The Dressed Aesthetic

Posts Tagged“vintage inspired”

Just Swimmingly

Just Swimmingly - The Dressed Aesthetic

There is always a certain time of year that feels a bit like the eye of the storm. While summers are supposed to be relaxing, mine was chock full of book chapters and editing and teaching a summer class that nearly did my head in (but I can’t even ask you to feel sorry for me…it was all totally self-inflicted). Grades for the summer class were submitted last week and our fall semester doesn’t start until next week. So, for today at least, there is an eerie, blissful calm on the surface of the water…

Continue Reading

{Sewing} The Bees Knees

{Sewing} The Bees Knees - The Dressed Aesthetic

When I was young, my sister and I would go away to camp every summer for a week of morning calisthenics, capture the flag, and (to this day) some of the best food I’ve ever eaten (I think food just tastes better outdoors). This one summer, my sister was assigned to be counselor for the same cabin I was assigned to. And, while you might think chaos would ensue, I think it was one of the most magical weeks of camp I could ever remember. We had that perfect combination of people bunking up to our cabin, where everyone got…

Continue Reading

{Review} Cherry Picked by Maison Murasaki

Cherry Picked by Maison Murasaki - The Dressed Aesthetic

One of the reasons why I love vintage so much is because I feel like, in many ways, it finds me. Although I am always on the hunt, finding the perfect dress in the perfect moment never feels like an accident. Rather, it always seems fated that we would meet. Like I was somehow cherry picked from the crowd to be her temporary guardian, before she gently passes to the next chapter of her story.

Continue Reading

Head in the Clouds

Head in the Clouds - The Dressed Aesthetic

Have you ever noticed that a certain degree of frenzied madness is almost always followed by what I will affectionately call The Blob Phase. I’m sure you know what I mean… Where you push yourself to the limit, shocked at what you are able to accomplish, only to subsequently devolve into a pile of goo. On such occasions, I find myself with my head in the clouds more often than not, where even the thought of writing an email feels like too much.

Continue Reading

{Sewing} Grapes of Wrath

{Sewing} Grapes of Wrath - The Dressed Aesthetic

During quarantine, I think it’s safe to say a lot of us have taken to our creature comforts. My weakness has always been wine – I love coming home from a long day to a beautiful glass of cab sauv, kicking off my heels and sharing my day with my Mister. Now that we’re home all day, there are no shoes to kick off and Mr. D already knows the happs because…well…he was there. But, there is still that perfect glass of wine….

Continue Reading

Rejoining the World

Rejoining the World - The Dressed Aesthetic

We are creatures of habit. I am definitely one who likes to have a rhythm and a routine, with a clear order to the way my world is structured. And even if the order is less than ideal (aka, months and months of isolation due to a pandemic), I will always find away to work within a certain set of parameters. But, I admit I’m less adept at the shift change…

Continue Reading

The Giving Tree

The Giving Tree - The Dressed Aesthetic

When I was little, one of my favorite books was The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein. If you’ve never read it, it’s a story about a boy and a tree who are the best of friends. As the boy gets older, he spends less and less time with the tree, only to return at subsequent intervals to lament his life and seek happiness. The tree gives and gives of herself to the boy…from her apples, to her branches, leaving nothing but a stump at the end for the boy to sit on. But, with each gift, it ends with the…

Continue Reading

{Sewing} Making Waves

{Sewing} Making Waves: The Great Wave by Hokusai - The Dressed Aesthetic

The ocean and I have always had a pretty tight bond. When I was a kid, you couldn’t drag me out of the waves on summertime trips to the beach. I’d swim until my fingers were prunes and my shoulders were crispy from the sun, not even minding the water was freezing cold (I grew up in New England after all). The sea was also my biggest source of inspiration – being lucky enough to know what I wanted to do at a really early age, I always kept one eye on the ocean…knowing it held my future. And nowadays,…

Continue Reading

Flying Sew-lo

Garden of Eden - The Dressed Aesthetic

I’ve definitely had the sewing bug this past year. While I’ve been sewing for many years now, COVID has absolutely reignited something in me that has me cranking out more and more challenging projects. While I might have been a bit intimidated to tackle something before, there is definitely a “what have I got to lose?” mentality when I start to research a new piece.

Continue Reading