One of the reasons there is less large-size vintage is the same reason that most garments in museums are tiny - it's because people "back then" were thrifty and clothing was very expensive so it got altered/remade, a lot. A dress can be made progressively smaller to fit friends or family members or someone who bought it from a thrift store, and subsequently worn until it wears out, but it can't be made bigger so the tiniest stuff remains intact.
This is so close to my current experience, I feel like I could have written it (aside from the invitation to the CAE! I had a black tie wedding to attend). I just sold a bunch of too-small vintage to Starday and had a good chat with them on this exact subject. I can still find vintage my size, with some effort… but the styles are so very matronly. I gave up before you did and ordered a few dresses from saks online, thinking if I paid more maybe the fabrics and/ or construction would be slightly better than what I would’ve found in a mall, and couldn’t have been more wrong. Absolutely Amazon dot com level garbage, with price tags in the three digits. I was horrified (and sent them all back asap!). Ultimately I poured myself into a dress that I already owned and that probably looked tawdry levels of snug, but it was better than wasting my hundreds of dollars on what turned out to be the same fast fashion crap you’d find anywhere else.
How I wish we could bring back having a go-to personal dressmaker!
Agree wholeheartedly with your sentiments in the vintage shop ‘..you are not for me anymore(sob)’ and also - of course! - with the comment above that clothes get cut down when passed on. I’ve been one of those people, decades ago, that often took beautiful (larger) dresses to be altered to fit my smaller body, hence shutting off options for the next person when I too passed them along after having lots of good times and compliments ‘you have a good eye, what a fab find! ‘ ahh, do what’s the answer then? A dressmaker? Oh I know - vintage kimonos ! Or kimono jackets over flowy trousers. They are often heavy beautiful silk with linings and facings in different patterns, hand block printed, really lovely to wear
I didn't know the processed food thing was a thing until reading the comments on a recent post with clips from Cher's Sunday nite show. Not the time period you're talking about, but still. "Memory" is so selective, isn't it? I just hope you ended up having a good time.
One of the reasons there is less large-size vintage is the same reason that most garments in museums are tiny - it's because people "back then" were thrifty and clothing was very expensive so it got altered/remade, a lot. A dress can be made progressively smaller to fit friends or family members or someone who bought it from a thrift store, and subsequently worn until it wears out, but it can't be made bigger so the tiniest stuff remains intact.
This is so close to my current experience, I feel like I could have written it (aside from the invitation to the CAE! I had a black tie wedding to attend). I just sold a bunch of too-small vintage to Starday and had a good chat with them on this exact subject. I can still find vintage my size, with some effort… but the styles are so very matronly. I gave up before you did and ordered a few dresses from saks online, thinking if I paid more maybe the fabrics and/ or construction would be slightly better than what I would’ve found in a mall, and couldn’t have been more wrong. Absolutely Amazon dot com level garbage, with price tags in the three digits. I was horrified (and sent them all back asap!). Ultimately I poured myself into a dress that I already owned and that probably looked tawdry levels of snug, but it was better than wasting my hundreds of dollars on what turned out to be the same fast fashion crap you’d find anywhere else.
How I wish we could bring back having a go-to personal dressmaker!
Agree wholeheartedly with your sentiments in the vintage shop ‘..you are not for me anymore(sob)’ and also - of course! - with the comment above that clothes get cut down when passed on. I’ve been one of those people, decades ago, that often took beautiful (larger) dresses to be altered to fit my smaller body, hence shutting off options for the next person when I too passed them along after having lots of good times and compliments ‘you have a good eye, what a fab find! ‘ ahh, do what’s the answer then? A dressmaker? Oh I know - vintage kimonos ! Or kimono jackets over flowy trousers. They are often heavy beautiful silk with linings and facings in different patterns, hand block printed, really lovely to wear
I didn't know the processed food thing was a thing until reading the comments on a recent post with clips from Cher's Sunday nite show. Not the time period you're talking about, but still. "Memory" is so selective, isn't it? I just hope you ended up having a good time.