On my way back from College yesterday I saw this poster by French Connection:
It set my imagination off thinking about what I would like from a Magic Dress, and did I already own one?
Having watched the short film that comes with the ad campaign, I now know that I definitely do not own a Magic Dress in the French Connection sense of the word.
None of my dresses enable me to shoot flames from my hands, multiply myself into many more me’s, or make glitter fall from my armpits when I do archery.
Despite being a little disappointed at my now frankly quite dull dresses, I started thinking about what made makes my dresses magic to me, and which one is the most magic of all. At first I thought about the really dressy ones that I can only wear on special occasions, like the red one I showed you in a past post. Some of them do make me feel fantastic and transport me to another era, but I still wouldn’t say they are magic.
Then I thought of the dress that I always turn to when I:
a) Want to feel pretty
b) Want to feel like I’ve made a bit of an effort, but without having to do too much
c) Want to be reminded of happy things that have happened
d) Need cheering up
e) Want to be comfortable
I think the dress that helps me do all of those things is my Magic Dress!
I also thought it would be the perfect dress to show you as I was sure there were already lots of photos of me wearing it. However, having trawled though a couple of years of photos, I do indeed wear it alot but there are very few photos of the whole thing!
There are plenty of me wearing it whilst eating…
And drinking…
And this one is particularly helpful…
Here is the dress on a hanger. It isn’t ideal I know (I am crossing everything that Father Christmas / the 30th Birthday Fairy brings me a mannequin this year. Is that a big enough hint? :-)), but then I will show you some details.
Dave bought me this dress from a vintage stand on Brick Lane a few years ago. The fabric caught my eye first of all, and I am rubbish at hiding when I like something so the stall holder knew she was on to a winner, and Dave knew he was on to a loser! The seller ‘forced’ me to try it on, and of course after that there was no going back. I love it not only for the way it makes me feel, but also obviously because of its design and fabric.
I think the collar and neckline are quite unusual, and I love the huge patch pockets.
The seller suggested it was probably a 1960s dress, and these types of pockets were definitely popular then as these patterns show.
This is the label inside, but I haven’t been able to find anything out about the company other than there are quite a few DL Barron things being sold on the internet, all from the 1960s and 1970s.
As it’s a summer dress I will have to wait a while to wear it again, but it is definitely my feel-good dress for all occasions! I would love to hear if you have a Magic Dress?
Image sources
A lovely holiday in Italy, boy do I want some gelato right now…
http://www.cemetarian.com/shopping/pgm-more_information.php?id=3189&=SID
Peggy's Pickles 