More Great Vintage Dresses from Violetville and Timeless Vixen

My two favorite eBay sellers for vintage are without a doubt Timeless Vixen and Violetville. Both of these eBay stores offer an amazing array of fab vintage finds--mostly dresses, lot of coats--week after week after week. Visiting these online shops is like stepping into well-edited vintage boutiques--no crap to wade through, no questionable items. Nothing but peaches! I purchase from both over and over.

Recently from Timeless Vixen I got this two piece dress and matching jacket '40s ensemble. (I'm trying to decide whether to have it altered.) I love the lapels and the buttons.



I also got this gorgeous sequined wiggle cocktail dress. It fits like it was made for me (although I don't think I could eat a big meal while wearing it.)



And from Violetville I won the auction for this LBD with a twist--thick fringe hangs all around from the neckline. That has Material Girl written all over it.


So, fellow shoppers, if you're in need of a vintage show stopper, click on over to eBay and see what Timeless Vixen and Violetville have going on. They both offer items in XS-XL. Listings include tons of photos of the clothing on happy blond models. They give all the measurements you'll need (always go by measurements when buying vintage). And the auctions have reasonable starting bids (although they can end on the high side). Just promise not to bid anything I want.

Two Dresses: One Vintage, One New

I know I don't need any more dresses. But I actually wear a dress to work most days, I haven't found a skirt I like in ages (besides the one I got at Macy's last Friday), and any day now I'll be cleaning out my closet (I swear).

First off, I returned these gray wedges (purchased in Vegas) to Kenneth Cole. I love the color, but they are really stiff and uncomfortable.
I exchanged them for this dress. It's currently at my tailor (who tells me I have to many dresses) getting the straps shortened. While the dress is mini on this model, it actually hits me below the knee (where do they grow all these giant slim women?). I'm a sucker for anything tiered, and this dress is super soft and comfortable. Overall, just a nice LBD (that's little black dress).

I also picked up this 1960s two-piece outfit (almost-a-dress) from my favorite eBay seller Violetville Vintage. I've really been loving all the lace in the September magazines, and I'm very excited about this outfit. Nude lace over blue is cool and subtle unlike lace in black. There's great detail on the top and skirt where the linen meets the lace, and it's great that I can break these up. The top will be cute with jeans. (The skirt will be hemmed.)


More vintage purchases to report later in the week!

My eBay Search for Vintage Dresses

Long-time readers may have gathered that I get into buying phases. There was the sequins phase. The clutch phase. The sweater chain phase. The enamel flower pin phase. eBay makes quick work of collecting anything. Lately I've been focusing on vintage dresses. I love my plaid one (that I got hemmed seven inches) and my flowery one (the jacket is great).




Last night I won an auction for a darling pink dress that also comes with a matching jacket.



I've found that for vintage dresses, I do better saving favorite searches of entire stores. The pink dress is from Nova Vintage, the plaid from Violettville Vintage, and the floral from Timeless Vixen. (To save full-store searches, you need to click on the seller's name in an item listing to get to their profile, then click on Items for Sale. Once there, you can save the search. I can't find another way to do this.)

I like these stores because they have small inventories and all the items are well chosen, well photographed, and well measured. Note about buying vintage clothing online: You gotta have measurements. Vintage sizing is way different than current sizing. But it's really easy to know if something will fit when you've got bust, waist, hips, length and shoulder-to-shoulder measurements (and sometimes more). That really takes the risk out of buying items that are often non-returnable. (Nova Vintage will accept returns for clothes that don't fit if you send them back in seven days--always check for return policies in item listings. I've found most sellers to be very reasonable when it comes to returns.)

In addition to store searches, I also do category searches. I put in "dress" then filter to "vintage" then pick an era. Once that list is up, I'll add and "M" to "dress" in the search field to narrow down the list. The smallest vintage offering I can fit into is what most sellers consider "M." Those ladies in the '50s and '60s had tiny little waists. Or girdles. Or I'm just too thick in the middle. It's probably a combination of all three, but it seems that the busts are usually a good ten inches larger than the waists in these dresses. That's not so in Material Girl's figure. If I had a 26-inch waist I could have a dynamite vintage dress wardrobe in my closet.

Plaid to Be Alive, eBay Style

I wore my eBay safari shirt dress to work today with a pair of cowboy boots I got on eBay for $26 and a studded Calvin Klein belt I got on clearance at Macy's for less than $4. The outfit seemed to go over well and made me very excited by the eBay auctions I won yesterday: two more dresses--both vintage plaid--and a chunky vintage necklace.

The first dress is from a great eBay stored called Violetville Vintage. All the items from Violetville start bidding at $24.95 and are modeled by the same tall size-two blond woman--who, of course, looks good in all of it. Below she's wearing the dress that's soon to be in my closet. (It will likely need a good hemming.) Check out the great '50s cut, the wonderful little buttons (have I mentioned I have button collection?) and the rickrack detail at the neck. (I sort of can't resist rickrack. If I had a sewing machine and knew how to use it, one day I might go crazy and rickrack-ify all sorts of things. Luckily, buttons and torn seams are all the sewing this Material Girl can handle.)


The other plaid dress is a '60s dropwaist pleated little number in the shade of yellow I decided I can wear. (It seems to lean more toward green, but things often look different online than in person, especially with eBay). This dress is from the same eBay store where I got the safari shirt dress, Designer and Vintage Deals for All (where bidding for all items start at 99 cents).


I topped off my Sunday eBaying with a chunky, asymmetrical Trifari necklace in white beads, Lucite and silvertone. Very mod and statement making. It's from another eBay store that specializes in various vintage costume jewelry pieces, Violetsoup: Vintage Jewelry . The bidding here starts out low ($5.99-$7.99), and they currently have a bunch of stuff Buy It Now at %15 off.


The damage for all three eBay items (including shipping costs): $110.86, paid in on easy PayPal transaction.