Last spring, on a very, very wet day, I went with my mom to an estate sale on a Friday evening. It was last-minute; neither of us anticipated finding much. The sale was being advertised for Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. On Saturday, everything was priced as marked. On Friday, the cost would be 150% of the price. On Sunday, it would be 50%. Our plan was just to look on Friday and then, if there was anything good, to come back another day when prices were lower.
We had to park a long block away and walk in the rain. We ended up being there for about three hours. I have never seen so many special antique things so reasonably priced! Even at the cost and a half rate, we quickly filled our arms and then a large box, then another, and another. The most exciting thing was the amount of vintage clothing, not only vintage (though 50s and 60s clothing is rare enough to find) but actual antiques. There were many pieces of clothing from the 20s, 10s, and 1900s. It was amazing! Not all of the clothing had been properly stored so some of it was damaged, but it was all amazing to behold. Mom and I gathered as much of the antique stuff that we could find to buy and sort out later. Some of the clothing fit and we’ll keep for our own collections. Other things we’ll pass on. Even what we do end up selling, it was an honor to possess it for a short time and see the incredible craftsmanship.
Most of the 1920s clothing I’ll be passing on. Why? Because it doesn’t work for me. Haha! It’s like 20’s designers said, “Hhm, let’s consider everything a woman has naturally got…and then let’s ignore it completely. Actually better yet, let’s mask it so that we have a totally blank, flat slate to then decorate as we want.” I will say, the 20s had fine details right! Absolutely gorgeous detailing with beadwork, pleating, etc. Absolutely terrible at flattering the figure.
This is the one 20s piece that I liked enough to keep for my own use. The upper part is a beautiful, light weight silk and actually had some color to it. Unlike the other 20s dresses in this haul, which were either all ivory or all black. The bottom was a heavier satin. I love the details of how the extra folds of fabric fall and the little button details at the wrists.
As I’m able to get pictures of the other antique pieces, I’ll share them here later!
Welcome To The Carriage House 
Oh yeah, the 20’s silhouette was a total rejection of the bosomy, corseted, flounced and bustled gowns of the previous eras. But what freedom to BREATHE! 🙂 You look totally lovely, by the way! I think that dress also hints at the Oriental influence that was surging then too.
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I’m not entirely sure about that freedom to breathe… 😉 From what I’ve seen of advertisements from the time, there was still a lot of corsetry going on, just to a different shape, though it might have been moving in the right direction to less restrictive.
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