Author: Lindy Shopper

Vintage jazz dancer, DJ, songbird, blogger

Green flapper dress

This dress is bright green. BRIGHT GREEN. I think it’s awesome, but then I love anything green. 🙂 I love the bead work that goes into these dresses, and that the detail on the under-slip is so complimentary to the dress (and meant to be seen, but not seen). Perhaps you are looking for a dress to wear to the Jazz Age Lawn Party on Governor’s Island or a dress to wear on New Year’s Eve at Lindy Focus? The bidding is only at $36 right now, but if you get this dress for under $100 it will be a steal!

Anthropologie cherries dress

Oh, this dress! It is a truly exquisite piece from Anthropologie – the little cherries are made with wonderful embroidery techniques, the skirt is twirly with an additional layer of flounce at the green gingham on the bottom, it is made of a wonderful lightweight cotton, there is elastic smocking in the back for a more custom fit, the gingham has green piping, and there is a wonderful fabric covered button front and center on the chest.

I purchased this dress in 2002 from eBay, after pining over it in the Anthropologie catalog, and wore it for years until it no longer fit. There are so many happy memories of the ECU Swing Dance Club and dances at the Durham Armory in this dress! Once it was time to say goodbye, I listed it on eBay and it promptly sold for more than I had paid for it – not only is it gorgeous, it’s a sound clothing investment.

I am showing a picture of me wearing this dress, circa 2003, because the dress form in the eBay auction picture doesn’t really fill out the dress and it’s always better to see it on real person. If I hadn’t sworn off halter dresses, I’d keep this auction to myself. 😉

Sock Dreams

Socks are a critical part of every swing dancer’s wardrobe, regardless of gender. I stumbled upon this fantastic website devoted to socks, called Sock Dreams. I was specifically looking for striped socks for men, but I was delighted to see that this site does not differentiate its sock genders:

“What is it that makes a sock specifically a man’s sock? We’ve long wondered this and avoided the label for years, but here it is, our “Men’s socks” section. These are socks that our suppliers label as “Men’s” plus some others that fit the niche…”

It’s a free-for-all!

Socks for men and women – take your pick from their wide selection of excellent socks. Here are a few of my favorites:

A classic chevron sock that comes in an array of conservative and not-so-conservative colors.
Fairisle socks, multiple colors to choose from.
Stripes! More colors!
Circuit boards...certainly not in the vintage style, but I know enough techie Lindy Hoppers that this was a necessary post. They are also in classic two-tone.
Sock garters. These always make me think of old cartoons...
Argyle socks are the hotness! More colors on the website.
More argyle hotness!
Floral lace trouser socks, more colors on website.
Dotted diamond tights.
Zurich texture tights.

Urban Outfitters, May 2010 Catalog

I got the Urban Outfitters catalog in the mail yesterday and was pleasantly surprised at the offerings. Lately I felt like Urban had gone astray, focusing on clothing items that look like something I could find at Goodwill and would never wear (as opposed to items I could find at Goodwill and would definitely wear) or it was just more of the same hipster garb I already had in my closet. However, they appear to be coming out of this sort of ratty, gross phase and are offering some really interesting pieces, including clothing and shoes that appear to be dance-worthy. I began dog-earring the pages of my catalog immediately and, upon closer inspection of the website there are even more pretty things for guys and gals, more than I am posting here. Here’s what I liked:

The catalog showed these shoes in black, with black fishnets and painted toes - very hot! They come in a hot pink, too. 😉
Chiffon lady dress - maybe to go with those pink t-straps? Also comes in blue and gray.
Loving all this chiffon - this one comes in a berry stripe, too!
Nice detailing on the puff sleeve - comes in several prints.

Chiffon drop waist dress. I love that they have the models twirling in some of these dresses to show off the fluid skirts!

Art Deco inspired tank
Tap shorts!
For the guys, I liked these sneakers with a sort of cross-hatch fabric.
An interesting take on the saddle shoe, for men.
Classic Bass saddle shoe
Stripey socks! They also have argyle and plaid.
Straw fedora, comes in four colors.