I have a black tie awards do coming up and so I had to trudge round dress hunting. I’m very strapped for cash at the moment and don’t really want to wear the same dresses over and over again. Now that Topshop Unique showed at London Fashion Week for spring/summer 2006, I decided that it wouldn’t be too embarrassing to wear one of the dresses for the awards do amongst all the nice ladies in Chanel, Versace, Ghost and Matthew Williamson (labels that I noticed a LOT at the last thing I went to). Hey, they can’t judge me when I’m just an ickle junior exec!
These are the ones that I tried on (£70, £80, £65):
And these were the results:
#1 – Ok, the white dress is not really a black tie kind of dress but I really wanted to try it on! It’s got this amazing ruffle at the neck and has these elastic straps that fasten at the back. I really quite liked this except I would need tit tap if I was gonna wear it which isn’t very practical in the summer.
#2 I LOVED the back of the dress – all the ties and detailing, but the front was just…….eurgh. The fabric is really not all that forgiving and it makes my shoulders look really wide. Plus, lovely as the back is, it took me ages to figure out where all the straps went.
#3 I really quite like the print of the dress. Not too sure about the colour though. This would have been great had it not been the elastic strings from the ruching, trailing the floor. Also, I don’t quite have the bust to carry it off.
Verdict? I think the Unique range has some lovely things, just nothing suitable for black tie. Ah well, I think I’ll have to stick my neck out and find something vintage. It’s sad that people at this event will probably give me a once over and think ‘She’s wearing….SOMEONE else’s clothes’ like it’s a bad thing. But it’s a risk I’ll have to take in order to save my pennies!
lovely photos u got~ i like the second dress~hehe~
and waoo…u are so daring to go up to someone and ask for a photo.did anyone actually say no?:P
linda xxx
A couple did say no because they didn’t like being photographed – I even offered to black out their faces!
I remember a couple of Japanese fashion journalists used to go up to me and my sister and ask us for streetstyle pics and they were so quiet and shy! So if they can do it, bolshy moi can too!
hey sus,
wanna ask if u know what’s “Grease sixty’s fashion ” since u know so much about vintage style ~
i need vintage dress for sat and wonder if you know where i can get a nice one~
thankssss~
xxxx
Well….that’s kind of confusing because Grease was set in the 50’s – and it was about the American youth rock’n’roll, jiving era. It’s not the 60’s.
It’s really all about big massive poodle skirts, twinsets and socks and shoes. I’m talking about big skirt just reaching the knee. Or you could do the Sandy post-make over outfit and go for tight skinny black jeans and a black off-shoulder top with peep toe shoes. But I would go for the skirt and shirt combo. Kind of like this:
http://www.anothertimevintageapparel.com/stock_3340.htm
I recommend Rokit in Covent Garden for poodle skirts or Beyond Retro on Cheshire Street near Brick Lane. Blackout II on Endell Street in Covent also has some stuff too.
Susie, I love reading your blog, I am dyyying for that white dress!!!! When did you try it on? Do they have any left in a U.K size 8? Please let e know.
Xx
Hi there!
Thanks for reading my blog! I tried it on on Saturday and they had LOTS of size 8’s left. So get down there sharp-ish if you want it!
hihi~
Thanks for the ideas and explaining it to me~i actually have no idea if grease is in the 50’s or 60’s *embarrased*
I will have a look at Rokit tommorow~ Hopefully i can find something nice~!!!
thanksss~xoxoxo