Posts Tagged“fashion”

{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.

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…

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.

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.

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.

Wouldn’t It Be Lovely

Wouldn't It Be Lovely - The Dressed Aesthetic

I have finally returned from my crazy trek around the world and am wallowing a bit in my jet lag and post-travel cold (that I always seem to get). A whopping 36 hours in transit isn’t the most pleasant experience, but I have to say I still marvel at how small the world has become. How I can get on an airplane (okay 4) and miraculously find myself on the opposite side of the planet. And how liberating that feeling is. As though anywhere – and anything – is within reach.

Lust List #12

Lust List #12 - The Dressed Aesthetic

Valentine’s Day has passed and my birthday is a comin’! I guess that’s the way I justify all of my internet browsing and wishlist building (not that I ever really need an occasion). There’s always a bit of a pause after Christmas, and then the cyber-floodgates open and my favorite sites are all bursting with amazing things! Which means a new monthly Lust List coming fresh to your doorstep. his month’s Lust List has no particular theme, except for the fact that they’re all items I’ve been swooning over. I have to say, creating virtual wish lists (almost) curbs the need…

The Children’s Hour

The Children's Hour - The Dressed Aesthetic

There’s a certain time of day referred to as “The Children’s Hour”, which is that moment just between the end of day and the start of night. It’s origin’s were in a poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, published in 1860, where just before sunset was described as “A pause in the day’s occupations.” Though the poem is essentially about a father and his children, there was always something so melancholy to me about it. As if we can stop time before darkness falls. As if we can spot our long gone innocence in that moment, before we have to go and…