One of my favorite movies of all time has got to be Back To the Future. And not the sequels (especially not the awful one set in the Wild West). My heart belongs to the original. Doc Brown’s antics (and crazy hair). Marty McFly and his inherent awkwardness. Got to love a story where the nerd gets the girl and the bully gets what’s coming to him. But even more than what is simply an awesome adventure story, I swoon every time they travel back to the 1950’s (shocker, I know). I mean, those dresses…
While I can’t deny that Back to the Future is full of romance too, the way to my heart has and will forever be vintage. So, I was beyond excited when Wendy of Kitty Girl Vintage contacted me and wanted to collaborate on this post. I’ve been religiously stalking Wendy’s shop almost daily since my first purchase several years back. Like me, she has a penchant for 1950’s and 1960’s party dresses, and having been selling since 1998, this gal knows her stuff (she’s even a member of the Vintage Fashion Guild and Art Deco Society). Doc Brown may be a genius when it comes to flux capacitors, but I swear Wendy is the one with the time machine…
My favorite scene from Back to the Future has always been the Enchantment Under the Sea Dance. The frothy party dresses and crinolines, twirling around the gymnasium floor, with paper fishes floating above their heads and blue and silver streamers waving across the walls. And you almost can’t keep your feet from tapping when Marty starts rockin’ out Johnny B. Goode on his guitar, while couples swish and sway and fall in love in an undersea oasis.
Johnny B Goode may be where I got my first taste of 1950’s flirtation, but I found true vintage love with another Johnny. My heart belongs to none other than Jonathan Logan – a popular manufacturer of young woman’s dresses from the mid 40’s until about the mid 70’s, and one of the largest mid-century ready to wear companies. I have a whole dreamy list of favorite vintage designers. Suzy Perette. Gigi Young. Emma Domb. Pat Premo. L’Aiglon. Minx Modes. R&K Originals. Kay Selig. Alix of Miami. They created the silhouettes of the past that are still very much a piece of my present. But none steal my heart quite the way Johnny does (there’s always a Johnny, isn’t there?).
So it will come as no surprise to you all that I nearly wept with joy when this Jonathan Logan dress appeared on my doorstep from Kitty Girl Vintage, in all of his drop-waisted, sailor-inspired glory. Wrapped with care and delivered safely into my arms across the sea. And when I buttoned him up and he wrapped his arms around me as if we were made to fit together, I swooned and knew this was the start of a beautiful slow dance. If there’s one thing about Wendy’s shop you can always count on – it’s perfection in dress form.
Athough I try not to play favorites, it should be clear to you by now that there are definitely a few vintage shops that I’ve grown attached to, for the simple fact that they provide my closet with the kinds of frothy vintage confections that I would sell my eyeteeth for. Kitty Girl Vintage is and will forever be a favorite – particularly on those occasions where I need something a little special. I’ve had nothing but exceptional pieces from her (case in point here and here), and can trust her measurements to be taken with such care that I know how a dress will hug my curves long before I ever slip him on.
I sincerely get tickled when I have to opportunity to get to work with my favorite sellers, because, try as I might to see them as real people, vintage sellers live under a veil of superstardom to me. I get honestly a bit starstruck. They are the gatekeepers to the vault. Those with the magical powers to reach into the past. To tug at my vintage-loving heartstrings. I’m currently in the process of sitting on my hands and resisting this 1950s red sculptural taffeta dress, this 1950’s one shoulder floral dress, and this 1950s pink lace dress, all worthy of an Enchantment Under the Sea Dance. Ohhh vintage gods give me strength…
If you think your heart can take it, I hope you check out Kitty Girl vintage on Facebook and Etsy Shop – but don’t say I didn’t warn you (or your credit card!). Like me, you may never return from the depths of the beauty within.
Oh it had to be you, Johnny…
xoxo
Outfit Details:
Dress: c/o Kitty Girl Vintage (similar here, here & here)
Cuff: Handmade in San Diego (similar here & here)
Bag: Unique Vintage (in blue or similar)
Shoes: Steve Madden
Lip Color: Schiap
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