Vintage Look- 1940's Aqua and Rose dotted swiss dress

I have said before, in videos on building a vintage wardrobe, that when you begin buying vintage you should look for a style you love and that suits your body shape for your beginning pieces. For me, that was cotton shirt dresses. This style of dress is an iconic one that can be found in different incarnations through the decades. I have shared several of my mine with you before (I'll share some links at the bottom). These were the starters to my wardrobe and I am still in love with them!

 Woola dog has had her moment in the spotlight and decided that the cool dirt under the step is a better choice.

 Here I am coyly showing you the shoes I was wearing, which...amusingly enough, can't even be seen. Sigh. All I did was draw attention to the incredible pastiness of my bony shanks (yes, darling, they can be seen from space), and all the bruises and scars. This has been a hard summer on the legs!

 Vintage cotton sundresses are so lovely. They are generally out of a super thin cotton, or a sheer nylon type cloth, and need a full slip under them. I have a gorgeous selection of colored vintage slips, so an aqua one went under this. These dresses are light and cool and manage to simply look like summer time.

 Here is a closeup, because I not only love the colors of this dress, you know I love plaid and gingham check. But check this out, it's also dotted Swiss!! Be still my heart! But there is still more, look at those great decorative buttons! Four of my favorite things in one little, handmade dress. And the fact that the left side of the skirt has a slightly twisted seam doesn't bother me at all. Obviously, the seamstress was a bit like me, and said, "Oh, dear, I don't have quite enough of that beautiful fabric to make the dress I want! Who cares, I'll just cut it differently and do it anyway." Thus the slight puckering, and me grinning every time I see it.

This blurry picture is one that I took from an auction site for vintage clothing. It is a 1930's dress that has the same coloration and checks of my 1940's one! I'd love to have it also ;)

Here are the shoes I was valiantly trying to show you before. They are frumpy, but very comfortable ones that I found at Wal-mart. And they are actually very similar to many of the "house" style shoes of the 40's and 50's. Look at the bow topped slip-ons, below. You can find a lot of these different styles of shoes at Wal-mart, and be wearing comfy shoes that don't break the bank for the right look!

I got a second pair to wear at home so that I could have shoes to go with my farm dresses that I could wear all day. Ordinarily, I simply wear my feet. They are the ultimate in walking comfort!

And here is a result of playing with the settings on my computer! I was trying for a vintage photo look, but this is what happened. I love those folk's photography who get the dreamy, slightly grainy, look of vintage photos. I've thought of trying to do that for my blog, but honestly, I post the pictures of my dresses so you can see what they actually look like. And I don't think it would be terribly appetizing for my recipe photos! However, if you know how to do the vintage look, I would be interested to learn about it. I don't have any photo editing software, but I love to try new things. 

Well, I hope you enjoyed this sweet little dress as much as I do, Dear Reader. And it just goes to show- if you pick things you truly love, you don't tire of them!

Here are some links to other shirt dresses-
Seafoam shirtdress 
Lavender shirtdress 
Kitschy Housedress