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This past week has been ’50s mania as thousands of classic cars rolled into Reno for the annual Hot August Nights show and shine. It’s the one time of year where dressing up in poodle skirts and saddles shoes or Hawaiian shirts and horn rim glasses isn’t an unusual sight. That is why this year I was especially excited to go out and wear my new reproduction 1950s halter dress from Unique Vintage.
Unique Vintage asked me to review one of their brand dresses and I choose this summery yellow halter dress. It is one of their best sellers, with a full range of solid colors to choose from. For only $98, I wasn’t sure what level of quality to expect, but I was very pleased with it when it arrived. It is made of a heavier weight cotton that holds its shape well. The pleats at the skirt lay flat nicely, and the ruching on the bodice make it fit and flatter a wide variety of body types. It comes in sizes XS to 4XL. I wore a large but with all the stretch ruching I could have fit in a medium as well. As I was walking around the car show I never felt like I was wearing anything unusual like many vintage clothes can make you feel. It was so nice to be comfortable and cool in some very hot 90F weather!
The bodice on this dress works very well for busty gals. It covers nicely and isn’t so low in the back that you would need a special bra. The halter top tie is long and can adjust for any height without losing its shape. The Unique Vintage website says this dress is a replica of a vintage 1950s dress, and the design on the bodice makes it look very authentic ’50s — plus, the skirt being long to mid-shin is also correct. I received several nice compliments on the dress throughout the night.
Even though I choose not to wear it with a traditional ’50s petticoat, I think it still looked very nice and very ’50s. I could easily dance in this dress without the skirt flying up too high while swinging and spinning.
Overall, I like this dress a lot. I am so happy I had the opportunity to wear it to the car show. If I were to nit pick about anything on the dress I would only say that the zipper is cheaply made. It does not slide smoothly, nor it it dyed yellow to match the dress. Also, the website descriptions says is has boning in the bodice. Mine didn’t, so I don’t know what to think of that. Boning the bodice would have made it a tad bit more fitted. All in all, it’s a fabulous 1950s halter dress I will certainly be wearing again and again.
Here are some more pictures from my Hot August Nights night out:
Hair and Makeup: Help from Vintage Hairstyling and Retro Makeup by Lauren Rennells. Necklace, Earrings and Pin: My Grandma’s. Hair flower and gloves: New, purchased locally.
If I were to own a ’50s Bel Air it would be this teal color.
A yellow car for a yellow dress.
Me again. Just love the yellow against this red Bel Air.
My hubby, Oscar, dressed as a 1950s NASA Scientist. White short sleeve shirt, skinny blue tie with tie clip, black pants and belt, horn rim glasses, and official NASA badge from the 50’s.
Our 1950’s style family photo. Baby Autumn is in a vintage 1950s dress.
Unique Vintage has so many amazing ’50s dresses to choose from. I have my eye on a few more that I just love:
Debbie Sessions has been teaching fashion history and helping people dress for vintage themed events since 2009. She has turned a hobby into VintageDancer.com with hundreds of well researched articles and hand picked links to vintage inspired clothing online. She aims to make dressing accurately (or not) an affordable option for all. Oh, and she dances too.