Review: Midnight in Paris Streetcar

By now, I bet most of you know that I might be a Trashy Diva fanatic. I've fallen wildly in love with just about everything they've put out in the past two years, particularly the Wildflowers collection and my very favorite, Venice Nights. Given how much I absolutely loved Venice Nights, and how often I've worn it since it came out last year, I had high hopes for this year's travel print. And my goodness, Midnight in Paris did not disappoint!

Lindy Bop Sale Haul

If I'm honest with you, it's been years since I thought about ordering from Lindy Bop. When I first started wearing retro-reproduction, I snagged several Lindy Bop frocks from Amazon (because free shipping > paying for international shipping). Two of them were massively successful, but I ended up selling the other two because the skirts just weren't full enough for my taste and the shelf-bust styles they offer looked a bit awkward on me. But over Labor Day weekend, I found myself unable to resist the siren song of incredibly cheap dresses in adorable prints.

Review: Trashy Diva Wildflowers Streetcar

Trashy Diva has almost-singlehandedly turned me into a floral aficionado. Between their glorious tropical prints, their classic allover florals, and their big, bold flower prints, I've come to see the light at last! So when they released their Wildflowers collection, it was love at first sight! I had a little trouble deciding which style to order, but since I've been drooling over the Streetcar dress from afar for ages, the answer seemed pretty obvious.

Review: Vintage Inspired by Jackie

If you've ever come across Vintage Inspired by Jackie's Instagram or her Etsy shop, there's a better-than-average chance that you've fallen hard for her work. Adorable Disney/Star Wars print dresses made using classic vintage patterns? Yes please!

Review: Lady V London Jasmine Dress

The British retro-reproduction clothing world is on fire lately. Between the Pretty Dress Company, the House of Foxy, and Collectif, I've given the Royal Mail and Fedex quite a workout in the past several months! I'm finally starting to get over my distaste for international shipping and its attendant cost, and after seeing some of my fave Insta pals looking amazing in their Lady V London dresses for ages, I decided to take the plunge. And if today's review of the Jasmine dress is a bit late, well: better late than never!

Review: Retrospec'd Flamenco Elizabeth Dress

Every time I see a new dress from Retrospec'd, my heart squeezes a little at the amazing painterly prints and gorgeously executed vintage styles. After seeing how lovely and well-made my first Retrospec'd dress was, it wasn't hard to convince myself to splurge on another. And when I saw the Elizabeth dress in Flamenco on the lovely Bristol, as well as all over my Insta feed, I absolutely fell in love with the print. Once I realized this dress was available from a US stockist, it was only a matter of time before it appeared in my closet.

Review: House of Foxy

While the 1950s will always have my heart, sometimes I just can't resist the siren song of a 1940s silhouette. Case in point: this lovely red floral tea dress from the House of Foxy. I fell in love with it the first time I saw it, and had almost worked myself up to paying for international delivery when I discovered it on Unique Vintage's site during a sitewide sale!

Review: Pretty Dress Company Priscilla

Like seemingly everyone who's put on a Pretty Dress Company frock, I'm a massive fan! Ever since I saw the yellow gingham Priscilla swing dress on the lovely Miss Amy May, I've been longing for one of my very own. So when the Pretty Dress Co. offered worldwide free shipping in May, I jumped at the chance to grab one for my own without paying close to $40 in shipping fees, and today I'm finally sharing a long-overdue review of this gorgeous sundress!

Pirate Treasure

What does my favorite neighborhood mural have to do with a pirate-print Trashy Diva dress? Well...nothing, unless 'both things make me happy' counts.

Review: Trashy Diva Birds of a Feather

One of my favorite places at the Field Museum is the birds collection. It's always a hotbed of activity and there's usually something nifty to see, whether it's eggs collected near Shelter Island in the 19th century, rainbow-bright stuffed birds from all over the world, or a live peregrine falcon accompanying its owner to work. So when Trashy Diva released their latest collection, Birds of a Feather, I was flying high! (Sorry.) And with a dress in my all-time favorite TD cut, the circle Day Dress, this collection felt like it was meant to be.

Berry Chantilly Hopscotch

Every time Trashy Diva releases a new collection, I drop everything, flail around in excitement for a little while, and order immediately. Every time, that is, except once. The Berry Chantilly release coincided with my unintentional hiatus from the internet, so I discovered that the new collection had dropped several days after the fact. The horror! Thankfully, my new favorite cut, the Hopscotch, was still in stock in my size, so this tale has a happy ending.

Review: Lola Von Rose

Ever since I picked up my first wicker bag last year, I've had a massive thing for more structured purses. Let me tell you, it took a truly impressive amount of self-control to keep myself from taking any cute lucite purses home at May's Vintage Garage, but happily, this lovely little Lola Von Rose number was dangling off my wrist, reminding me that my white-lucite-bag needs are totally fulfilled.

Review: Unique Vintage Watermelon Dress

Fact: there is no finer fruit on the planet than the reigning queen of the summer BBQ, more commonly known as the watermelon. Not only is watermelon my actual favorite food at the moment, it's been one of my very favorite choices for a novelty print. The only things I've bought for my baby so far are two watermelon dresses and a watermelon tutu. I'm that kind of obsessed.

Dogwood L'amour

If you'd told me two years ago that I'd have more than one blue dress in my closet, I'd've said you were mad. However, it's a bit of a pattern with me to spend ages actively, vocally disparaging something (in this case, one of the primary colors) before unexpectedly embracing it, with no apparent reason for the change of heart. (Other times this has happened: blazers after college, pencil skirts, and that one John Mayer song.) Trashy Diva's Dogwood pattern, though, was easy to fall for., and after an first unsuccessful attempt at this print with the Day Dress, I grabbed a L'amour and fell in amour. (#Sorrynotsorry. I'm genetically predisposed to bad jokes.)

Review: Pretty Dress Company Hepburn Pencil Dress

Over the past year or so, I've gone from somebody who barely tolerates florals to someone with a closet full of bright, bold floral dresses. I guess it's the logical outgrowth of my tendency to use color to keep the winter doldrums at bay. So when I saw that my beloved Hepburn dress from the Pretty Dress Company was also available as a perfect little pencil dress, I knew I'd be adding another gorgeous floral PDC wiggle to my closet.

Review: Trashy Diva Carnival Annette

By my count, I am currently five collections behind in my ongoing question to geek out over everything Trashy Diva does. This is obviously shameful, and must be remedied immediately, so today I'm taking the first step with a review of the glorious green Carnival print!

Review: Collectif Delphine Swing Dress

With every collection Collectif releases, I fall a little more in love with them. As soon as I saw the Autumn/Winter lookbook last fall, I knew I had to have the Delphine swing dress in mulled floral. I debated ordering it during Collectif's free shipping a few months back, but balked at paying full retail. When Collectif's massive Boxing Day/New Year's/clearance sale hit and the dress was suddenly half off, though, I finally went for it.

Review: The Pretty Dress Company Hepburn

After I tried on my first Pretty Dress Company dress, I knew I'd be adding more to my wardrobe. Well, it didn't take long. I'd already been eyeing the Hepburn swing dress in forest green, especially since I'd heard it was a good style for shorter people, but the shipping is steep (we're talking over $30 to order directly from TPDC) and I wasn't sure exactly what shade of green it was. After Amelia Jetson of Junebugs and Georgia Peaches posted a closeup of the black floral version, though, I was obsessed. I honestly hadn't realized how pretty the colors in that print were until I saw that photo, and once I saw it, I couldn't stop thinking about that dress.

Well, we know how this kind of story ends for me.

A Swingin' Vixen

Recently, I've realized that I have this tendency to approach shopping as if it's a game of Pokemon. When I find something I like, I immediately go into "gotta catch 'em all" mode, and before I know it, I've added a zillion things to my already-overstuffed wardrobe. (In retrospect, this is less a Grand Realization and more of a 'geez, Emily, that's so obvious!' moment.)

In 2016, I might've gone a tiny bit overboard in the shopping department, but I've resolved to rein myself in for 2017. Fortunately, I snuck a few purchases in under the wire from my latest obsession, Vixen by Micheline Pitt.

Review: My First Pretty Dress Company Frock

For my first review of 2017, I've chosen one of my Black Friday faves: the Cara wiggle dress from the Pretty Dress Company. I saw this dress on my friend Ani and absolutely fell in love, but even with her encouragement, I just didn't feel ready to take the plunge on a wiggle from the Pretty Dress Company, rather than a swing. Their dresses are a bit of an investment, after all, and I'm usually more of a swing-dress gal. Happily, two things conspired to change my mind: a very nice sale at Unique Vintage, and a super-successful #WiggleWeek, which has forever converted me to a wiggle fan.