Vintage Dresses & Gowns

- classic styles from the 40's, 50's and 60's

It's increasingly fashionable to wear retro clothing - that is, vintage dresses and outfits that your mother might have worn !

• Flapper dresses
  
  The twenties was a time of high fashion, daring designs and fabulous tea dresses
• 40's dresses
  
  1940's fashions are all the rage right now
• 80's dresses
  
  The eighties was an era which many people can remember, television has immortalised and we can re-create with ease.

The art of wearing vintage has many secrets, and it is a skill that many people have tried to master. However, here are a few tips on how to create that vintage look:

- Vintage dresses are gorgeous, but only if you wear them with very trendy hair and make-up, and new heels.

- Buying a dress just because you like it and its vintage does not mean it will look good on you, only buy vintage if you put it on and it makes you look fabulous.

- Wearing vintage for your wedding is good if it's a second from your mother or grandmother, but otherwise the sentiment is lost; you need to keep your day special, in your or your family's bridal gown.

- Evening gowns from a vintage shop look really unique, and stunning, but make sure that it suits your personality otherwise it will look and feel very odd.

- The biggest secret of making vintage look good, is to mix it with new pieces. For example, a really gorgeous pair of pink 1950's vintage shoes with a white 20's flapper dress will not look that great; but if you mix the twenties dress with some Manolo's and a Chanel clutch you will be well on your way to vintage stardom.

- Make sure that you match your figure to the time period you buy from; for example, a 50's dress will look great on plus sizes because Marilyn Monroe made the fashion industry make dresses to suit women with a shape, and a 60's dress will look great on petite figures, as Twiggy made petite frames famous.

- Mixing up fashion era's is only a good thing to do if you are buying new pieces.

- The 1940s ought to be a great source of inspiration to the plus size figure, and those people who have a very business like sense of style. This was also a time when women were very demure, so to find a modest dress look at this era.

- If you are looking for a vintage dress for a prom or ball, then look no further than the 50s and 80's. These periods of time saw a great matching of style, and if you mix the two, the ultimate party dress will occur. For prom styles from these era's look for sharp colours like red or black, rather than subtle lilac or pink.

- Be careful to find gowns that truly represent that time period, for instance, fringe belongs in the 20s, so don't buy a dress with fringing on from the 70s. Things are classic in a certain time period for a reason.