Prairie Dresses Are Back In Fashion, Apparently

[clueliss]

 

This conversation reminds me that I saw PopSugar at Kohl's hyped in the last couple of days.  And being 'of an age' this shirt - the ruffles remind me of blouses from the 80's.    (which is all good unless they bring back 80's shoulder pads - yikes)

https://www.kohls.com/product/prd-3378168/womens-popsugar-ruffled-knot-front-crop-shirt.jsp?clickId=QFYWfOTwyza8VGkRGhSVBX3BUkg2Ejxty07F1U0&irgwc=1&utm_campaign=362118&utm_source=1244054&cid=affiliate-_-1244054&utm_content=ONLINE_TRACKING_LINK&utm_medium=affiliate

[Alisamer]

35 minutes ago, clueliss said:

 

This conversation reminds me that I saw PopSugar at Kohl's hyped in the last couple of days.  And being 'of an age' this shirt - the ruffles remind me of blouses from the 80's.    (which is all good unless they bring back 80's shoulder pads - yikes)

They aren't as dramatic as in the 80's, but yeah, lots of shoulder pads on this Fall's runways! Also plaid (shirts and skirts) and neon, and cargo pants. Think of the movie Clueless!

I don't know why I'm so interested in fashion when I just wear jeans and t-shirts 98% of the time, but I am. 

[Marian the Librarian]

It will be a happy day for this librarian when LL Bean fleece, accented by Dansko clogs, is considered High Fashion. 

Prairie dresses? Not in this lifetime!

[Briefly]

I hated the shoulder pads of the 80's styles.  I'm tall enough that they really looked bad on me. I have a fairly long neck and I just don't think they looked right.  I did like some of the ruffles on the blouses, but not the huge bell sleeves.

[catlady]

2 hours ago, clueliss said:

 

This conversation reminds me that I saw PopSugar at Kohl's hyped in the last couple of days.  And being 'of an age' this shirt - the ruffles remind me of blouses from the 80's.    (which is all good unless they bring back 80's shoulder pads - yikes)

https://www.kohls.com/product/prd-3378168/womens-popsugar-ruffled-knot-front-crop-shirt.jsp?clickId=QFYWfOTwyza8VGkRGhSVBX3BUkg2Ejxty07F1U0&irgwc=1&utm_campaign=362118&utm_source=1244054&cid=affiliate-_-1244054&utm_content=ONLINE_TRACKING_LINK&utm_medium=affiliate

Oh my Rufus, I had a couple of tops like that in the 80s!  I liked them back then, but now they just look so constricting.  I have always liked the prairie look in general, but those high necks just don’t work for me now.  On the other hand, the blue dress that @Briefly shared on page 1 is fabulous. I’d wear that tomorrow.

and shoulder pads—eughhh.  I’ve always hated the look and feel of them.  Back around 1985, i’d gotten a sweater with them, and within 20 minutes I was snipping them out.  Ever since, any garment I had that came with them, I removed them along with the price tags.  And if I saw something in a store and the pads could not be easily removed (i.e. they were inside the lining), i’d pass on the garment.  I will never like them.

[Lurky]

6 hours ago, Alisamer said:

I am holding my breath for the Courtney Love babydoll dresses with combat boots to return. We're on the verge of it, but not QUITE there yet. I'm keeping my eye out for a cute shorter floral or lacy dress to wear with my doc martens, though.

I'm seeing that in the (UK) city I live in - this summer was full of girls in little dresses with big boots and leather jackets - made me nostalgic.  Then I saw the Gap daisy dress I coveted in 1990 in a vintage shop, and felt ooooolllllldddddd

[Black Aliss]

On 9/16/2018 at 11:56 AM, Don'tlikekoolaid said:

In the sixties granny dresses were popular, I really wanted one but you had to be on the shorter side and very thin to carry it off.  Back in those days you had to wear a freaking dress to school or you got sent home!  Still makes me mad.

We couldn't even wear culottes! The principal walked the halls carrying a yardstick, which he'd poke between the legs of any girl wearing what might have been culottes, like a skirt with inverted box pleats. One of my classmates was sent home for wearing a mini-skirt. The next day she showed up in a granny dress and was sent home again!

[Terrie]

No shoulder pads, please. I already have linebacker shoulders.

[nelliebelle1197]

15 hours ago, Alisamer said:

They aren't as dramatic as in the 80's, but yeah, lots of shoulder pads on this Fall's runways! Also plaid (shirts and skirts) and neon, and cargo pants. Think of the movie Clueless!

I don't know why I'm so interested in fashion when I just wear jeans and t-shirts 98% of the time, but I am. 

Clueless was very 90s, not 80s. The movie came out in 1995.

I am 40s and 50s/early 60s in my style and nothing will change that. Also, those are not prairie dresses. Those are a take on FDLS dresses. And not much of a take - mostly a copy.

[nausicaa]

4 hours ago, Terrie said:

No shoulder pads, please. I already have linebacker shoulders.

God, I'm 5'11. If I wear shoulder pads I look like a defensive end for the Patriots. Even as a kid I didn't understand women wearing shoulder pads--you want to look bulkier and more masculine? I even think they can get out of control in 1940s fashions.

I've wanted a more 70s style (no shoulder pads and less lace) Gunne Sax dress for a while now, but for whatever reason all of the sizes are so damn small! I'm fairly thin, but it seems any of the vintage dresses for sale are always an XS or XXS and allow no room for boobage. I'm thinking of just buying a vintage pattern and sewing one. I just worry my sewing skills aren't quite up to snuff yet. 

[Terrie]

2 minutes ago, nausicaa said:

God, I'm 5'11. If I wear shoulder pads I look like a defensive end for the Patriots.

I'm not quite 5'7", but my shoulders are several inches wider than my hips. 

[keen23]

43 minutes ago, Terrie said:

I'm not quite 5'7", but my shoulders are several inches wider than my hips. 

Broad Shouldered Broads Unite! (ok, broads isn't that nice of a word, but I liked the double meaning). I'm very boxy. My shoulders are wider than my hips, and my hips ain't narrow! I've never been able to wear a woman's winter jacket, because they're just so restrictive across the shoulders due to my broadness.

[cindyluvs24]

I remember riding my bike to the mall in 1978 and finding a beautiful Gunne Sax dress at Bamberger's for my Bat Mitzvah.  It cost about $50. I dragged my mother to see it that weekend and she was shocked at the price, plus she thought it looked like something left over from Nellie Oleson's closet.  I had to get a cheaper dress and my 13 year-old self was crushed.

[Palimpsest]

On 9/17/2018 at 12:35 PM, Lurky said:

I've got a couple of my mum's 70s Laura Ashley dresses - one blue with white flowers with an empire waist and a square neck, and a grey flowered one with a high neckline, buttons down the front, leg o'mutton sleeves with long, buttoned wrists and a HUGE amount of fabric from a high sash waist.  It's so impractical, just because it's fabric everywhere!

The thing about the Laura Ashley was that the clothes were very well made, reasonably priced, and lasted for ever.  They were very popular if you didn't mind looking like a 19th century milkmaid in the flouncy floral maxi dresses.  The maxis were party dresses, not everyday dresses, and they were completely impractical. 

Laura Ashley dresses didn't fit me right (they were cut too long in the waist and needed too much hemming - I'm short) and I hated the tiny floral prints.  I wore Biba instead - also affordable but far more body conscious.   The problem was that Biba clothes fell apart fast. This was my "best dress" at university circa 1974.  It looks vaguely Goth now and the colors are yucky but I rocked it.  Honest!

More evidence that we didn't all dress like Fundie prairie muffins in the 1970s.  And it broke my heart when Biba went bust.   https://www.pinterest.com/pin/55661745364464985/?lp=true   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biba

Good grief, those clothes are awful.  What was I thinking. 

[HerNameIsBuffy]

I have a Laura Ashley comforter on my bed as we speak...I still love the little floral patterns.  

At boarding school I had friends who had the cutest LA dresses I couldn't borrow because the darts weren't roomy enough....and when I tried to get one that fit me in the chest the rest of it floated around me like a caftan.  They were not made for the boob intensive, at least at the time.

[Loveday]

44 minutes ago, HerNameIsBuffy said:

I have a Laura Ashley comforter on my bed as we speak...I still love the little floral patterns.  

At boarding school I had friends who had the cutest LA dresses I couldn't borrow because the darts weren't roomy enough....and when I tried to get one that fit me in the chest the rest of it floated around me like a caftan.  They were not made for the boob intensive, at least at the time.

I do, too! I found it at a thrift store not long ago; it's not actually vintage, but it's pretty without being TOO pretty, if that makes sense. Blue plaid mixed with tiny florals. 

I've never worn a prairie dress in my life. I wanted one, back in the 70s, but I'm too short, and had too much boobage even back then, to make it work. ?

[HerNameIsBuffy]

9 minutes ago, Loveday said:

I do, too! I found it at a thrift store not long ago; it's not actually vintage, but it's pretty without being TOO pretty, if that makes sense. Blue plaid mixed with tiny florals. 

I've never worn a prairie dress in my life. I wanted one, back in the 70s, but I'm too short, and had too much boobage even back then, to make it work. ?

Oooh sounds pretty.  Mine is reversable - tiny florals in many shades of pink on one side and pink and green striped on the other.

The striped side is never face up.

[Loveday]

1 minute ago, HerNameIsBuffy said:

Oooh sounds pretty.  Mine is reversable - tiny florals in many shades of pink on one side and pink and green striped on the other.

The striped side is never face up.

Mine's reversible, too--tiny floral on blue background on one side, while on the other side it's plaid on each side with an inset section of slightly larger floral on a lighter background. It's twin-sized, so I turn it sideways on my queen-sized bed on top of a larger comforter I found at the thrift store, a Waverly with the same colours but of course different patterns. I'm not real matchy-matchy when it comes to bedding, but it seems to work! LOL!

[HerNameIsBuffy]

1 minute ago, Loveday said:

I'm not real matchy-matchy when it comes to bedding, but it seems to work! LOL!

I love that eclectic look and I love thrift stores.  You are my kind of person.

[unsafetydancer]

I'm not overly fond of the more granny-ish floral designs but I do like the arts and crafts style prints with the very bold patterns (I LOVE William Morris designs and all things Victorian and early 20th Century). I once stayed in a bed and breakfast that had floral EVERYTHING, even drawer inserts! It was a nice place to visit but I would hate to wake up there with a hangover
 @HerNameIsBuffy I love shopping in the charity shops in my hometown, I've found some pretty amazing stuff. There's also a thrift shop style event that shows up here every few months, my favourite find from there is a lacy 1970s dress that looks victorian inspired. 

[HerNameIsBuffy]

2 minutes ago, unsafetydancer said:

I once stayed in a bed and breakfast that had floral EVERYTHING, even drawer inserts! It was a nice place to visit but I would hate to wake up there with a hangover

Exactly how I used to feel when I stayed at my gramma's house!

[Palimpsest]

1 hour ago, HerNameIsBuffy said:

I have a Laura Ashley comforter on my bed as we speak...I still love the little floral patterns.  

What!  I thought your whole house was decorated in a Hello Kitty theme.  I am so disappointed in you.

I also have a Laura Ashley comforter - but in my guestroom.  I quite like the look for bedding - but I'd never wear those little granny florals.  

11 minutes ago, unsafetydancer said:

I'm not overly fond of the more granny-ish floral designs but I do like the arts and crafts style prints with the very bold patterns (I LOVE William Morris designs and all things Victorian and early 20th Century).

Now you are my kind of person.  I love William Morris and Arts and Crafts too.  And thrift and consignment stores are my favorite places to shop.    

 

[HerNameIsBuffy]

5 minutes ago, Palimpsest said:

And thrift and consignment stores are my favorite places to shop.    

Me too - it's like a treasure hunt!

[unsafetydancer]

Aaand now I know I am sad enough to go change my cover image to a William Morris print.

ETA @HerNameIsBuffy it totally is! I spent 4 hours at the thrift event the last time it was here because I kept finding really cool stuff. The only problem I have is getting stuff in my size. I am 5'10" and fairly busty so a lot of the really cute stuff was just way too small.

[Palimpsest]

14 minutes ago, unsafetydancer said:

Aaand now I know I am sad enough to go change my cover image to a William Morris print.

Like this:

Totally off topic but I have a stash of this William Morris design in 1:24 scale wallpaper that I plan to put in my next miniature house.  It is planned to be a boarding house circa 1900 and I'm furnishing it in Arts and Crafts style with a few Victorian pieces.  Mind you, I have to finish the 1860 Greyhound Tavern complete with fake Rufus Porter murals before I start the next house.  I'll get back to you in 2020 ...

I make miniature scale houses (they are not doll houses, thank you) and furniture because I can't afford the real things.