The Dressed Aesthetic

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{Review}: Sweet Defeat

{Review}: Sweet Defeat - The Dressed Aesthetic

Ladies, I have something crazy to confess: I’m really not all that fussed about chocolate. It’s not that I dislike it, but I can kind of take it or leave it. In the interest of full disclosure, I’m the girl who can eat 3 M&M’s. Who shrugs in the face of brownies. Who manages to make her Christmas chocolate last for months (you may all hate me now). However, despite my lack of sweet tooth, I was sweetly defeated the moment this Chocolatier Grab Bag from Vendula London came across my radar…

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A Modern Fairy Tale

A Modern Fairy Tale - The Dressed Aesthetic

Heading back home after another whirlwind trip, staring blearily into the screen as I recover from the the 30+ hour flight path. As glamorous as travel sounds (and truthfully, can sometimes be), nothing sounds better to me right now than my own bed, a glass of single malt, and a husband to laugh with. Perhaps that is my personal version of a fairy tale – no White Knight needed for this gal (though I can get behind the bejeweled footwear aspect). And despite the allure of pumpkins and the ballgowns and the woodland creatures helping me get dressed, all I really need…

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{Sewing}: The Counterdanse

{Sewing}: The Counterdanse - The Dressed Aesthetic

My latest sewing project started as so many often do: with an Idea. At a few points in my vintage hunting, I would come across vintage painted mexican skirts or vintage square dancing skirts that had images of dancing couples, with the figures wearing actual miniature skirts. I was so smitten with the 3D quality of them – the idea that there was a miniature world within the skirt, like when you hold up two mirrors opposite each other, creating smaller and smaller landscapes inside.

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Lust List #13

Lust List #13 - The Dressed Aesthetic

With Easter nearly upon us, I can’t help but swoon over all of the pastel, floral, and frothy confections floating around the net. Though most will find me crazy, I don’t crave chocolate and am not particularly excited about the sweet-tooth side of the holidays (a few chocolate eggs and I’m happy). But the confections that I can wear? THAT is just eggs-cellent…. hanks to the loveliest of family and friends, quite a few items from my birthday wishlist made it to my front door and straight into my closet! On the heels of those spoils, this Lust List is just a…

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The Earth Laughs in Flowers

The Earth Laughs in Flowers - The Dressed Aesthetic

One of my favorite Emerson quotes has always been, “The Earth Laughs in Flowers.” The very idea that a bud pushing through the earth is like a giggle escaping, until it reaches full bloom of laughter, always makes me smile. If Emerson is right, then this amazing Souré bag from Poppycock Vintage has succumbed to a full belly laugh, hand clenched to her side, with tears streaming down her face. And her blooms perfectly matched the smirk of this Tuesday Rose Vintage dress, who’s embroidered flowers are about to bubble over in mirth.

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Luck of the Irish

The Luck of the Irish - The Dressed Aesthetic

St. Patrick’s Day has always been one of my favorite holidays. I’m 1/4th Irish, and that translates to pale bespeckled skin, a love of Irish pubs, and endless amounts of corned beef and cabbage gobbled each year (though the whole ‘Irish temper’ thing seems to have evaded me). So, I generally bust out my favorite green frocks on 17 March without fail to celebrate and I was pretty excited with this year’s selection….

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In Profile

In Profile - The Dressed Aesthetic

I’ve had a lot of queries since the blog launched about the photo in my profile pic, which is probably one of my favorite vintage pieces of all time. I’ve seen a vintage dirndl or two in my hunting trips, but never one in blue gingham and definitely never one that fit me quite so perfectly. A dirndl is a traditional dress worn in Germany, but many a vintage garment was made in the dirndl style (apparently called Landhausmode), with a corset-like front that cinches you in and pushes the girls up to high heaven.

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Creepy Crawlies

Creepy Crawlies - The Dressed Aesthetic

I am not a huge fan of bugs (understatement, understatement). Oddly enough, rodents don’t even make me bat an eyelash, I have no issues with snakes (so long as they stay on their side of the path), and we all know I have the opposite reaction to most people when it comes to sharks. However, if there is a spider within an arm’s length of my person, I turn into a shrieking, squealing, jumping-on-a-chair mess. It’s not my proudest moment.

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