retro – BudgetBounding

Getting a little close to my Wednesday deadline, but I had to wait for this dress to arrive before I could do anything.

But it’s getting a little more complicated now. Or rather, we’re getting into how to make it all work, and do it fairly inexpensively. So here we go, with a little pink 50s dress, getting it ready for a big auto show in the next two weeks. If you follow my instagram, you’ll see some pics in its debut.

This outfit is a mix of purchase, and a little sewing. And getting lucky, let’s be honest.

The Dress. The dress I found on Amazon. You can find a lot of things on Amazon, and cheap, vintage looking dresses is one of them. This dress, arguably, isn’t usually the $20 I splurged on, but around $35. That, in itself, if you’ve looked around online at vintage/retro shops, is still a steal. And I’ll say this: the dress is really decent quality. I’ve also bought cheap retro dresses for $10, as well, with mixed quality, but hey! $10 isn’t bad.

This one happens to be really good in it’s shape for the 50s. That bodice is pretty typical, though the fabric is a brushed, stretch cotton, so that’s very modern. The lace is sweet, though the waist sits REALLY high. I’m definitely contemplating sourcing a cheap, white belt.

The Petticoat. The dress hangs a bit, and is begging for a smaller petticoat. I thought about buying one, but why spend $ when I have the supplies? Granted, I sew. A lot. So I have quite the stash to pull from, and in this case, an unfinished project. You can find some online for cheap. Had I not thought of this option, I had a $10 one in my online cart.

I had begun to reconstruct my high school homecoming dress years ago, had purchases the tulle then (you can find yardage cheap, however), and had started tearing about the petticoat tulle of that dress already. Really, I had already done the hardest part: gathering the new tulle onto the old tulle. I just had to make an easy waist band, made my serger angry and serged the cut edges, and added an elastic into it. It isn’t super pretty, but it gets the job done. And no one needs to see my petticoat anyway.

The Shoes. Another Amazon steal. I found these for a whole $11! These I bought a few weeks ago thinking I’d wear something else and spread the budget out a bit. It took forever to find them since I wear a larger size (I’m a tall Amazon). I got lucky, and gobbled them up before the sale disappeared. Now, granted, I had set aside the funds for the purpose of this purchase, so it wasn’t a spontaneous buy.

So all in all, minus accessories that I’m just going to pull from what I already have, I spent $31 on a 50s look that could easily have cost double, if not more had I not taken some time, and searched like crazy for something.

And that’s the key: patience and searching. Keep digging. It took me several days of Amazon searching to find that dress. More days to find the shoes. Get creative with your search words, and you’ll pull up some steals.

It’s a little late on a Wednesday, but I scrapped my post idea last minute in favor of this one: The Teddy Girl. It’s a bit retro, and a bit historical, and an easy one to thrift. When you know what to look for that is…

So the Teddy Girl. It’s a very interesting little segment of the 50s style that really had a following in the UK. They were the female counterpart to the Teddy Boy movement, which got their name for “Edwardian” or “Teddy” in which men donned Edwardian fashion, a dandy-ism if you were, and mixed it with a bit of American rock-n-roll of the 50s. The Teddy Boys were infamous for trouble, gang violence, and rebellion. It was a direct response to the conservatism that spawned out of Post-War Europe. There were even bands on “Edwardian” style clothing.

Teddy Girl is a female counterpart to this movement. They were feisty, working class women who turned away from the pearls, clutches and society femininity. And it is surprisingly easy to do. The basics? A coat, turned up jeans, and a little scarf or ribbon tied around your neck. Hair was styled very Edwardian, free almost, without all that hairspray and taming a lot of the traditional female 50s hair called for.

I love it. It’s exactly who I would have been in the 50s… if I lived in the UK.

So how do we put a look together today? Easy peasy.

The Cost:
Coat: $2, thrifted
Pants: Already in my closet, $0
Scarf: From my great-grandmother, $0
Shirt: A basic tee, maybe $3
Shoes: Purchased long ago for work, $0, but you can find Keds, flats, sandals for cheap at places like Walmart, or Amazon

The Coat. I thrifted my jacket from a local re-sale shop. Mine is modern made, but is corduroy, has a longer cut, and just a wee bit oversized. It cost me a whole $2. I threw a simple t-shirt on under it, but you can see women wearing button-ups, sweaters, plain shirt, just about anything.

The Pants. I’m still looking for the perfect high-waisted jeans, but in the mean time, I have a few that work just fine. The trick is looking for something like a “mom jean” at a thrift store. Though, you will see some pics the more you look of women in slacks, or peddle pushers too. That’s why I’m wearing. I happen to own these from WAY back in college, so I’m so happy to use them again.

The Scarf. I have several from my great grandmother, but I find them all over antique shops or even re-sale for only a couple bucks. You could even get a solid color head scarf from craft stores. Or take a ribbon.

The Hair. I have never been good at hair. I have naturally curly, and I’ve chopped it short, so I could really just let it go. But as you can see, with enough bobby pins, you can get it to work.

The Shoes. I have seen a “Ked” style tennis, sandals, plain flats, loafers, anything sensible. These are working class ladies. They’re not wearing heels. No way.

So you see… You can dress historically AND retro in one go. A few other accessory options: add a cameo pin to your button up, or a thrifted men’s jacket, or a vintage styled bike (I have one, but it’s a wee bit cold for that right now). It’s such a comfy, but fun look.

Just wear it with attitude.

A nice little blurb about Teddy Girls can be found here, but the internet is littered with great articles and photos too.

Category: retro

Pretty in Pink: a 50s Dress

How to: The Teddy Girl