A challenge I have with shopping vintage is that the bust darts are so dang high. I end up needing to wear my most discriminating underpinnings with the least-stretched out elastic straps and say a prayer to the engineering gods to fit into the dress appropriately. That is when shopping vintage Lilly Pulitzer, I prefers to source the largest sizes available and have them tailored. I need to catch all the length that I can. Vintage sizing is all over the place, and styles on the secondary market are likely already altered.
Buckle up, betches, we are taking a time travel trip, sartoriallly-speaking. In a move I saw coming a mile away thanks to the second season order of Palm Royale, Lilly Pulitzer is reviving select vintage prints circa 1962 to 1985. Unfortunately, while the prints are vintage, the majority of the silhouettes are decidedly contemporary.
The exception is that of the Florrie print. The dress below, is ripped from a 1960s pattern. I know this because I have the vintage Lilly, circa 60s that is a dead ringer for the Cleodora Stretch Shift Dress or vice versa. The white crochet trim, Mandarin collar, double slits punctuated by white crochet trim: the dresses are undeniably the same. Unlike its contemporary, my dress is of the rigid cotton poly blend from the second generation of dresses. On the flip side, my vintage version has pockets. Perfect for my baggage!
During each of these Vintage Vault rollouts, I will one hundo p be on the look out for longer, vintage-esque hemlines and other Lilly Pulitzer style hallmarks of time gone by: crochet trim, maxi lengths, romper maxi dresses.
chicken check (released in 1972)
dear heart (released in 1971)
lilly gulls (released in 1972)
el morroco (released in 1972)
florrie (released in 1973)
lilly’s zoo (released 1974)
