My favourite 50's dress

I wore my favourite 50's dress today. It is a lovely pink white and grey dress (I love those colours together!). Perfect for a summer's day. I think it is made of what they call 'polished cotton' - it is very cool and breezy and does not make me feel sweaty like some of the 60's synthetic dresses I have. As you can see, it comes with a matching bolero - very cute!

 1950's dress: 'Top Hat' Vintage, 873 High St, Thornbury, Melbourne.

White beaded necklace: Fancy Pants Vintage, Barkly St, St Kilda ($22 - not bad)
White bow shoes (kept from my debutante ball 20 years ago - I am SUCH a hoarder!)

It is very rare to find a genuine 1950's dress with a matching bolero so I was really happy to find this one. I may have paid a little too much for it ($175) but I really love it. I bought it at a lovely store called 'Top Hat' (873 High Street, Thornbury). It is owned by a real character called Michelle and the shop is full of vintage treasures. I purchased four other dresses on the day I bought this one, and the others were quite a bit cheaper (eg $75 for a 60's dress). I normally buy my vintage from etsy and ebay but I occasionally like to buy locally - there is nothing like being able to try dresses on and also I like to patronise these small shops, which are often owned by a woman who really loves vintage herself. I love meeting these people, chatting and hearing their stories.

I have also found if I find something I really love I will wear it and wear it and get good value out of it. It is funny, when I originally saw this dress I thought it was too much and put it back on the rack, but I started to dream about it in my sleep, rueing my decision, so I drove all the way back to Thornbury the next week, thinking 'If its still there I will buy it' and obviously I did (along with four other dresses!). This is actually a versatile dress as I also wear it with a white cardigan when it is a bit cooler.

I hope you also find something you love!

A close up of the lovely design on my favourite 50's dress

Vintage Suburbia's Debutante shoes from 1989! Never throw anything out!

Photos: taken by my 6 year old daughter - she is a classic!