Traveling Vintage Dress, a Stop in New England

Thank you all for your wonderful and sweet comments on my wedding photos post. I'm astonished at the amount of feedback I have received here and on Facebook. Over night my blog post has become my number 2 most viewed post ever!! I just can't believe it. :) I'm really happy to have been able to share a little bit of my special day with all of you and will be sharing more soon. Thank you all again for being such an amazing, encouraging, and supportive online community! You guys rock! :)

Today I have something special as well.

When Joanna of Dividing Vintage Moments first announced her idea for a traveling vintage dress, I knew this was something I wanted to take part in. I think this is such a fantastic way to get to know other bloggers and to see each lovely lady's unique take on vintage fashion. Clothing is such a personal thing and is one of the best ways to express yourself. This beautiful 1940s dress will continue to travel around the United States and Canada before crossing the ocean to Australia. It's already visited few places here in the States so be sure to check out the links below.

I spent a lot of time thinking about how I wanted to style this dress. Did I want to style it in an authentic 1940s way? Or mix and match with modern items? I really couldn't decide but finally opted to let the dress  - and the weather - tell me what to do. :) We recently moved into our new house and are still very much in the process of unpacking and settling in. So some of the items I thought I might use have yet to surface. (Some words of wisdom, don't buy and move into a new house two weeks before your wedding!! So much extra stress lol!) I did find my shell belts though which made me really happy. They are from the 70s but are a perfect match for the dress. I wore one with the dress itself and the other over my sweater.

As you can see, the dress is a little big for me. It's also I bit longer then what I would normally like for a dress. Fortunately though, this dress is constructed in a way that allows it to be worn and styled to suit a variety of body types. :)



The sunshine didn't last very long! It was also rather windy and getting chilly the day we took these photos so some extra layers were needed. That's often the case during this time of year in New England. My plum colored wool sweater seemed just the thing! It was a nice complement to the purple and gold print of the dress.

To complete my outfit I wore a small crinoline to add a bit of fluff to the skirt, some tights, (I can remember the last time I wore tights!) and my depression era leather lace up boots. I LOVE these boots!! They are incredibly comfortable and so much fun to wear. (You've seen them once before as part of my aviatrix costume.) I think every gal needs a pair.

Our property, like many places in New England, is bordered by stone walls. They make a great backdrop don't you think?

This beautiful stone marks part of the boarder on our property. It makes a great backdrop for photos. :)

A fall photo shoot in New England would not be complete without stone walls, old cemeteries, and a covered bridge. After taking pictures at home, Cori and I hoped in the car for a short road trip. I can think of at least a dozen covered bridges and old cemeteries within a 30 minute drive of our house but by the time we finished taking pictures at the cemetery I was too cold to do any more. So the covered bridges will have to wait for another day.

The building seen below was constructed in the 1780s and was originally used for both Congregational church meetings as well as civic and governmental meetings. Church services ceased in 1839 but town meetings continued to be held in it until 1869. The building and cemetery were added to the list of National Historic Landmarks in 2000. Today visitors can tour the historic building during the spring and summer months. The grounds are open during daylight hours. Some of the headstones in the cemetery date to the 1770s or earlier and are extremely beautiful. I should really do a blog post about early headstones because they really are fascinating.

Sitting on the steps of the old meeting house.

 I had to jump in the leaves!

To keep warm I added a jacket over the dress and sweater. The jacket is modern, something I picked up at a second hand shop, but has a nice vintage feel to it and is something I wear on a regular basis.

A year or so ago I started wearing pins on my fall and winter jackets and I'm still amazed at the amount of complements I get. Lately I've been wearing this kitty pin.

So there you have it. Way more picture then you needed, I'm sure. ;)

Outfit details

Dress - Traveling Vintage Dress from Joanna of Dividing Vintage Moments

Jacket, sweater, crinoline, and kitty pin - Thrift store finds
Tights - Gift

Scarf - Vermont Country Store

Belts - Yards sale finds

Boots - Ebay (I have a very similar pair for sale.
Please feel free to contact me for pictures and details.)

Earrings - Historic Delights 18th Century Jewelry

Lipstick - Chocolate Kiss by Bésame Cosmetics

Below, from left to right are Joanna of Dividing Vintage Moments, Kristen of Verity Vintage Studio, Whitney of LittleHeapVintage, Stephanie of The Girl With A Star- Spangled Heart, and Laura of Paper Mothball Vintage.