I will be the first to admit that I have a lot of dresses
I've been buying and wearing retro style dresses since about 2008. It all started with wanting to get a retro style swimsuit (I picked an Ester Williams maroon one piece, which is still one of my favorite swimsuits I own today).
It was while I was looking through the internet, looking for a retro style swimsuit, that I discovered there were tons of retro style dresses out there! So much so that when I first started buying (which started slowly then escalated quickly) I had such a hard time not wanting to by every single dress I saw and loved! Since 2008 there has only been more and more brands that have come into the picture as well as more retailers that supply them. It took a while to get there, but I'm becoming better at being selective with the dresses I buy. Over the years as well, I have gotten better at going through my closet and letting go of the dresses in my closet I want to keep and which I should get rid of because either they just weren't me, they didn't fit quite right, or for whatever reason I know I just would never wear them.
All this is just to say do not take it lightly when I say this dress is the most special dress I have in my closet!
Out of all the brands I have bought over the years I have come to find that Trashy Diva, a small dress company out of New Orleans, is my all time favorite brand. I love their designs, I love the quality of their dresses, I love that they use fabric that would have been appropriate for the period they are trying to recreate (mostly rayon, cotton and in rare instances silk), and I love that it's retro yet can totally be worn out and about without being too costumey or too "young". Because my love for Trashy Diva soon turned into an obsession, it's no surprise that over time I discovered and would pine over some of their earliest dresses. What really drew me to their earlier dresses was not so much that they were rare, or even that they were 100% silk (which is I admit completely awesome), but that some of their oldest prints were the most awesome, quirky, original, creative, and beautiful prints I have ever seen on any fabrics ever!
While there are many prints in their earlier collections that I completely admire and love, one that always stood out to me was their Hurricane Ladies print! It is a black print with grey storm clouds, rain, and little pink ladies holding pink umbrellas throughout. The story goes that Trashy Diva released this print soon after Hurricane Katrina in true New Orleanian fashion perhaps to say Hurricane Katrina happened and it was awful but it's time to rebuild and continue living.
While I have long admired this print and had it on my dream wishlist I never in my wildest dreams expected to actually ever see it in person. In my mind, there was a small part of me that believed it must be made of unicorn fur and magic! Something so beautiful must have some magic in it somewhere truly!
Well despite all odd, chances, and probability the universe shined down on me when a wonderful angel of a women contacted me and with so much extraordinary generosity, extreme kindness, and enormous thoughtfulness decided to
gift it to me!!!! I could not believe anyone in the world could be so extremely generous!!!! Words cannot describe how wonderful this women was to gift me something of so many dreams! I still cannot believe my luck or her generosity. It is a gesture and a gift that I will treasure all my life. Because of this unworldly way in which this dress came into my life, it is and will remain by far the most special dress I have in my whole closet. <3 <3 <3 I could never thank the angel of a women enough for the gift she has given me!
And I should add, this dress is everything and more than I ever imagined it to be. And yes, I am still convinced it must be made of unicorn fur and magic! Even more so them before!!!
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| Trashy Diva Trixie dress in Hurricane Ladies- Front View |
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| Trashy Diva Trixie dress in Hurricane Ladies- Front View |
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| Trashy Diva Trixie dress in Hurricane Ladies- Side View |
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| Trashy Diva Trixie dress in Hurricane Ladies- Front View |
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| Trashy Diva Trixie dress in Hurricane Ladies- Front View |
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| Trashy Diva Trixie dress in Hurricane Ladies- Side View |
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| Trashy Diva Trixie dress in Hurricane Ladies- Close Up |
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| Trashy Diva Hurricane Ladies, Close Up |
I plan on taking this beauty with me for my first ever trip to New Orleans which is a place I've wanted to go since I was in middle school obsessively reading Anne Rice's vampire chronicles, dreaming of walking through the Garden District and French Quarter, where I would imagine Lestat behind every closed door, as well as hope to find and spy on Anne Rice's house and Trent Reznor's house.
One day I'll finally make it out to New Orleans. In the meanwhile, for a first outing in my unicorn dress Tim and I went out to one of my favorite restaurants, Angeline's Lousiana Kitchen in Berkeley. I thought it was quite fitting. :)
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| Angeline's Louisiana Kitchen, Berkeley, CA |
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| Angeline's Louisiana Kitchen, Berkeley, CA |
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| Hush Puppies at Angeline's |
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| Beautiful Benigets at Angeline's! Cafe du Monde I'm coming for you next! |
