evening dress Archives - Suzanne Carillo

I wear vintage clothing to keep the stories of those from the past alive.

It is fulfilling knowing you are wearing a piece of history. Vintage clothing is a wearable time capsule, memories are stitched into the seams. Synapses of consciousness are woven and connected throughout the fabric.

Wearing vintage clothing allows my imagination to run wild fantasizing about the life the pieces had before I discovered them.

Keeping Stories From The Past Alive Wearing Vintage Clothing

Take this amazing lurex leaf dress…

wear vintage maxi dress with style suzanne carillo

I am sure it was the belle of the ball more than once.

Maybe a singer wore this on stage to rapturous applause, her hair piled high on her head, her chandelier earrings exploding star bursts when caught in the spotlight.

how to wear vintage over 40 suzanne carillo style — Doing my best rendition of Happy Birthday. Be happy you weren’t in the room.

Perhaps this vintage dress attended a celebrity gala and had a glass of Moët accidentally spilled on it while showing off some new dance moves. Good thing champagne doesn’t stain.

vintage lurex leaf maxi dress suzanne carillo style

Maybe the sparkly maxi dress hosted a 70’s free love party which turned clothing optional after midnight. It’d be a shame to only wear the dress half the night though.

Keeping stories from the past alive wearing vintage clothing

I adore this fragile piece of vintage with so much imagined history.

I have lovingly tried to repair quite a few holes in the lurex. Luckily they aren’t too visible due to the bold print.

The interior slip hem needs some attention and will need to be taken up. The body shrunk up inches above the interior slip when I washed it. I hate it when that happens! Live and learn. I haven’t had shrinkage with lurex before but there is always a first and this dress happened to be it. Annoying!

When the piece was still wet I tried to gently stretch it back but those little holes didn’t care one bit being disturbed while damp. I could hear the tears lengthening. It was a vintage reseller’s nightmare.

Normally I wouldn’t sell a piece that is so fragile. I haven’t decided if this will be heading to Vintage By Suzanne or not.

I cannot deny I feel like a diva in this dress.

Where is my limo driver? PA Person!!! NO, I don’t know your name! I need some room temperature Voss water STAT! I’m so dehydrated even my eyes refuse to blink! I feel faint. I think my blood sugar levels are dangerously low and I feel a coma coming on. Run quick and get me my mini donuts and the buff boy that eats them for me. Of course I can’t eat the donuts myself! Ha ha! Simpleton! You’re obviously new here. A body like this requires a village.
Lady Rah-Rah

There will be no snacking while wearing it though as it fits like a second skin, albeit one that is much less stretchy than the skin I’m in. Oh that my skin could shrink back like this dress did! Wouldn’t that be a magic trick? Lady Rah-Rah would love that.

For those of you that shop secondhand and vintage, do you find yourself imaging the previous life of your clothing?

Linking up with Visible Monday, Turning Heads Tuesday, Fancy Friday, and Spy Girl

Cold Shoulder Fantasy Dress

I never thought I’d join the crowd with this whole cold shoulder trend but you never know what delights are waiting for you at the thrift store.

Thank you Talize!

Despite this clearly not being vintage and produced by a fast fashion company I couldn’t leave this dress behind, especially when I saw the ruffle sleeves. At least I’ve rescued it from the landfill and now it is taking up precious space in my dress closet.

Yes, I have a closet just for dresses.

Don’t judge.

Normally I stay away from off the shoulder dresses because I’m constantly having to adjust them to avoid a wardrobe malfunction.

This dress has some amazing sticky plastic trim that lines the shoulders and neck so it stays in place by sticking to your body like a plastic bag. Since the strip is very narrow it isn’t as awful as it sounds. It works surprisingly well.

Another reason I normally stay away from off the shoulder anything is because I need to wear a bra. Most strapless bras creep down to my waist after wearing them for thirty minutes but this fantasy dress makes creeping anywhere impossible as nothing moves once I’ve poured myself into it.

The dress is like wearing Spanx on the outside.

Thankfully it’s not uncomfortable as it is made out of spandex and cotton however I do worry a bit about bumps and bulges happening where they shouldn’t so I opted for some interior Spanx as well.

The Spanx aren’t as scary as when they tried to kill me.

These small ones only cover the Buddha belly and smooth out any kind of VPL, which surprisingly does not stand for the obvious, Very Pokey Lumps but rather the more politically correct, Visible Panty Lines.

This dress is what I would call a Jessica Rabbit dress, I may be the villain or the hero but I’m no victim.

This fantasy dress owns the room.

This would not be considered age appropriate attire for a woman over fifty by most magazines or websites.

This is more, “I appreciate the body I have” appropriate.

I’m probably not always going to feel like pouring myself into a bold red body con dress. Best enjoy it while I can.

How do you show appreciation for the body you have now?

Linking up with the lovely Patti over at Visible Monday.