The Prairie Look

denisebrain

denisebrain

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VFG Past President
This week's Parade theme is Prairie Tale (which is being rekindled on runways) and it's making me nostalgic for when I was about 16-22 years of age and absolutely loved pinafores, Gunnes (and Gunne-style) prairie looks, ribbons, eyelet, empire waists, lacing... I had some friends who called me Little Maggie Sunshine :hysterical:

I still love it!

Did or does anyone else have pics of themselves in prairie dresses?

This is me in 1980. My boyfriend at the time said "Wow!" when he saw it on me, and my mother said "You'd even like her in a gunny sack" which of course cracked me up because it was a Gunne Sax. These were expensive in their day, like $60. :rolleyes:

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Some more of my prairie things...this dress came from a store called The Generation Gap
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My mother made this for my first wedding
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Yes , this is a look I remember the first time around!
I had a brown calico dress, it reached my ankles, that I wore about 1980 or so. It was a hand me down from a family friend I adored so it was extra special because it was fashionable and from a dear friend.
I’m not sure I ever had a picture but it was definitely a prairie dress.
Maggie, your wedding dress was lovely!
 
Thank you about my dress Louise!

I’m not sure I ever had a picture but it was definitely a prairie dress.
Click to expand...

We just didn't take tons of photos in 1980, did we?
 
I don't remember wearing prairie styled stuff, I am a bit older than you. I kind of skipped from MOD styled clothing to mainly vintage items. My wedding gown was actually a 1930s silk satin gown with seed pearls and a train. I paid $35 for it and purchased it from the lady who became my vintage mentor, we went into business together, my first shop was with her...she is still with us, she is in her 80s now.

Actually, I just remembered I did have one maxi dress that was white with a red print with a smocked waist and a ruffled hem, that would have been somewhat in that styling. Although from what I remember of the print on that one it reminded me of the embroidery on Hungarian blouses.
 
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I never owned a Gunne Sax garment, but I did have quite a few Laura Ashley dresses from the late 70's because I lived in London for one year. I had this maxi dress in pink and I would wear it hitch-hiking from Connecticut to Vermont. I also got a job at a Petco gas station filling gas - and the women had to wear pink - so I would wear this dress. And I rode a motor cycle to get there. WHAT was I thinking? Ah youth. Maggie - sweet wedding photo :-)


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poppysvintageclothing said:
I don't remember wearing prairie styled stuff, I am a bit older than you. I kind of skipped from MOD styled clothing to mainly vintage items. My wedding gown was actually a 1930s silk satin gown with seed pearls and a train. I paid $35 for it and purchased it from the lady who became my vintage mentor, we went into business together, my first shop was with her...she is still with us, she is in her 80s now.

Actually, I just remembered I did have one maxi dress that was white with a red print with a smocked waist and a ruffled hem, that would have been somewhat in that styling. Although from what I remember of the print on that one it reminded me of the embroidery on Hungarian blouses.
Click to expand...
I would love to see some wedding photos of you in that gown.
 
Unfortunately, I don't have many photos, my hubby's brother took a lot of the photos and somehow managed to ruin the film...so we don't have many...we had a very frugal wedding being so young I was 19 and my hubby was still 18...my birthday is in June and his is in November. Here is one...

Wedding 73.jpg


and here we are last year in Dublin for our daughter's wedding

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I got married in 1972 and eloped so I didn't have a formal wedding portrait and I got married in just a regular dress. After we had been married for a while, my parents wanted me to have a wedding portrait. I could have cared less about having one made, but parents are like that as I now know so well how they felt. I had the portrait made and wore a Gunne Sax Ivory satin dress that was so pretty and I think it's still somewhere packed away. If I can find a small photo from that time, I'll post. That dress was just lovely and I did LOVE it! I also had a wonderful blouse in that same Ivory satin material that was Gunne Sax. And, I love it when we share these dear photos. Really puts a personal touch to our VFG membership.
 
I still remember going to April Cornell's first shop when she was with her husband, Chris. It was on Greene Ave., a small shop on the 2nd floor. The main shop is still located on Greene Ave. in Westmount. At that time they were doing a lot of importing of antique Afghani dresses, I loved these dresses so but could not afford them at the time as they were selling for about $150 which was a lot of money in the mid-70s. They also had a small selection of vintage and antique clothing. I did buy a pretty bed jacket to wear with my jeans.

Thanks, Maggie and Amanda needs to write a book!
 
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