Jitterbuggin on Etsy

This post was written by Lindy Shopper.

I love the initiative and creativity of those seamstresses and tailors who take vintage patterns and make them come alive again. Etsy seller Jitterbuggin is one of these talented people who create garments of the past in the present, and adds her own bit of whimsy through her pattern and fabric selections.

Of particular interest is Jitterbuggin’s profile: “I am a dancer and stage performer with an enthusiastic interest for fun clothes. I make quality ready to wear ranging in eras, styles and sizes. I use vintage materials when I can and often substitute with vintage reprints. Almost every garment is a one of a kind creation. My garments are made with “danceability” and modern comforts in mind while staying true to the glamor of the eras.” Dancers making clothes for dancers is always a good idea, especially when considering cut, construction, and fabric selections.

Here are some of my favorites from the Jitterbuggin Etsy site:

il_430xN.111039281 — Red jumper and sailor blouse

il_430xN.138762977 — 1940's Hollywood style skirt

il_430xN.121976977 — Anchors and stars playshorts

il_430xN.151881046 — 1930's style halter top

1930’s/40’s Green Velvet Party Dress

This post was written by Lindy Shopper.

It is so hard for me to resist vintage velvet – nothing is softer, silkier, or more delectable. It drapes like charmeuse and feels like a kitten. The season for wearing velvet seems so small in comparison to the amount of time I would like to be wearing velvet.

Perhaps you are contemplating your New Year’s Eve outfit for Lindy Focus or a special holiday dance? I would recommend this lovely dress (and if I’m posting this kind of love, you know it’s not in my size), a 1930’s/40’s green velvet party dress from eBay seller love_kats. The draping, the sleeves, the rhinestones on the bodice…and the twirl potential on this skirt looks really promising! There are a few noted minor flaws and some mending, but I can tell you from several vintage velvet purchases that these kinds of repairs and conditions have been universal for my purchases and have not detracted from the garment, nor been difficult to repair. Love. This. Dress.

RetroSpect’d Clothing: Reproduction 1940’s and 1950’s Clothing for Guys and Girls

This post was written by Lindy Shopper.

I first happened upon RetroSpect’d Clothing at All Balboa Weekend 2009, as it was one of the vendors setting up shop outside the ballroom. I heard that a contingency of Australian dancers had come with garments stuffed into each of their suitcases so that the company could sell clothing at ABW. As usual, I was waiting with anticipation as the garments were put onto the racks and quickly made my selections, then headed to the bathroom to try things on.

I left the bathroom with one of the most universally flattering dresses I own – Retrospect’d’s 1943 dress in red crepe. Several other girls, of varying sizes and shapes also tried this dress on and it was simply the most flattering dress on everyone, giving the illusion of or accentuating a tiny waist. A flirty skirt, expert fit, cute tucks and gathers, a simplicity of form, crepe material, and sleeves make this dress easy to wear for a variety of occasions year-round.

Guys always seem to be looking for pants and Retrospect’d has two pairs of reproduction pants to choose from: the New Yorkers and the Californias. The New Yorkers feature (and pardon my lack of menswear knowledge, Lindy Dandy might correct me later 😉 ) a tab front pant with pleats, cuffs, and buttons for suspenders and comes in 5 classic menswear fabrics. The Californias have a similar wide leg and cuffs, but accommodate a more relaxed, belted look.

There are lots of other fun things for sale, including vintage repro jeans, adorable 1940’s shorts, ladies’ pants, a bevy of colorful dresses, men’s shirts, full skirts, wrap tops, ladylike blouses, and the infamous ski bunny knit top.

doublebuttonpants — 40's Double Button Pants

One, two, button your shoe…

This post was written by Lindy Shopper.

You know you’ve looked at the Remix Vintage Shoes website too many times when you spot a cute ensemble and know exactly which pair of Remix shoes you’d pair with it. This time, I’ve spotted a dress that would look good with two styles – this brown and tan/gray “Hazelwood” dress from ModCloth may be vintage-inspired, but the clean lines on the dress also look very modern to me. This could also be the jump start for your Fall dance and/or work wardrobe, no?

However, without great accessories, this dress falls short of stellar. Two pairs of Remix Vintage Shoes came to mind: depending on how well the color blends, both the “Beverly” and the “Zurich” look like they would pair well with the Hazelwood dress. Now that I have this pairing together, I’m thinking maybe one of the brown on brown combos would look good as well…so many shoes, so little disposable income. 😉

Red Gingham 1940’s Dress

This post was written by Lindy Shopper.

Another adorable gingham dress, for your viewing pleasure, this time in red gingham. This 1940’s rayon crepe dress has layered sleeves and a peplum with fabric on the bias. Peplum and gingham on the same dress! Fortunately, that horrible black flower pin is not included with the dress…as we learned from Project Runway this week, styling is half the battle.

Old Dress, New Dress

This post was written by Lindy Shopper.

I couldn’t come up with a catchy name for this post, but I liken it to those sections in fashion magazines that are “Real v. Steal,” only the comparison here is old v. new. How does an older dress translate to a newer dress? Here, primarily through the use of fabric and trimmings. The old version is a belted 1940’s dress being sold on eBay, with black piping, buttons, and belt. The new version is from Trashy Diva who created this “early 1940’s inspired dress” from a similar fabric to the old one, with black button and belt buckle detailing, giving it a similar feel to the vintage dress. Overall, the effect of both dresses is very cool and I’d love to see more of this color scheme on the dance floor.

1469DE0114CC4CB2A7175515C403E4FD — Old Dress - 1940's

sweetieMINIBOWS1 — New Dress - 1940's-inspired

The J. Peterman Company

This post was written by Lindy Shopper.

By way of Lindy Dandy, today’s featured retailer is the J. Peterman Company. Although I can’t help thinking of Seinfeld when I see this name, the J. Peterman Company is anything but a parody, offering “high-quality men’s, women’s, home and one-of-a-kind merchandise,” “traveling the world to find uncommonly good stuff.” Sounds like a fantastic job, right? Where does Lindy Shopper sign up?

There are definitely a lot of items with a nod to vintage in the catalog, made to look even more so with the help of the catalog’s hand-drawn illustrations of the clothing (which, themselves, look like a nod to vintage pattern drawings in the way that they are shaded). I’m trying to decide if the hand-drawn illustrations of the clothes are helpful or not. Generally, clothes are modeled by someone who is tall and rail thin, so it’s hard to tell how it will fit in that instance as well. In any case, the clothes are beautifully sketched and it is a novel way to present them.

I am particularly in love with the 1947 plaid dress and the seersucker sailor pants for women and their men’s pants and striped shirts.

2683-OFFWHITE — Embroidered Cummerbund Dress

Groupon for Shabby Apple Today!

This post was written by Lindy Shopper.

Today’s Groupon for the Washington, D.C.-Montgomery County area is for Shabby Apple, which I blogged about earlier this month – how serendipitous! $40 gets you $100 worth of Shabby Apple’s lovely, vintage-inspired clothing. You don’t have to live in the D.C. area to partake, as the discount is for shopping at the Shabby Apple website. Thanks to Allyson for posting the Groupon to Lindy Shopper and for sharing this amazing discount!

1920’s Dresses on eBay

This post was written by Lindy Shopper.

Enough things have popped up this week from the 1920’s with low starting bids (most under $30) that a post was necessary!

20sBEADEDflapperdress-1 — Beaded Art Deco dress with matching scarf

!ByQTBs!B2k~$(KGrHqEOKm4Ew8sNJnYCBMQ6IySzy!~~_12 — Lovely lavender cotton dress

526154_1 — Silk crepe dress with shawl collar - easy mend on seam in back

!B)yWKUg!mk~$(KGrHqEOKnIEvyFrw6PUBMO9QFMTpw~~_12 — Gray/beige sequin dress

20sPEACHfloralchiffondress — Peach dress with floral embroidery

!B)-Y6wgCWk~$(KGrHqN,!i8Ew5R(JC95BMPymgZYzw~~0_12 — Black sheer beaded dress

Graphic Plaid 1930’s Dress

This post was written by Lindy Shopper.

If you haven’t guessed it by now, I love plaid in its varying forms (hello, gingham!), but it’s really hard to do larger plaids well. I prefer large plaids if they are graphic and are made into a well-tailored garment, just like this plaid dress that I found on eBay today.

The styling on this is adorable – the little hat, the belt, the pixie haircut… I also love the bows down the front, and the subtle detail that the plaids are symmetrical from the back of the dress, both horizontal and on the diagonal (you’ll have to click on the link to see the back, I couldn’t get the photo off the auction page), which makes this dress a really cool piece of clothing.

Shabby Apple

This post was written by Lindy Shopper.

Special thanks to Julie and Elizabeth for directing me to Shabby Apple, whose dresses are in several categories in my book – vintage-inspired, dance-worthy, clean lines, and work-appropriate. That last category is critical – if I can wear it to work and to dances, I can probably justify paying a bit more for the garment because I’ll get more miles out of it. I can see me getting a lot of miles out of some of these lovely dresses!

That these dresses are work-appropriate is entirely based on the owners’ desire to have stylish dresses that cover enough skin to make them feel comfortable. In their search for these dresses, they discovered that the problem was not that stores were not buying these clothes, but that the designers were not designing these clothes. Necessity is the mother of invention, so Shabby Apple decided to make these dresses that did not seem to exist!

The web site also makes a good point about these dresses – it’s an all in one outfit. You don’t have to buy any camisoles to go underneath or cardigans to go on top, you just have to buy the dress. In these tough economic times, it seems that the dress is the wardrobe saver in more ways than one.

I should also note that I keep running across companies who have great products and a social conscience, and Shabby Apple is no exception. Shabby Apple partners with Unitus, a non-profit organization that “accelerates access to life-changing financial services for those at the bottom of the economic pyramid. Shabby Apple donates 5% of its net dress sales to support work in India (where Shabby Apple Dresses has sourced many of its dresses and the textiles used to manufacture its dresses). In addition, each Shabby Apple Dresses customer has the opportunity to donate an extra five dollars to Unitus every time she buys a dress. Shabby Apple Dresses and Unitus are involved with 10 of India’s most promising microfinance organizations that provide financial services to more than 1.6 million hard-working women and their families. Every $100 donation from Shabby Apple Dresses provides at least 20 women with access to financial services – and the chance to live a life without poverty.”

There are a bevy of dresses to love, so let’s get started:

588_1_ — Liz and Darcy Dress (in 9 colors!)

1930’s/40’s Party Dress

This post was written by Lindy Shopper.

I am smitten with this red and black party dress posted by Violetville Vintage on eBay. The tucks on the bodice, the short puffed sleeves, the swing skirt, the matching belt, and the shiny applique detail on the bodice and skirt make this dress look perfect for just about any swing dance. It’s fancy, but not TOO fancy, and has just the right amount of detail to make it special.

The dress is pinned to the model, so keep that in mind when you are looking at fit and be sure to note that the garment’s actual measurements are larger than the model.

(Small soapbox) I have hesitated in the past to post about Violetville Vintage because the auctions are all Buy It Now and the base price for their 1930’s and 1940’s starts at $150 and goes way up from there. Admittedly, the dress I posted here is pricey. I do think that they have some beautiful items, but they are not any more remarkable than other eBay stores and auctions I have seen for vintage items. I also notice that many of their items are relisted over and over because no one is buying them (I assume because of the price). Of these items that are relisted, there are several I would purchase if the listing price went down. Surely the cost of relisting these items adds up – wouldn’t it be easier to just list them at a lower price in the first place and let people bid for the items to determine their value? *sigh* I love your clothes, Violetville, but not that much. (Steps off soapbox)

To end on a higher note, Violetville has an extensive inventory and tons of items from more recent decades at very reasonable prices. I would encourage you to peruse their eBay inventory, because it is rather remarkable.

Bettie Page Clothing

This post was written by Lindy Shopper.

It is unclear to me whether or not the real Bettie Page endorses this website or does anything other than inspire the fashion, but, intellectual property issues aside, the Bettie Page Clothing website is full of vintage inspired clothing of the Bettie era. The site offers two lines of clothing – the original Bettie Page line, with 1950’s reproductions and inspired fashions, or the Violated line, which offers “edgier, more contemporary dresses.” Either way, the results are adorable and a little spunky, kind of like Miss Page herself.

Here are some of my picks from the site:

index — Embroidery, buttons, cinched waist, and pockets!

Polka Dot and Peplum

This post was written by Lindy Shopper.

More peplums spotted! A spotted peplum even. 🙂

Mod Cloth posted its “Parade Watching Dress” today, complete with navy and white polka dots and a flouncy peplum over a straight skirt. They go even further and suggest pairing the dress with “a straw boater, scrunched ankle socks, and sweet oxfords.” Yes!

On the Sunny Beach of Peppermint Bay

This post was written by Lindy Shopper.

I love this dress on eBay made of fabric that looks like flowers and peppermints at the same time!

I’ve watched some other great items from the same seller, buddhaboogie – isn’t that George Gee’s handle?