Seemingly out of nowhere, I have become a dress junkie. This flies in the face of approximately 20 years of my fashion history (I'm not really sure what I wore for the first 5 or so years), in which dresses were often worn on Sundays but generally not donned at other times. In recent years, I have become a fan of skirts, especially in the summer, but I have usually paired them with t-shirts, so the overall look has still been rather casual. And now: dresses. I have purchased more in the past few months than I had in the past few years combined. And a few days I bought a maxi dress, which I have never done before. In a fairly bright blue, no less. And today I bought a dress with a PATTERN on it, which flies in the face of all my solid colored (with a few logo/picture tees) wardrobe. That one, though, is shades of grey/black, so it's safe in that manner. And I considered a dress that had a large floral pattern on it, even. Me. Flowers. Again, shades of grey (actually silver on grey), but still. Large flowers. Up until now, that has pretty much been right after ruffles on the list of things I do not even consider wearing. Ruffles, by the way, are still on the list. I can change and experiment only so much.

After admiring L'Wren Scott's designs and trying to dress a bit nicer, I've gone hunting for some cheap(er) vintage-inspired clothing (especially 1940's styles) to buy. Here are some possibilities I've come across so far:

Bettie Page "Parisian" Dress:



I am pretty sure I need this dress in my life. Short sleeves, nice neckline, and a longer skirt with interesting open-work design near the knee. It's nice but not so fancy that I'd feel weird about wearing it at my more casual workplace, especially with flats.

Many of the dresses I came across come in black (yay, but I need to break the mostly black habit) and bright red (pretty, but too bright for me to be comfortable in). I managed to find some in other colors, though, which pleases me.

Bettie Page "Ella" Pencil Dress:



No, I don't know what's going on with the model's expression. I guess she saw something shiny on the ceiling? Focus on the color. Blue! A very pretty blue, at that. I'm not one hundred percent sold on the twist detailing at the neckline, and the lack of real sleeves makes it feel more dressy to me - if I wore it to work, I'd probably toss on a cardigan. But the color and the length are lovely.

Bernie Dexter "Bad Girl" Wiggle Dress:



This is another one that needs to be in my closet ASAP. Navy blue, longer sleeves, very simple style. It's also available in black, of course, and turquoise, but I like the navy best.

Stop Staring "Baby Jane" Dress:



This one is pretty, but I don't think it's something I'd buy and wear. I'm not quite sure why.

Broad Minded Clothing "La Passion de Violette" Dress:



I like this one a bit more than the previous purple dress, but I'm still not sure about it. Maybe I'm just not brave enough to wear that much purple in an everyday context? (Thought I did wear a purple shirt and cardigan the other day.)

Heartbreaker Fashion "Super Spy" Dress:



This one is also available in black, but hey, let's be daring and go with a different neutral color! It's a bit shorter than the others, since it ends above the knee. Scandalous, I know. The only thing that gives me pause about this one is the neckline - it looks like it has a bit of a mock-turtleneck thing going on, and despite wearing lots of turtlenecks as a child, I am not always comfortable wearing them.

At this point, I think I may order the "Parisian" in black and the "Bad Girl" in navy. The other ones are nice, but I don't think I can justify buying too many more dresses at this point. We'll see.