~ Holding Onto The Past ~

 
 


 

I have been wearing this pretty, late 1950s dress quite a lot recently ~ it’s nice and light, and my peach crinoline suits it wonderfully!  Perfect for summer weather, so I wore this outfit Christmas day.  What was even more fun was co-coordinating the rest of the family to match!   (*⌒∇⌒*)

One thing I am sad to say though, is that I fear that my dress won’t be lasting much longer. It has loads of tiny moth-eaten holes all over it; from the shoulders to the hem. And the more I wear it, the worse they become. 
(TT ^ TT) *tears*

Mind you, I can easily replicate/rub off the pattern, or find a duplicate pattern so that I can sew up another version of it; as it is quite a simple style. What I can’t replace so readily is the lovely floral embroidery that runs down the front, on either side of the button placket.

Still, I’d prefer to wear the dress and wear it out, rather than not enjoy it at all, so I guess I will keep on using it.  What do you do when your dresses are past repairing?  I suppose you could hang them up as some of sort of art…

It’s hard to know how much to try and preserve vintage clothes, and how much to dress up and romp around in them.

The difficulty with preservation is that with a bit of effort you can keep them, and naturally, that way they will last longer, but I wonder if there is much point to doing that with everything you find? By all means, preserve some of these beautiful pieces in museums, so that we can all enjoy them in the future. I’m not saying that we should not do that, rather I am questioning the place that I, as a vintage lover, play in keeping this history around. Do I wear it and enjoy it, thus more likely staining, ripping or catching holes in it or do I box it away and collect it for the sake of it’s beauty?  Or say, in the case of old books ~ do I read them and use them, or tuck them away on a book shelf for display only?

Some vintage aficionados prefer the later, but I think I am on the side of the former. Partially because I tend to feel that blogging is one great way to catalog and collect the beauty of the vintage clothing without the intricate involvement of preserving delicate fabric, but also because I collect vintage for the purpose of appreciating its beauty in my day-to-day lifestyle. What about you? How to you strike a balance when it comes to enjoying fragile vintage pieces, be it clothes, household items, or other collectable antiques?

xox,

bonita

~   ♡  ~

1950’s Embroidered Day Dress | eBay
Crinoline | Doris Designs Adult 26" Petticoat in Peach
Shoes | Thrifted

~ ♡ ~

Find me:

Instagram | missbjvear
Pinterest | bjvear
Ravelry | BJVear
Twitter | bjvear
Youtube | Bonita Vear

~ ♡ ~

P.S. ~ I have some rather fun out-takes from this shoot that I thought I would share. These kinds of photos don’t often see the light of day, but sometimes I think the rejects are too good just to squirrel away, so here they are!
‘‘٩(⁎＾ᴗ＾⁎)۶’’