Holiday party season has just stepped into high gear here in Wellington, and every venue in town is booked out for the rest of the month.  My seasonal event schedule is sadly lacking in soirees that call for elegant frocks, but I’ve been doing fantasy event shopping in various museum’s collections, finding dresses that I would DEFINITELY wear had I the occasion, and ones that I want to show you, to see what you think of them.  So the next few weeks are going to feature event-worthy (well, maybe) party dresses. Last week:  a bright spring green pelisse   Mixed reviews for last week’s dress, with bonus points for some people because the dress looked like a historical superhero costume! I was really intrigued by all the speculation of who it would look good on, and the claims that most women couldn’t carry it off.  Though it’s not easy to find, the pelisse’s fresh green colour looks really good on me – and is one I think of as very flattering on most women, at …

The Rate the Dress before last was spring-heading-into-summer, last weeks was autumn-heading-into-winter, this week I’m combining both trans seasonal trends in one vivid green outer garment. Last week:  an 1890s dress in dark green ribbed velvet and chiffon, with appliqued polka dots, puffed sleeves and more Ratings for last week’s Hallee dress fell into two distinct camps: loves, with an average rating of 9.5, or people who thought it was too quirky, with an average rating of 7. Which, for once, is exactly what I’d predicted the response would be.  Usually I have some theories, and then some of the responses come completely out of left field, but this time I was spot on (haha). The Total: 8.3 out of 10 A rating that reflects almost no-ones scoring! This week: a bright spring green pelisse   It took me a long time to find the right garment to feature for Rate the Dress this week.  I finally decided to stick with my trans-seasonal theme, with an overgarment for keeping you cozy in cold weather, in …

Last week’s Rate the Dress was very spring-y, and extremely popular.  This week’s puffs and polka dots Rate the Dress looks towards winter, and the coming holidays (because November 20 is my arbitrary date for Christmas-y stuff not being disgustingly early).  Will it be equally popular? Last week:  an 1770s-80s pink gown Well, strawberry ice cream is everyones favourite flavour of dress, because no one disliked last week’s dress.  In fact, every score but one was a 9 or above.  And most were 10s. The Total: 9.9 out of 10 In Rate the Dress terms, that is a PERFECT score! This week: an 1890s dress in dark green ribbed velvet and chiffon, with appliqued polka dots, puffed sleeves and more Jeanne Hallee isn’t the most famous of late 19th century label, and unlike her better known contemporaries (Worth, Pingat et al), she is considered a dressmaker, rather than a couturier.  Nonetheless her creations were very high end in their own time, and certainly came with a fair bit of cachet. Her extent garments all show …