A wiggle dress to fit my very modern proportions

retro ruth

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Staff member
Hi all

I'm craving a 50s or early 60s wiggle/sheath dress, and it's difficult to find them to fit a modern tall typically-British pear shape.

My measurements are Bust 37 Waist 30 Hips 42.5 so the ideal measurements of the dress would be 38-31-43/44 or thereabouts. I'm narrow in the back but busty, so a slim bodice that has room at the front would be fine. (Apparently we've all got fuller in the hips since the 50s - I have a theory about why that is... but I'm digressing...). I'm also 5'9" and long-waisted so it needs to be reasonably long, especially in the bodice.

Ideally I'd rather not have to alter to fit - my sewing skills are minimal and I don't know a dress maker. Something with some stretch would of course make the fitting easier

Style-wise I'd be happy to see anything that fits those measurements, but ideally I'm looking for something fairly simple, maybe daywear, or simple evening wear - a solid colour or subtle print, probably not lace or brocade or anything too fussy. Some nice details would be great, especially around the bust. I look best in slightly muted colours. More summery than wintery - I have been lucky enough to find a couple of wool wiggles, one jersey and one woven, but have nothing for this season. Though as I said I'd love to see anything that fits.

It seems a tall order, (Heh, literally, I realise as I write!), but I thought I'd ask!

Ruth
 
Realistically you will have to have a wiggle dress altered. In the day people bought them then altered to fit. You have knit dresses that what I stick too... I am 5' 10" and I usually shoot for a 40's dress or skirt an top which is more forgiving to long waisted people.

-Chris
 
Thanks Chris. Nice to know I'm not the only long-waisted one trying to get into vintage. That combined with big hips makes it difficult - it's fairly to find 50s dresses that fit when the skirt is full. I have managed to find a couple that just about work, but I guess to get that perfect fit I need to find a good dress-maker, or brush-up my sewing skills. Actually a matching blouse and pencil skirt would be fab...
 
I'm with Chris on the knits -- they are great because it's the closest thing to "stretch" you'll find from that time period -- also separates are MUCH easier for us tall gals. Most dresses have a waist that hits me just under the bust, but with the overlap of a skirt/blouse that difference is MUCH less noticeable!
 
Heres what I could find:

brown.jpg

Brown 1950's Dress with Belt

38-35-44 (Waist can be made smaller with belt:))
 
Oh boy, oh boy, it's 11pm here and I'd better go to bed before I buy them all. But I'm coming back! Thanks for looking all of you, and if there are anymore, please post! I'd love a more vampy one too. I feel like a kid in a sweetshop.

Ruth
 
Many thanks to you all for taking the time to show me these dresses.

It lead me to fully research import fees for bringing these to the UK. I should have done this before I asked, but I really didn't expect you to come up with so many possibilities!

What I then realised was that a dress would have to be either a) so perfect for me I didn't mind paying the extra, or b) under $29. I know that's ridiculously cheap, but that's the £18 threshold for UK import VAT tax. The 15% tax in itself wouldn't matter, but the post office slap a fixed £8 ($13) handling fee on top, even if the tax is tiny. This means a $40 dress would cost nearly $60, plus shipping of course. It makes me more inclined to splash out on an expensive dress, as the fixed fee is then less significant, but then it would have to be a really 'perfect' dress.

Julie, your Herbert Sondheim is gorgeous, so very close to what I want, and in another colour I would've had it. It's still on my inner wishlist, as in fact are all the dresses here, I really wish I could buy them all! Money is tight and I do have to try and make it go as far as possible.

So, I now know there are lots more larger wiggles in the US than here, and a 'wiggle L' search on ebay USA found me one, that I managed to snap up for just under $29! It's on its way to me, not exactly what I had in mind, but hopefully I'll like it.

I hope you don't think I've wasted your time. I have now browsed through all your sites, and really enjoyed looking at them.

Thanks again,

Ruth
 
Originally posted by GoldenAge

Julie, your Herbert Sondheim is gorgeous, so very close to what I want, and in another colour I would've had it. It's still on my inner wishlist, as in fact are all the dresses here, I really wish I could buy them all!

Thanks and if you ever can get it the discount stands. I really understand the issue with the VAT and shipping costs.
 
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