Thrifty: Vintage Leopard Carolina Herrera Dress
About a month ago I was perusing an antique store for something to turn into a bathroom vanity for our next reno project when I spotted leopard print out of the corner of my eye. I was in a hurry. I was not there for fun. My husband has made it clear that leopard print makes him dry heave. But when you find vintage Carolina Herrera in your size for $25, there's nothing to do except calmly find a bathroom to try it on throw caution to the wind and put in on over your clothes in the middle of the store and then find a booth selling mirrors to assess. Aside from the fact that I couldn't get my arm far enough over my head to zip it up myself, I knew it was meant to be mine. The zipper sleeve cuffs... the hemline (I don't even know what you would call this style. Reverse sweetheart?)... it's all my favorite.
Cost: This one was on the pricey side for me at $25. On top of that I had it dry cleaned, so make it $35. This is about 5x what I usually spend at thrift stores, but it was too perfect to pass up.
I have no idea what this thing is really worth, because I can’t find another one online, but vintage Carolina Herrera dresses similar to this style sell for $100-$600 online. Sheesh.
Accessories:
Shoes are Antonio Melani from a Dillard’s clearance rack
Earrings- black tassels from H&M
Brooch- the cutest little fox joined me for work all day. He’s from Hobby Lobby, half off (obviously) and is so cute that I almost didn’t shudder putting a pin through my vintage dress. Almost.
In other news, remember how I can’t get this dress on and off by myself?
Well I didn’t remember.
I went to Goodwill at lunch and found a ton of stuff I wanted to try on… and then sadly realized I couldn’t undress or redress myself.
So… I did what any rational person would do: tried the clothes on directly over the top of my leopard dress. I will say this method makes it harder to assess fit and style, but I love a challenge- and it felt apropos considering the way I tried on the leopard dress when I bought it. #fullcircle
Oh! And I’m still looking for that vanity.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Toodles, tlo