Showing posts with label 1940s style. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 1940s style. Show all posts

Thursday, October 13, 2016

Dress Review: Visions of Venice

At long last the return of Trashy Diva's Circle Day dress is here!!!



There are many Trashy Diva dresses that are regulars and semi-regulars on Trashy Diva's dress cut rotation (with good cause)-- the 40's, l'amour, Lena Sarong, Annette (including the variations of Annette-- Annette mini and Anne), the Honey (including the Honey Sun variation), for example. However, there are also dress cuts that seemed to have only popped up for a handful of prints back in the day which haven't seen the light of day for years (I'm looking at you Dixie, just recently re-released Hopscotch, and Circle Day dress)! The Circle Day dress is perhaps my most #1 wished for comeback dress. Looking at pictures of this fabled cut I imagined it to the most perfect, most wonderful cut ever known to 50's style reproduction. Seriously! The Trashy Diva Circle Day dress features a full circle skirt and a bust friendly modest friendly bodice. The bodice features a large collar and charming decorative black front buttons with rhinestone centers. Because the buttons are only decorative you get the visual appeal without having to deal with button gaping! This dress also has the appearance of cap sleeves from its long shoulder seam providing not only a cute look but also fuller coverage at the shoulders. The bodice is darted to keep things fitted while a hidden side zip allows one to get in and out of this dress without breaking up the single panel of fabric and thus an uninterrupted view of the print in the back. Well ladies, it's finally happened! Trashy Diva's Circle Day dress is finally back! As is the previously re-released Hopscotch (you can see my review of the Hopscotch in Hourglass here).

While I would have really liked the Circle Day dress to come out in a cotton voile or stretch cotton (as it mostly did in the past), I am so super ecstatic that this cut has made a long awaited return in any fabric. The last time this dress cut was released by Trashy Diva was, I believe, in 2008 with the Butterflies and Cool and Warm Watercolors prints. That's almost 10 years ago! When I saw that this dress was back I had it added to my cart and paid for that morning! And when I finally got my hands on it, it did not disappoint!

To be completely honest, this dress could have come out in almost any print or solid, and in any fabric choice and I would have been one of the first in line to get it. It's just an added bonus to me then that this dress came out in a wonderful new print, Venice Nights.

Venice Nights is the first print in Trashy Diva's new annual Tourist Print Collection. It's a 1940's inspired novelty print depicting scenes of gondolas going down the canals of Venice with bridges, buildings, and lights all playing off in the background. The dominate color of this dress is true blue while the Venice scenes display an abundance of red, mustard yellow, black and white. The fabric on this dress is a super soft stretch rayon. It has the feeling of wearing the most luxurious comfortable pajama yet has a very polished look with great drape to the skirt. This dress, while has all the features expected of the Circle Day dress listed above, also features one pocket to store items.

I got this dress in my usual size 10. It is probably possible that I could have sized down but I was worried that sizing down would cause pull at the bust. Also, I don't really like my dresses to be super tight. Because this dress came out in the stretch rayon fabric, the skirt has got great drape but it does lose a little of the 50's fullness that other Trashy Diva Circle Day dresses had. I will probably opt to wear this with a petticoat to help emphasize the fullness of the skirt in future wears but to show how the dress is as is, here it is without a petticoat.


Trashy Diva Circle Day Dress in Venice Nights- Front View

Trashy Diva Circle Day Dress in Venice Nights- Front View

Trashy Diva Circle Day Dress in Venice Nights- Side View

Trashy Diva Circle Day Dress in Venice Nights- Back View

Trashy Diva Circle Day Dress in Venice Nights- Close Up

Trashy Diva Circle Day Dress in Venice Nights- Button Close Up

Trashy Diva Venice Nights- Close Up








Tuesday, October 11, 2016

Outfit of the Day: Three More Fall Looks for October

Hello Kittens!


It's that time of week again. Another Outfit of the Day roundup is here! :D


Outfit of the Day (Saturday):

Tim took me out for breakfast. I love going out for breakfast especially when it entails eating something super sweet like my white chocolate chip pancakes with strawberries and cream cheese frosting were! After breakfast we made a stop by Spirit, the Halloween store which was in the same shopping center as where we went for breakfast. I love browsing through the Halloween store, playing with all the animatronics, and seeing what things they have stocked. I was super happy to find a green and red Freddy Krueger sweater to wear not only around Halloween but also Christmas and year round! We rounded out the morning with a visit to Tim's mom's and then did some errands shopping for things for Tim to use to make his Halloween costume this year.

I just got this Vintage Striped blouse by Voodoo Vixen from Cats Like Us last week and couldn't wait to wear it out! I paired this with a black swing skirt by Steady which I bought from Unique Vintage a couple years ago. For shoes I decided to wear my School Issue saddle shoes which I bought from Zappos earlier this year. For a finishing touch I wore a pair of cat stud earrings by Rosita Bonita which I bought from Trashy Diva last year and also added the Very Eerie Black Bat pin by Lumpy Buttons which I ordered along with the Vintage Stripped blouse from Cats Like Us. I couldn't be more pleased with the way the two look together! <3 Also, I just have to say, I love Cats Like Us! They have such awesome customer service and were so great changing out the size of the shirt for me when I decided to go with a different size after placing my order! <3


Voodoo Vixen Vintage Striped blouse and Steady Swing skirt- Front View

Voodoo Vixen Vintage Striped blouse and Steady Swing skirt- Front View

Voodoo Vixen Vintage Striped blouse and Steady Swing skirt- Side View

Voodoo Vixen Vintage Striped blouse and Lumpy Buttons Very Eerie Black Bat brooch- Close Up 



Outfit of the Day (Saturday Evening):

Later that same day Tim and I went out to a friend's house for a house warming party. We got refreshed and changed before leaving for the evening. I decided to wear my Trashy Diva 40's dress in Mini Fleur for the occasion which I paired with basic black flats and a pair of Halloween cat earrings by Rosita Bonita which I bought from Trashy Diva last year.


Trashy Diva 40's dress in Mini Fleur- Front View

Trashy Diva 40's dress in Mini Fleur- Front View

Trashy Diva 40's dress in Mini Fleur- Side View

Rosita Bonita Halloween cat earrings- Close Up



Outfit of the Day (Sunday):

On Sunday we kind of spent the day wandering around. We started the day going to downtown Pleasanton to go to a vintage and repro houseware store I've been wanting to check out. They carry lots of vintage Halloween items such as reproduction paper mache lanterns. I was hoping I would see some vintage Halloween cat stuff but I didn't see much in the way of cats so I didn't pick anything up. While we were in downtown Pleasanton I was happy to see that we happened to be there during their annual vintage street market. We took the time to browse through some stalls but again didn't end up getting anything. We then went out for lunch at the mall, did a little more window shopping, then went to the 80's arcade by our house. It was a fun day and not bad for just wandering around a bit.

For this day I decided to wear a dress I haven't worn in a while, my Trashy Diva Ava dress in Sketchy Cherries. I paired this with some basic blat flats and a pair of gold colored ball stud earrings I bought from Forever 21 last year. For a finishing touch, I added my Freddy Krueger cat brooch which I bought from the etsy shop, Danielle V Green a couple months ago.


Trashy Diva Ava dress in Sketchy Cherries- Front View

Trashy Diva Ava dress in Sketchy Cherries- Front View

Trashy Diva Ava dress in Sketchy Cherries- Side View

Danielle V Green Freddy Krueger Cat brooch- Close Up






Thursday, September 29, 2016

Dress Review: Dress of the Rising Sun, Trashy Diva's Cranes

“Autumn is a second spring when every leaf is a flower.” ― Albert Camus


Trashy Diva's Cranes print is a beautiful Asian inspired collage of cranes in flight against a rising or setting sun in the midst of a wetlands setting. Like the last dress I reviewed, Trashy Diva's Virginia Shirtwaist dress in Red Fans, Trashy Diva's Cranes print works fantastically well as a Fall print even though this collection was actually released in the summer. The multitude of colors in this print include red-orange, citron green, cornflower blue, yellow, black and white. It is the red-orange and citron green in this print that really legitimizes this print as a Fall print to me.

I can see it also working equally well as a summer print though... I can imagine the murky swamps of Louisiana as being an inspiration for the color choices in this print from this New Orleans based company. In fact, when this print was first released Trashy Diva vowed to donate 10% of the profits of this collection from its release date of 7/28 through 8/26 to the Gulf Restoration Network, an organization dedicated to helping protect and restore the natural resources in the Gulf Region. You can read more on this partnership on Trashy Diva's blog here. Perhaps it was this partnership that helped secure this print as being Trashy Diva's fastest selling print in Trashy Diva history (of full run releases that is). But perhaps, also, it's the gorgeousness of this print that caused it.

While the beautiful Cranes print came out in several different styles including five dresses (TD's Sarong, 40's, Sweetie, Connie, and l'amour dresses) as well as several different separates to mix and match (sarong skirt, high waisted shorts, lounge pants, Dottie blouse, Trixie top, and Mai Tai top), I opted to order this print in the l'amour cut. What I loved about the l'amour in this print is that it's a more simpler cut compared to other cuts in this collection, which I felt worked to balance out the busyness of this print. The l'amour dress features an adjustable skinny strapped top which gathers around a drawstring keyhole at the bust (also adjustable to your preference of exposure). It has ruching at the sides to ensure a great fit and has a back zip for easy wear. The skirt is a lovely full circle skirt which has great drape in the rayon fabric. While it took me a while to warm up to the l'amour in general, I have found it to be one of Trashy Diva's easier to throw on and go dresses. It is extremely comfortable and extremely flattering with very little effort.

I got this dress in my usual size 10 and while it fit in that size, I did notice that it seemed the bodice was longer in this print than in my other dresses of the same cut. This was confirmed by other ladies in the TD facebook group I'm in who also noticed the same thing. Good news for longer torsoed ladies, though just a little sad for us shorter torsoed ladies.


Trashy Diva l'amour dress in Cranes- Front View

Trashy Diva l'amour dress in Cranes- Front View

Trashy Diva l'amour dress in Cranes- Side View

Trashy Diva l'amour dress in Cranes- Back View

Trashy Diva Cranes print- Close Up


Hope you enjoyed my review and that you have found it useful!



Check back again next week. Next up for Dress Review: Trashy Diva Does 80's! 

Wednesday, May 25, 2016

Dress Review: A Heart Aflutter For A Fowl

A while ago my mom and I were shopping at HomeGoods, a discount homeware store...


She immediately spotted a ceramic chicken figure and said to me, "You should get the chicken because you're a chicken!"

I was a little dumbfounded by this. "What do you mean, I'm a chicken?!" I asked a little incredulously but mostly highly amused. She explained to me I'm a chicken because my Chinese zodiac sign is a chicken. She was talking about the rooster. Ever since that day I've had an affinity for chickens. Not only does the story make me smile every time I think on it but I also love the way the word sounds.. Chicken! And so, when I saw that Trashy Diva recently came out with a chicken print I knew I had to have it! Yay Chickens!

I won't lie. This print could have been any combination of colors or any style of illustration and I would have bought it. It is a huge bonus that this print just happens to be one of the prettiest prints by Trashy Diva I've ever seen! I love the rich vibrant colors. It's comprised of a gorgeous turquoise background with highly stylized multicolored roosters in red, green, and white! Now here is a reproduction novelty print done right! It looks amazingly authentic with a huge 1940's feel to it. I love how it is colorful and bright, yet not too juvenile nor glaringly blinding as far as bright colors go. As gorgeous from afar as it is up close, I swoon at the sight of it!

And so, because I'm so crazy for this print I had to order it in not just one but two dresses! I knew right away looking at Trashy Diva's selections that the 1940's and the Sweetie cuts were my favorite in this print.

The 1940's cut, in my mind, is one of Trashy Diva's most iconic and quintessential cuts! It is for sure one of my favorites and go tos in Trashy Diva. I love the classic yet simple and flattering shape of this dress as well as the amazing attention to detail in all the tiny little gathers at the shoulders and under the bust. The waist is banded and lined to allow for a fitted nipped in look. The dress has a low v-neck back zip with two hook and eyes to ensure underthings remain concealed. The skirt has a classic a-line shape to it which without having too much volume, remaining true to the 1940's silhouette, has amazing flow.


Trashy Diva 1940's dress in Ruffled Feathers- Front View

Trashy Diva 1940's dress in Ruffled Feathers- Front View

Trashy Diva 1940's dress in Ruffled Feathers- Side View

Trashy Diva 1940's dress in Ruffled Feathers- Back View

Trashy Diva 1940's dress in Ruffled Feathers- Close Up




The second dress I chose in this print was the Sweetie dress. The Sweetie is a classic 1940's style shirt waist dress. I adore the red contrasting fully functioning buttons along the front as well as the contrasting buttons at the two front pockets. The detachable belt give it a very finished look. This dress features a slightly a-line (though much slimmer) skirt than the 1940's dress. It also has a wide collar, gathers below the shoulders in the front and back, and has ever so slightly puffed sleeves. For convince, this dress also has a side zip in addition to the front buttons for ease of getting it on and off. With this one, I played around a bit with ways to wear it. Below I changed out the belt to see how it would look with a contrasting red belt, and I also tried it with a cardigan and hat... a perfect outfit I think, for if I ever take that fantasy trip to Cuba now that people from the United States are allowed to travel there! :)

Trashy Diva Sweetie dress in Ruffled Feathers- Front View

Trashy Diva Sweetie dress in Ruffled Feathers- Side View

Trashy Diva Sweetie dress in Ruffled Feathers- Back View

Trashy Diva Sweetie dress in Ruffled Feathers with red contrasting belt- Front View

Trashy Diva Sweetie dress in Ruffled Feathers- Front View

Trashy Diva Sweetie dress in Ruffled Feathers- Close Up



Trashy Diva Ruffled Feathers- Close Up






Wednesday, May 4, 2016

Dress Review: Dearest Crimson Clover

Here's a dress I've been meaning to review for a while


I got this Ashley dress in Crimson Clover back in March when Trashy Diva's Crimson Clover collection was first released.

Upon seeing Trashy Diva's Crimson Clover print I immediately swooned! I love the sweet pale and raspberry pinks against the rich navy blue. I also love the unobtrusive addition of green and white to the color scheme which pairs so sweetly and gently together in this print. Looking closely at the print, the shading in the flowers and leaves is so dainty and pleasant. For all of these reasons, I am reminded of illustrations in vintage children's books looking at this print. It's such a dear and charming print I could not let this one pass me by.

While this print is uniquely it's own, I will probably not be the first to admit that when I first saw the Crimson Clover collection I immediately made a connection of how similar this print is to the recent Deep Sea Coral print (which I last wore here). Both prints feature a predominately pink design against a navy blue background. However, the similarities end there. Even so, because I bought the previous Deep Sea Coral print in the 1940's cut I was sure to pick a different cut when picking a dress to buy in this collection. It was not hard choosing the Ashley cut in this print though.

The Ashley cut is an often picked fan favorite out of Trashy Diva's many dress cuts. It has a classic late 1930's to 1940's look which features slightly puffed cap sleeves, figure flattering darts along the shoulder which end in gathers under the bustline, a fitted waist, and an a-line skirt. The side zip on this dress ensures the top back of the dress to have an uninterrupted panel of fabric to best feature the print and to give the back a smooth look. Also, like most of Trashy Diva's dresses, this dress is made of a period appropriate rayon material which also gives this dress a great feel and flow.

As for fit, I found this dress to fit true to size for the Ashley cuts... basically any Trashy Diva cuts with a fitted band under the bust I usually size up one from my usual size 10 to give extra breathing room though it probably would have been possible to have squeezed into my usual size.  

If this is a print you've got to have, you can check out the entire collection here. But don't hesitate too long as most of Trashy Diva's dresses do tend to sell out in lots of sizes before too long.


Trashy Diva's Ashley dress in Crimson Clover- Front View

Trashy Diva's Ashley dress in Crimson Clover- Front View
Trashy Diva's Ashley dress in Crimson Clover- Side View

Trashy Diva's Ashley dress in Crimson Clover- Back View

Trashy Diva's Ashley dress in Crimson Clover- Close Up




Saturday, April 23, 2016

Outfit of the Day: Grandparents in Town

Last week my grandparents were visiting from Florida


We celebrated their arrival with a Korean BBQ dinner at my mom's house during the week and then that weekend took them for a day trip to Yosemite! It was great having them here for a visit and it was a great time getting to spend it with them outdoors in the perfect weather we were having that weekend.


Yosemite Falls, Yosemite National Park

Another waterfall in Yosemite National Park

The small people, building, and van gives some scale to show how huge this cliff is

Deer in the meadow, Yosemite National Park



Outfit of the Day (Wednesday):

The day my grandparents flew in from Florida my mom hosted a Korean BBQ dinner. For the first day seeing my grandparent I decided my silk Trashy Diva Betty dress in Cherries print would be the perfect dress for the occasion! I paired this with gingham wedges I had just received from Modcloth that day! (Available here on sale now!) I also paired this with a red cardigan to brighten up the outfit some more.

Trashy Diva Betty dress in Cherry print- Front View

Trashy Diva Betty dress in Cherry print- Side View

Trashy Diva Betty dress in Cherry print- Front View

Trashy Diva Betty dress in Cherry print- Side View

Trashy Diva Betty dress in Cherry print- Close Up



Outfit of the Day (Saturday):

On Saturday for our day trip to Yosemite I didn't really expect to get too much hiking in since we were all going to be there with my 80+ year old grandfather so I figured why not wear something super fun and springy? I decided my Trashy Diva circle skirt in Jade Watercolor would be perfect for the trip! I paired this with a green Tatyana sweater I just got on sale in Las Vegas during our last trip there. I also paired this with Sketcher Go Walk shoes for the bits that we would be walking and, to stay warm, a pair of brown sweater tights I got from Target earlier this wear.  It was the perfect cool spring day outfit for Yosemite.

Trashy Diva Circle skirt in Jade Watercolor, Tatyana Pullover Sweater in Green- Front View

Trashy Diva Circle skirt in Jade Watercolor, Tatyana Pullover Sweater in Green- Front View