declared, casting a longing look at mine. Now, not everyone would be delighted to share the same fashion sense as an ancient little lady, some might even be a tad insulted. But I was on cloud nine! Somehow this dress seems to make all kinds of people happy, not just me...

This dress didn't look like it had ever been worn, and still has it's brown paper tag inside. What do you think about the dress, Dear Reader, does it look happy to you? Maybe not, but I know some little old ladies out there who would fight me for it ;)