Dress Review: Trashy Diva's Wine Dots

Dots are my solid

I love prints. So much so that I hardly ever wear or buy solid colored dresses. But there comes a time when I just want to wear something more neutral than a super fun novelty print or a feminine floral. So what's a print loving gal to do? Gravitate towards dots! I love how polka dots are fun yet can still be neutral. And Trashy Diva's Wine Dots are a perfect combination of just that-- fun yet neutral. The maroon background with cream color dots reads a bit more like brown when worn-- not that the dress looks brown, but just that that's the color that comes to mind when you see it/wear it in person.

While I loved this print the first time it was released several months back, I initially decided to pass on it because a) I already have this print in the Trashy Diva Ashley blouse from the first run when this print was first released in silk, and also b) let's face it, I have a LOT of dresses and not just a lot of dresses but a lot of polka dot dresses. True, I didn't have a wine dot dress and true, I love Trashy Diva so much, but I was and am still trying to control myself and be a little better with my spending. However, when I saw that Retro Glam was having a boxing day sale that made it possible to snag this dress for 40% off I knew it was too good a deal to pass up! Especially when I figured that with the exchange rate from Canada this dress was already marked lower than it was being sold at Trashy Diva for and shipping was actually cheaper buying from them rather than buying from Trashy Diva directly. Anyway, long story short, I bought it. I don't regret it. And now I have a new dress to review for you all here :)

Initially, if I were to have any pick out of the Wine Dots collection, I would have gone with the Camilla dress. I'm such a sucker for flutter sleeves. However, this was not a dress that was being stocked at Retro Glam so I grabbed it in my second choice instead, the ever trusty 40's dress.

I love Trashy Diva's 40's dresses. They are perhaps on my top three list of favorite cuts by them. They are so easy to throw on and look fabulous without much work or fuss. They feature a flattering a-line skirt, fitted waist, a v neckline at the front and back, and gorgeous ruching at the under bust, shoulders, and back which give the top visual interest without being too overwhelming. Also, they have a back zip which means it's easy to get on. This print came in a lovely soft stretch rayon which many ladies have suggest feels like butter. What I love about this fabric in the 40's dress is that because of the stretch you can really get a perfect fit. Where it used to be with the flat rayon or rayon crepe de chine 40's dresses that the sides at the bust might billow a bit or the shoulders might slide, now instead, this dress fits like a dream.

Trashy Diva 1940's dress in Wine Dots- Front View

Trashy Diva 1940's dress in Wine Dots- Front View

Trashy Diva 1940's dress in Wine Dots- Side View

Trashy Diva 1940's dress in Wine Dots- Back View

Trashy Diva 1940's dress in Wine Dots- Close Up

Trashy Diva Wine Dots- Close Up (sorry this came out a bit blurry)

Dress Review: Black Friday Haul!

I wasn't kidding when I said I have quite a backlog of blog posts to catch up on! 

This was from way back in early December, when Christmas decorations were still up and my hair was still long, but I definitely wanted to be sure to get this post out eventually.

I love Black Friday! As with most of us shopaholic vintage repro lovers, it is my favorite shopping day of the year! I look forward to it every year, planning and plotting what I will be going after during this (usually) biggest sale of the year. And so here is my haul. I'm actually surprised I stayed as good as I did this year and went after just a few things I've really been after! (and one impulse-ish buy) :)


Trashy Diva 1940's dress Psychedelic Ferns 

Trashy Diva's Psychedelic Ferns collection came out back in August of 2016 and was one I had decided on right away to skip. I was weary of the "psychedelic" component of this dress. Just how bright/neon was this green? Also, by all accounts on Trashy Diva's website, this print was also described as being a 70's inspiration print. Now, I love 70's geek and swoon over some of the looks in Mad Men's later season as well as swooned over a lot of the 70's looks Modcloth was putting together for Fall 2016, but 70's psychedelic wasn't really my cup of tea. It wasn't until Halloween started to approach that I started to see this print in a whole new light... a la Oogie Boogie from Nightmare Before Christmas. All of a sudden, this dress was starting to look like a perfect October or darker mood year round dress. And so, that is all it took for me to really want to have it! However, I still had my (slight) reservations, and bid my time until Black Friday hit in hopes of scoring this dress on sale.

When I got this dress in the mail I was happy to see that while the green ferns were bright, they weren't too insanely neon or anything. That in combination with the black background and the classic 1940's cut, and all my fears and weariness of a serious psychedelic 70's look were banished from my thoughts.

This dress is made with a thicker and sturdier feeling stretch rayon that Trashy Diva's been liking to use on their dresses this year (if you are familiar with their other collections, think Ruffled Feathers, Venice Nights, Wine Dots, and Love Birds). Honestly, it's not my favorite fabric Trashy Diva's been using (I find it just a little too comfortable perhaps which oddly makes me feel a little frumpy) but in the 1940's cut it actually works so well! Because of the stretch I feel like the structure of the dress is really staying on and fits everywhere it's supposed to. No shoulders sliding down, not too much billowiness at the bust and sides that you can often get with the regular rayon or Crepe de Chine that past 1940's have usually come out in. Taking my usual size for Trashy Diva dresses, I found this dress to fit very comfortably, fitting snug without being too tight. Oddly, I got the same exact size in the same cut in the Ruffled Feathers print (another stretch rayon) and found this one to fit slightly looser which is what I prefer.

A bit about the cut... the 1940's dress is one of my favorite cuts by Trashy Diva. I love the classic look of it. I find it's one of the easiest to wear, throw-on-and-go-and-look-fabulous dresses that Trashy Diva makes. Sure you might need to pin the cleavage closed a bit sometime or wear a cami underneath for modestly but other than that, once it's on it's a pretty non fussy dress. It has a back zip and plenty of cute tiny pleating to keep it visually interesting on top. However, no pockets on this beauty.

Overall, I'm super happy with this dress and all the more happy that I was able to bid my time and get it on a sale especially considering my reservations about it initially.

Trashy Diva 1940's dress in Psychedelic Ferns- Front View

Trashy Diva 1940's dress in Psychedelic Ferns- Front View

Trashy Diva 1940's dress in Psychedelic Ferns- Side View

Trashy Diva 1940's dress in Psychedelic Ferns- Back View

Trashy Diva 1940's dress in Psychedelic Ferns- Close Up

Candice Gwinn Fontaine Coat Dress in Dark Blue Ribbed Rayon

The Trashy Diva coat has been on my wishlist since it first hit Trashy Diva's website back in the winter of 2016. While I have a million coats already and while I know I don't usually rotate my coats too often, I still really wanted this coat. It's so great to have a dress length coat to wear with retro style dresses. All the better that this is a distinctively 1940's style coat to wear with 1940's style dresses! And so I bid my time on this one and decided to buy if I could during the sale, since I didn't really need it. I have to say though, that this coat exceeded all my expectations! And that's coming from someone who knows just how detail oriented and stunning Trashy Diva coats tend to be.

This dress is made from a heavier weight ribbed rayon fabric with lots of black velvet detail at the collar, cuffs, folded over pockets, buttons and belt. The top portion and arms of the coat are lined in a thick weight rayon/acetate material so it's not going to keep you super warm in you're in an area that snows but for most of our winters here in Northern California where the temperature doesn't get too much lower than 50-55 degrees F generally during the day and about 40 degrees F at night, this coat will keep you warm enough. As is usual with Trashy Diva's coats, there is a snap button and a hook and eye at the waist to keep everything looking polished without any button gaping. I sized up one from my usual size in this and found there was plenty of room to wear layered with my dresses.

Trashy Diva Fontaine Coat Dress in Dark Blue Ribbed Rayon- Front View

Trashy Diva Fontaine Coat Dress in Dark Blue Ribbed Rayon- Front View

Trashy Diva Fontaine Coat Dress in Dark Blue Ribbed Rayon- Side View

Trashy Diva Fontaine Coat Dress in Dark Blue Ribbed Rayon, snap button and hoop and eye detail- Close Up

Trashy Diva Fontaine Coat Dress in Dark Blue Ribbed Rayon, snap button and hoop and eye detail- Close Up

Trashy Diva Fontaine Coat Dress in Dark Blue Ribbed Rayon, Velvet detail- Close Up

Lindy Bop Gilda Swing dress in San Francisco Print

This Lindy Bop dress was a last minute spur of the moment purchase around Black Friday. I'm including it here with my Black Friday purchases even though sadly there wasn't much going on for sales at Lindy Bop at the time and I ended up paying full price for this. (Perhaps it's because they are a UK based company that they didn't participate too much in Black Friday?) Anyhow, for the price I did pay for this dress, I was extremely happy with what I ended up getting.

From my past experiences with Lindy Bop, I have found that while they have great prices on dresses, you never know what you will end up getting in terms of quality both in manufacturing and in fabric. This dress ended up being a resounding success though! The fabric on this dress is the softest cotton I've ever felt on a dress (actually 97% 3% elastane). It also has a great sturdy feel to it. The dress is fully lined, even at the skirt, which is one of my favorite things on dresses! It features front functioning buttons, cute cap sleeves, a side zip, and pockets. The skirt displays a mid century style border print of San Francisco which was the real selling point to me! I can't wait to wear this dress out to the city on the next warmish day I'm out there! I love that the skirt on this dress is pleated at the waist as well which helps showcase the print better rather than a gathered styled skirt.

I wasn't sure what size to order in this dress because I've heard that Lindy Bop's sizing can be all over the place. To add confusion of their sizing system, while all their dresses come in UK sizing and are labeled as such on their UK website, their US website labels their sizing as S, M, L, XL etc. for which the sizing doesn't completely translate... Is L a UK size 12, 14 or 16? Because I was so unsure about the sizing and because this dress has front buttons (and potential gaping problems) I opted to go with a size up from what I usually would buy from other companies. It did end up being a bit large on me. Thankfully though, it does seem a belt helps. If you are looking to get this dress I'd recommend ordering your usual size. Overall though, I am highly impressed with this dress and will definitely try Lindy Bop again if they keep impressing me with cute prints and cuts like this one!

Lindy Bop Gilda swing dress in San Francisco print- Front View

Lindy Bop Gilda swing dress in San Francisco print- Front View

Lindy Bop Gilda swing dress in San Francisco print- Side View

Lindy Bop Gilda swing dress in San Francisco print- Back View

Lindy Bop Gilda swing dress in San Francisco print with added belt- Front View

Lindy Bop Gilda swing dress in San Francisco print with added belt- Side View

Lindy Bop Gilda swing dress in San Francisco print with added belt- Back View

Lindy Bop Gilda swing dress in San Francisco print- Close Up

Lindy Bop Gilda swing dress in San Francisco print- Close Up

Lindy Bop Gilda swing dress in San Francisco print- Close Up

Outfit of the Day: At the Aquarium with Anne Rice

On Friday the week before last, I got to meet Anne Rice!

She was at the Aquarium of the Bay in San Francisco doing a book signing for her new book Prince Lestat and the Realms of Atlantis.


Outfit of the Day:

Because I thought it was a cute idea that she was doing her Atlantis book signing at the Aquarium, I decided to wear my trashy Diva 40's dress in Deep Sea coral to play along with that theme! I paired this with a vintage Navy sequined cardigan which I got earlier this year from Etsy. To keep warm, I paired this with light beige sweater tights from Target from a couple years ago and though not pictured a beige wool wrap coat also from Target from a couple years ago. Because I knew we'd be getting into some walking I wore a pair of navy flats by Rocket Dog from Zappos from a couple years ago.

Trashy Diva 40's dress in Deep Sea Coral- Front View

Trashy Diva 40's dress in Deep Sea Coral- Side View

With Anne Rice at the Aquarium of the Bay, San Francisco!

At the Aquarium of the Bay, San Francisco, CA

I'm looking forward to starting Anne Rice's new book! But first, I'm reading Heretics of Dune by Frank Herbert (the fifth book in the Dune series) before I let too much time pass between the last time I read Dune book #4 and this one.


Are you a book lover? What book are you currently reading?

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

Matching Your Dress To Your Teaware Part 28: Into the Sea

“I am longing to be with you, and by the sea, where we can talk together freely and build our castles in the air.”
― Bram Stoker, Dracula

Now that we are at the end of the last full month of the summer, I wanted to end things with a sea themed Perfect Pairing.

Last year Trashy Diva released their Deep Sea Coral print, a gorgeous novelty print. It is everything I love most about novelty prints- it's a little quirky, yet decidedly more mature than other vintage repro novelty prints out there. I love that it's on a dark background and I also love that it isn't too busy, both which help in giving it a somber feeling. This somberness transfers into elegance as one takes in the corals, shells, and minimal sea floor. From the way the print is illustrated, the corals seem to sway gently in this darkest quiet corner of the sea floor. The bubbles in the print give the print just the tiniest touch of whimsy and keeps this quirky somber elegant print fantastical rather than menacing.

Deep Sea Coral print by Trashy Diva- Close Up

Trashy Diva 40's dress in Deep Sea Coral Print

Like the Deep Sea Coral print by Trashy Diva, the Ebb Tide Pink and Turquoise Teapot by Hull found on Replacements.com perfectly illustrates the elegance and beauty of the sea. Moving up from the sea floor, finding ourselves at the shore, an ebb tide occurs between high tide and low tide when water is flowing away from the shore. I image a gentle day as the waves moves up touching the shore, then moves back out tickling the sand, the waves unfailingly crashing and receding, gently swaying and moving. The soft and varied color on this teapot bring to mind an early morning or early evening, like the ebb tide, a moment in between. A little bit quirky and whimsical, yet elegant and so graceful, this teapot is the most genital and refreshing dawn or dusk at the sea embodied.

Hull Ebb Tide Pink and Turquoise teapot, image source, Replacements.com: http://search.replacements.com/search/?query=hull+teapot+ebb+tide