No Peeking!
I love this dress from Lucitebox Vintage ... even though it looks exactly like the skirt is looking right back at you! It reminds me of some kind of Japanese anime character. In fact, I'm almost certain that there has to be some manga or anime somewhere that features an anthropomorphic item of clothing. Probably one that used to belong to some magical (and magically large-breasted) Japanese schoolgirl. (If you know about this, and send me links, please keep them SFW. Thanks!)
In fact, this dress made me think of this:
I'm sure you all see the resemblance.
This dress is a very wearable size (B40/W30) and is only $55! That's not bad for something that includes a built-in surveillance device. (I suppose if you wanted a hidden camera you could replace the black buttons with light gray ones.) And you really can't beat that collar, although I would be tempted to add black buttons to the collar points, to repeat the motif of the skirt ...
posted by Erin @ 7:30 AM
21 Comments:
At May 31, 2006 8:19:00 AM,
floretbroccoli said…
I'm thinking that I'd add points (with buttons, of course) to the cuffs of the sleeves.
At May 31, 2006 8:59:00 AM,
Anonymous said…
You make it possible for me to appreciate the dress. My first reaction is that if form follows function, what the heck ARE those buttons implying? It would bother me the whole time I was wearing it . . . unless I was pretending to be an anime character, which would be entertaining.
At May 31, 2006 9:00:00 AM,
Anonymous said…
The collar is faboo, but you'd have to have an absolutely flat stomach (and/or a phenomenal girdle) to wear that front...thing.
--Lydia
At May 31, 2006 9:07:00 AM,
Gidget Bananas said…
this six-eyed anime dress is obviously the sworn enemy of the two-eyed anime dress. Let the battle begin!
At May 31, 2006 9:10:00 AM,
Anonymous said…
I love the three alternating grays. I think that I will use those proportions (1:2:3)in a scarf that I am going to crochet this weekend.
At May 31, 2006 10:05:00 AM,
Mandy said…
It's... a Totoro dress??? How wonderful. I wish I was small enough to buy it. :)
At May 31, 2006 10:47:00 AM,
Summerset said…
Did you notice the red shoes? I think they're great with the grey dress with black eyes! Add to that a few complimentary red streaks in the hair and anime here we come!
At May 31, 2006 11:01:00 AM,
Ang. said…
In El Hazard there is a cat that talks and turns into a breastplate. Does that count?
Completely on another subject - last night I picked up McCall's 5137 and two fabulous fabrics to make it with. I have to force myself not to make it this weekend since my first priority is to make a dress to wear to a wedding in June.
At May 31, 2006 11:17:00 AM,
floridaprincess said…
I love the anime character, so cute I want to pick him up and squeeze him!!!! I like the color of the dress.
At May 31, 2006 12:12:00 PM,
Becky O. said…
I love Gidgets "sworn enemy" theory!
If the Totoro dress had a sworn enemy, I'm sure the multi armed Cat Bus would kick it's butt:
http://www.circleanime.com/toto-cat24.html
Watch out what you wear!
At May 31, 2006 12:30:00 PM,
Kathie said…
Always interesting details on dresses of this vintage. I assume the button thing is a pocket of some kind? I agree with Floretbroccoli who recommended adding sleeve detailing to echo the pocket or whatever it is.
If it had been me doing the original, I would've left off the buttons completely.
At May 31, 2006 2:00:00 PM,
jenny said…
Thinkin' I would change out the buttons for some lighter grey mother-of-pearl or something. The last thing I need is any attention drawn to my already-squishy belly area.
gidgetbananas, that six-eyed dress has me puzzled: the whole button-flap thing in the front reminds me of someone wearing a union suit backwards. Are the buttons there for easy-opening? And access to what: your womb? Fab! Someone has finally come up with a dress in which you can have a c-section without having to put on one of those pesky hospital gowns. Just unbutton the flap, and....voila!
At May 31, 2006 2:23:00 PM,
Jerry said…
You'll often find this kind of thing in nature -- "false eyes" somewhere on an animal's body. Obviously, this dress has evolved to more effectively confuse predators.
At May 31, 2006 4:18:00 PM,
floretbroccoli said…
Interesting point, jenny. And gidgetbananas' dress link shows a label from Lanz. Is this the same Lanz who makes the classic nightgowns?
At May 31, 2006 4:54:00 PM,
floridaprincess said…
floretbroccoli: Lanz, who makes the nightgowns used to make dresses. Liz Claiborne now owns Lanz. Sadly, they do not make dresses anymore.
At May 31, 2006 5:49:00 PM,
oracle said…
The Giardia protozoan parasite looks like it has eyes staring back at you, but it does not. Of course, you have to see it under a microscope.
At May 31, 2006 6:23:00 PM,
Charlotte said…
That is SUCH a cool dress. I love the collar!
At May 31, 2006 8:23:00 PM,
Liesl said…
I just wonder what happens if you actually unbutton the front of the dress...
At May 31, 2006 9:22:00 PM,
lucitebox vintage said…
Hi all... Lucitebox here. The buttons are purely decorative. The sharp points (or eyebrows, if you will) drop into slight curves. And, those curves appear to function as pockets, but I don't think you could put much in them besides your hands and that might even look a little dorky.
I'm truly surprised that the dress doesn't have those ubiquitous points on the cuffs, floretbrocoli. That would look perfect. I'm a big fan of those dramatic accents. Many of my favorite dresses have them.
And, oh yes, Lydia! A shape shifter girdle seems of utmost importance here. The more super sucking the better, especially with the stripes.
I LOVE the idea of duelling anime dresses, gigetbananas! What's more, it's not lost on me that the vintage dress that's MORE recent has MORE eyes and thus would likely be MORE powerful. (Having once retailed at Bonwit Teller, it was also MORE expensive than its home sewn meager competitor.)
That baby blue Lanz dress was sold to a very petite woman with bright red hair. The client tried it on at my house. You cannot imagine how it suited her. The front panel did not look odd in the least. On the mannequin, I think it looks pouchy. My manni has a weird twist in the pelvis and things with waist drama (or false eyes) tend to be hard to show well.
I keep a lot of what I buy to sell and I really, really wanted to keep this. Sadly, it didn't fit me. I could barely get it off of my hips when I tried it on. Is the fact that I almost got stuck in it yet another protective device of the mighty, two eyed, gray striped Japanese character/dress?
I'm so delighted to see this dress on the blog I read every day! Erin's absolutely brilliant, fresh take on it made my *own* eyes light up this morning. I'm pretty sure that the dress winked back at me, too.
At May 31, 2006 11:17:00 PM,
jenny said…
...that last line reminded me of Van Johnson's statement to Lucille Ball in the original "Yours, Mine and Ours," when her false eyelash falls off into her Irish coffee:
"Your Irish coffe is winking at me!"
At May 31, 2006 11:33:00 PM,
Gidget Bananas said…
I'm glad to hear that the super ninja six-eyed anime dress did not pouch when worn by a human. A super ninja kangaroo -pouch six-eyed anime dress just would not do!
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