A Good Weekend For Vintage

This weekend was like getting free wishes from a magic genie (at least as far as scoring amazing vintage clothing is concerned)! After a morning appointment on Saturday, Ryan and I headed out in the early afternoon to hit a few yard sales and just get out of the house. We stopped by a "vintage and retro yard sale" in Medford, and I purchased the five most lovely 1950's dresses for a grand total of $8! One is even a gorgeous tea-length simple white wedding gown!! It's plain enough to be worn as a "tea party" dress (or even to wear while serving guest breakfasts!). I was quite thrilled at my finds! All of the dresses (except the wedding) require some minor sewing alterations due to loose buttons or slightly larger sizes, but at roughly $1 a piece, I'm not complaining!

On Sunday, Ryan and I did an early morning hay run, and then decided to check out the final day on a 5-generation local pioneer family estate sale.

Here I am, about to leave for the estate sale, dressed head-to-toe in thrifted vintage, and wearing one of the dresses I purchased for $1 the day before.

The estate sale was largely cleaned out, but there were still many fascinating pieces of history! Old photos, books, a Victorian mourning brooch (and OMG - if I'd had the $70 to buy it, you can believe that piece would have come home with me!!), lots of hats (nothing to tempt my discerning tastes however...*sigh*...), and...(drum roll please)...Two absolutely AMAZING pieces of vintage clothing history!!!!

I found two breathtakingly beautiful 1930's dresses. One is a larger-sized light green knitted number with hand-beading around the collar. I believe it's a bit younger than the next dress, and may be closer to 1940s.

However, my true find - and the absolutely most amazing score I have ever made to date - was the stunning purple 1930s dress with a tag from the Fashion Originators Guild! If you are not familiar with this group, here's a brief blurb:

"Fashion Originators Guild was founded by a group of designers who, in trying to prevent copy cats and knockoffs, banded together to create the guild. High end designers used this label during the years of 1932-1941 until it was banned by the US Supreme Court as unconstitutional in 1941."

So not only does this make my dress truly rare and unique, but it also gives me a very small timeline with regard to era. In further researching the label on the Vintage Fashion Guild's website, I can see that it must date from about the mid-to-late 1930s.

WHAT A SCORE!!!

Both dresses were dirty, so I gently handwashed them and laid them in the bath tub for air drying. I am dying to try the purple one on, but must wait. Alas...

More pictures to come once the dresses are ready for modeling! :)