ceebeegee | Shallow, Clothes-Oriented Post

Today I'm working the Desperate Housewives (The Early Years) look. I have on a cornflower blue vintage dress. It has short almost-cap sleeves and the hem hits about mid-calf. I bought it on eBay (click on the link for a picture--I can't take a picture today)--the listing said it was "'50s/'60s" which seems about right--it has some of the structured quality of 50s fashion (well-defined bosom and waistline) but isn't quite so maniacally tailored (no collar, no cuffs). With such a specifically vintage look like this, you have to be careful not to accessorize in the same vein too much, because you don't want it to look like a costume of a '50s housewife. So you wear modern accessories--then it becomes "ironic"! So, although I did indulge in a string of pearls and some silver knots in my ears, I wore my hair pulled back in a sleek ponytail, and belted it (although the dress has an accent at the waist, I had to belt it as it's a bit big for me*) with a pink canvas belt with an adorable bejeweled pink-and-purple stone buckle. Pink shoes, of course (really, this dress should have white shoes, something fresh to set off the cornflower color, but white shoes are a no-no before Memorial Day. You can break that rule nowadays, but not with a dress like this). Nude stockings, naturally--I thought about wearing nude fishnets (that would've been an AWESOME modern accessory for such a preppy little dress) but regretfully decided against it, as the pattern would've been too busy against the design on the dress.

*Another thing about '50s fashion--it MUST fit. I need to take this baby to the tailor--anything structured must fit or it looks like crap.