Monday, October 1, 2012

Horrockses Dress.....and Tidy Ties

I have been reading "Horrockses Fashions  Off-the-peg style in the '40s and '50s" by Christine Boydell.  and published by the Victoria and Albert Museum.  You can read about Horrockses here at one of my favourite blogs, the Vintage Fashion Guild. It is a lovely book.  The dresses are just beautiful, and the fabrics are amazing, and until today I thought I would never see one.

Because, today I found a Horrockses Dress at the Presbyterian Support Yellow Shop in St Andrew Street, Dunedin

It had been concealed amongst dresses and I had not seen it on my first recon of the store.  It called out to me as I was on my final tour of the "retro and party" section.

It was in polyester straight up and down shirt dress in a white a blue floral pattern.  Being a size that is greater than 12, I knew it would not fit me.  But like a kid with a lollipop I held on to it for a few minutes wondering if I should buy it, just so I could say I owned a Horrockses dress.  Then reason got the better of me.  I put it back on the rack.  Some slimmer vintage loving woman will buy it.  I hope.  My worst fear is that someone will buy it as a party costume and then vomit on it, or spill red wine on it, or rip it and then throw it away.  I hope whoever buys it loves it and realises that it is a part of fashion history.

What would you do if you found a fabulous dress but it was not your size?

What I would like to share today is my new to me necklace display: made from a Tidy Ties rack purchased off Trademe for the princely sum of $1.


Dear H did position it perfectly horizontally, but the mirror moved later, so it gives the impression that it is not straight, but I assure you it is.  Anyway, this has practically changed my life, in as much as it has made choosing a necklace so much easier! and when I have made my choice I can remove it from the rack without causing chaos - which was what happened with my previous set-up.  I do have more necklaces which are classified as special and live in the original boxes in my top drawer.  How do you store your jewellery so you can easily find it?

As I have posted previously, my bangle collection is on a coffee mug tree which is perfect ....for the time being!  Unfortunately I keep finding cool bangles and the tree is becoming overloaded!

Hope you are all having a good week!

7 comments:

  1. THAT is a perfect necklace display/organiser!!!
    I borrowed that Horrockses book from Vanessa (Two Squirrels) and loved it.OMG,the fabrics,the styles...divine! I may have had palpitations if I saw an actual one...there IS a lovely lass who collects them, Liz of Advantage in Vintage,actually.So sweet of you to have high hopes that the finder will be seriously into it...I hope it's Violet of Modern Miss!! XXX

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  2. I must admit I have bought a couple of frocks that I love that are way too small for me. I hang them in my bedroom, I may as well admire their loveliness even if I can't wear them. But in saying that I wouldn't spend too much on something that I couldn't wear. I would have been tempted by that frock too, knowing the history of the label. I love your jewellery hanger idea. I find storing beads & bangles a bit of a pain. If they aren't hanging on display I kind of forget I have them. I just found some old singer sewing drawers at a local op shop, so I'm using that to store my bangles & beads etc, with my favourite ones hanging on my thrifted spoon rack. I would certainly love to ferret around your collection! Xx

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  3. I have a pristine early 1950s Horrockses' dress and bolero jacket I bought for 20p from a jumble sale a couple of years ago, it's gorgeous but I just loathe myself in frou-frou frocks and I really should sell it.
    I'm always buying stuff that's miles too big and doesn't fit, that's how I got into selling in the first place! x

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  4. Great arrangement for your necklaces.
    I sell stuff on Ebay if it doesn't fit me but it's too good to leave behind! xxx

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  5. Oh I wish I was in Dunedin so I could go and hunt that dress out! It sounds divine.

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  6. Ohhhh that dilemma really sucks. I'm a bit the same, I tend to find items that are a few sizes smaller than me (not to mention the, ahem, bust area!) and some of the gorgeous things I find just are not going to fit, no matter how much I want it to! I've taken a few chances and just got the item because they were either gorgeous or a fab price and I knew I shouldn't have - so invariably they go to my much slimmer girlfriends. Oh well, at least someone I know gets to love it!! Kel :) www.yougotthatatanopshop.com

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