Wednesday, June 16, 2010

My sullied stars

Dress: Atmosphere, thrifted;
Scarf: thrifted;
Black slipdress: thrifted;
Shoes: Aerosoles.


These photos were taken in our neighborhood right before a huge thunderstorm Tuesday night, so it was wonderful to see the geese and baby ducks (!!) on the water before the rain came down. I've forgotten how beautiful our neighborhood can be. The gazebo hasn't made an appearance on the blog lately because the warm weather seems to attract many people to it and it's always occupied. But sometimes certain spots near the lake are so serene and quiet, and the ducks don't mind too much if you want to get a closer look.

This dress was one of the thrift finds I scored on Monday. When I bought it, the dress seemed perfect: navy blue, star pattern, nice button-down shape, pockets and at a really good price -- $5. It was a little tight, but with some smoke and mirrors (my scarf and black slipdress) you'd never know that.  Basically, the dress fit this idea of some 1940s Victory-Gardening-Bettie-Page-cheesecake frock that I've wanted for awhile. I'll try to get some shots of it without the scarf sometime so you can see the form-fittingness of it a little better. My slipdress is actually hanging out a considerable amount in the pictures, and although it wasn't that much of a problem during the day, I think I'm going to find a white ruffled replacement just for this dress.

The only problem I've run into with this dress is that when I hand washed it (which the tag said I should do), the navy blue dye began to run, and soiled the pristine white stars. You can't really tell in the photos, but now some of the stars are white, and now some are tinged purple. I felt like such a silly novice about it all, but I've never had this problem with thrifted clothing (most of the time everything is pre-worn and pre-washed). I think the accidental dyeing adds more to the charm and makes the dress look older than it is, which I'm fine with, but I'd rather not lose any more of the color. Do any of you know what to do in terms of cleaning a printed garment like this?



signature1 by you.



25 comments:

  1. Man, what a darling dress. I think the best course might be to just embrace the bleed - not sure how you could control for that ... start wearing it with purple accessories to match!

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  2. Love love love that dress! what a great style!

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  3. That is a great outfit for the fourth :)

    xo Lynzy

    http://fromskirtstoskillets.blogspot.com

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  4. that dress deserves a happy dance! Adorable!

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  5. What a cute dress! It will be perfect for the 4th of July!

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  6. great dress! you really got a winner there!!!

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  7. I think someone told me that if you use cold water and vinegar (plain stuff not for salads) that it will set colors. I would look at Hints from Heloise b/c she always has the best solutions.

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  8. What an amazingly darling dress. Those buttons are straight up fantastic!

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  9. I love the star print dress! Maybe if you machine wash it with one of those dye catcher things it will clear it right up?

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  10. The print on that dress is fantastic. What a great find!

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  11. if you look at the diy dye packets you can buy, they tell you to rinse in cold water and salt also helps. but that is to set a color so i am not sure how you could protect the stars. very cute outfit!

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  12. I love that dress, and I love it on you, but I have no tips about how to control the bleed sadly. I'm not really the domestic, household tips type. I'm sure I'd run into the same problem with a garment like that. (So let me know if you find something that works!)

    Bleed or not, you'll always look great in that dress. Will you be pulling it back out for 4th of July, or is that too obvious? :-)

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  13. I love this star dress and for $5, you really can't go wrong. Sorry to hear about the navy running, but it looks great nonetheless.

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  14. That dress is a truly amazing piece! The fit is unreal! I think you could try setting the dye just like you would a tie dye shirt. I'd wiki it first, though - I don't want to be responsible for giving bad information :)

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  15. i love your nautical dress!

    jadepurplebrown.blogspot.com

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  16. i love the mix of patterns! you look wonderful!


    heyfancypants.blogspot.com

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  17. Love the star print! and those shoes are amazing. Love'em.

    Don't forget to enter to win a Lime Ricki swimsuit!
    clothed much, a modest fashion blog

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  18. Your stars don't look sullied at all. In fact they look clean and gorgeous as you do.

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  19. I so love that dress; BUT I hate it that the colors ran ... I hope you can do something to save it as it is really very pretty!

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  20. I like that print on dress!;)

    http://mypointmystyle.blogspot.com/

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  21. the fact that you paired with your red scarf makes me wonder if you are supporting the US soccer team for the world cup?:) kiddin'... but it's a pretty starry dress.

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  22. how cute is this dress! you look lovely joann! I missed you... it's such a joy visiting your blog again. :)

    xx,
    betz
    http://herarmoire.blogspot.com

    PS: My friend and I started a new blog about NYC. There's so much more about this city beyond Carrie Bradshaw's Manolos. You might wanna visit it our blog (and feel free to follow!) :)
    http://everythingnewyorkcity.blogspot.com/

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  23. I love the star dress, so cute! And I really like your idea of adding color with that scarf, very pretty indeed!

    www.thejoyoffashion.blogspot.com

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I'd love to hear your thoughts!

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