african print Archives - Suzanne Carillo

How To Wear A Bold Print Vintage Maxi Dress

I discovered this handmade gem of a cotton maxi dress way back in April when I went to a vintage show with Shelley. We had a wonderful day checking out the vintage wears, eating and gossiping about all the bloggers we dislike.

Joking!

Or am I? Ha ha!

She wrote about it all on her fab blog Forest City Fashionista.

As you can see I’m a little bit late to the game on posting. I had to steal this photo from Shelley’s blog because I didn’t actually get a photo of us together.

#lameblogger

In the photo I’d already purchased my dress. It was the one item I bought at the show. I had a brilliant cobalt blue hat in my hands almost immediately upon entering and then made the mistake of putting it down. Within seconds it was gone. You can’t hesitate when you’re at one of these shows.

They had lots of lovely outfits and dresses at the show, but it was difficult to try them on, (you had to wait in line in the bathroom) and they were quite expensive. This dress fell into my price range at only $26. A far cry from the £2 that Curtise and Vix, the vintage experts are accustomed to paying, but still reasonable when the vast majority of other dresses at the show were well over $100.

This dress was touch and go size-wise. It fits me better when I go braless, but feels weird to have the girls commando. TMI?

I was first drawn to the colours but it was the fantastic bold African print with the brilliant pattern matching that sold me on it.

Just look at the back!

Precise right?

how to wear bold print vintage dresses over 40 — Necklace – France (made from a seed pod!), Handbag – vintage, Dress – vintage (handmade)

I thought initially that the print might be too overwhelming for my ~~shortness~~ petite stature, but I’ve decided it is visually figure flattering, especially through the back. I’ve written about how patterns can create optical illusions and I think this dress is yet another great example.

I think this will be one of the items I’ll be wearing for the 40+ Blogger Meet-up in Vancouver. I know everyone will be dressing to impress and show off outfits that best reflect their personality and individual style. This dress checks all of those boxes for me.