Monday 26 July 2010

beyond retro, in front of style


I felt quite moody going home from work, and decided to cheer myself up with a long overdue visit to Beyond Retro on Åsögatan. I've talked about that store before, that I find it a bit overwhelming cos it's so huge and completely packed with stuff. Usually that would excite me, but when it's also packed with people at the same time, as it is mostly, it's a bit too much. Today I decided not to care about all that, and just look through the dress area, with an idea to maybe find something to wear to my father's 60's birthday party next week. (As you all know I don't have anything to wear ...) Going into the dressing room with 3 dresses, I suddenly saw something black and white polkadot in the corner of my eye: a bathing suit with a skirt! For 129 kronor! And a perfect fit! I wish someone would high-five me right now. I love it so much I'm actually considering going to the beach, as soon as the summer heat is back. Or else just wear it in the bath.



Out of the 3 dresses, only one was perfect, but it was so perfect I couldn't be happier. It's the kind of dress that doesn't exactly come to life on a hanger, but it really looks great on. I love the simplicity and sort of everyday cuteness of it, it's certainly a girlie girl dress. Not sure at all about the origin, I would take a wild guess with late 70's, maybe early 80's, mostly based on the stretch waist. It might be homemade, cos it doesn't have any tags, or else they were all cut off. Not that it looks homemade though, the details are really well made.



Like these lovely puffy sleeves, so cute! I have a thing for sewn on ribbons too, it's just an easy way to get some balance into pieces that are a bit too mono coloured. There used to be a black belt to this dress I suppose, but not anymore. I've got a black belt though (a regular belt, not in karate) so that's not really a problem. Come to think of it, it looks a little bit like a American Appalachian folklore dress from the 20's or 30's, or is it just my wild imagination? It's something slightly peasanty about it at least.



And of course I adore the little shiny black flower buttons! In Swedish I would say they are "pricken över i:et", which would translate to "the dot over the i", but I'm sure there's some more appropriate expression that I just can't come to think of right now. With a pricetag of 189 kronor I was in a way better mood coming out of Beyond Retro than coming in. I also got some voluntary assistance from a cute blond shop girl, who just by looking at me and the dresses I was gonna try on, ran off to fetch another cute bathing suit she thought I'd like. And afterwards she asked me how it went, which is service I really like, when it doesn't feel forced, just natural. So I guess this all means I'm not gonna wait another year or two before I go back.

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