Pretty Retro Tea Dress & A Vintage Parure

Sometimes vintage finds can feel a little serendipitous.  A few years ago, I bought a lovely goldtone bracelet from a car boot sale in Cardiff.  It's mid-century, in a sort of palm design, and I bought it off the nephew of the lady who previously owned it, for a mere £4.  There were no other pieces of jewellery for sale.  Fast forward a few years, and I was at a vintage fair in Cardiff's City Hall.  One of the traders (not from Cardiff), had a necklace to match my bracelet!  I snapped it up, I think it was £12.  That would seem outrageous in a charity shop but in a vintage fair that's reasonable, and I couldn't leave it there knowing I had the bracelet.

The next part of the story happened a few weeks ago, when I was in Hampshire for a wedding.  The day after the celebrations we were a bit too delicate to hit the M4 and drive straight home (that's what happens when the Taittinger is flowing), so we went to the nearest large town, which happened to be Andover.  There we whiled away an hour or so looking in the charity shops.  And lo and behold, I found a pair of clip-on earrings, £2, to match my bracelet and necklace!  Ta da, I now have a "parure".  That's just a fancy way of saying a set of three or more matching pieces of jewellery intended to be worn together.

This is the only time you will probably ever see me wear earrings.  I had to take them off immediately after these photos, I just don't like the feel of them.  I don't have pierced ears.  I was thinking I could use the earrings as dress or shoe clips instead!

Bracelet, necklace and earrings: Vintage, all thrifted/from vintage fairs

Vintage bag: Car boot sale

Shoes: George at Asda

Dress: Pretty Retro

On to the dress...  This is the dress that I had been hoping to take to Portland House, but it didn't arrive in time.  It was a birthday present to myself.  I'd been eyeing up the tea dresses at Pretty Retro for a while, but never quite took the plunge.  The moment they released this beautiful Emerald Tiki print though, I knew I had to buy it!  It's cut on the bias and has no zips or other fastenings, so just pulls on over the head.  I found my usual size 12 to be a perfect fit, and I was particularly pleased that it hits below the knee on me.  The fabric is very lightweight (watch out on windy days...) and so perfect for warmer days.  I felt most comfortable and carefree wearing it.  I haven't washed the dress yet, so I can't report yet on whether it does indeed shrink 5% as stated.  I'll update this post when it's been washed.  UPDATE: It's been washed a few times now and I didn't notice any shrinkage.

As a slight tangent, thinking of the "Tiki" that Pretty Retro chose to put in the name of this dress, I am not sure whether any of you have read Emileigh and Nora's excellent post about cultural appropriation in vintage reproduction clothing?  I'd never actually heard of "Tiki" until a few years ago, it's not something that was widely known about in the UK.  Maybe because we're so far away geographically from Polynesia compared to the USA.  It's worth finding out about though, particularly given the recent issues the mainstream fashion industry has faced for using terms like "Navajo".

The retro tea dress is available in a variety of other prints, but they've been selling like hot-cakes and there are limited sizes left.  I'm also sorely tempted by the "Sapphire Orient" and "Floral shimmer" versions.  At £54, and ethically made in Europe, I think the dresses are great value.

Linking up with: #iwillwearwhatilike, Visible Monday, Passion for Fashion, Fancy Friday