What I Wore: summer 2021

The One

This dress, ah! This dress is a dream, and it’s also a bit of a thrift fairy tale. I first saw it on IG a few weeks ago; someone I follow posted about this dress she found on ebay which was sadly not her size, but which she fell in love with. Well, so did I as soon as I saw it. There was some uncertainty about the brand, which didn’t help my searches. And yes, I immediately went on the hunt for it. It’s everything I’d want in a dress: colour, twirling, length, cut. But no luck. I couldn’t find it anywhere, and I pushed it out of my mind because I was certain it was a lost cause. After all, what are the odds of finding a very specific vintage dress?

Well, pretty good, actually … if the thrift gods smile on you. Flash forward to a couple of weeks ago, and what do I randomly stumble upon at a local Value Village? Yep, THE dress. I couldn’t believe my eyes. It felt like a bigger score than most of my designer items only because the chances of finding something so specific, after a relatively short time, are so remote. But here we are. And this dress truly is everything I had hoped for. A rainbow in dress form.

Coming Up Daisy

I was drawn to the print of this Topshop camisole because it’s graphic and whimsical without being childish. It reminds me a bit of Marimekko, actually. I wore this for a recent girls’ road trip to Calgary, so kept the outfit pretty simple — my fave culottes, and my old plain sandals.

Graffiti x 2

I bought this skirt on consignment years ago, and later found a dress in the same print so of course I bought that too. The dress somehow ended up in a laundry accident which slightly deformed its bottom half (or it was always a bit weird? who knows), and I haven’t worn it much as a result. Then I got an idea. I often wear dresses as “skirts” (i.e. with a top over it) … why not wear a skirt as a “dress” … using a dress as a “top”! And that’s what I did. Looked pretty good, if I do say so myself.