Herewith another dress from the annals of advertising, this one sent by Rose (not a vegetable, a flower!) from the NYT. (Click on the image to read the story.) Seems that Wishbone salad dressing wanted dresses made from … salad, and Chris March, a costume designer, made their wish(bone) come true. (Let's leave aside, for the moment, that the product being promoted is a SPRAY SALAD DRESSING. I hope it works like spray paint, not just looks like spray paint, because the idea of kids buying salad dressing to use for tagging just makes me so happy I can't stand it.)
I have to say, this is much much better than the Celestial Seasonings dress, and, if I had access to, say, several hundred pounds of discarded silk vegetables? I would be making something similar. (C'mon, do you think someone who gushed over this dress would balk at taking it to the next level?)
I love the overlapping lettuce leaves on the skirt — the bodice, I'm more "eh" on. Also, I don't think you should mix velvet and lettuce … charmeuse would have been a better choice. Velvet is a winter fabric, and vegetables are definitely summer.
Actually, I'd love to make a turnip dress, with a frilly green collar, deep red-purple at the shoulders, and shading to white at the bottom. And then I would walk around all day holding my breath, waiting for someone to "get it". Do people even eat turnips anymore? I mean, aside from effete baby ones? Me, I love a good turnip.
Okay, to sum up: Promotional dresses are good press and make nice blog entries. Don't mix velvet and lettuce. Question: Who eats turnips?
A Dress A Day 
I like turnips. I think of them more as winter food though, mashed up next to some kielbasa maybe. I know I saw a recipe for a turnip gratin on a food blog recently that looked good too.Thanks for the link to La Redoute yesterday. I loved the one you pictured, but it’s backordered in my size until September. I ended up ordering this one instead (and a perfect, knee-length denim skirt for $14.99):http://tinyurl.com/grrxw
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Here you go:http://www.elise.com/recipes/archives/001877scalloped_turnips.php
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This reminds me of the Project Runway challenge where they had to use flowers to create a dress, and the dress that was made the previous season from corn husks.I really like the hat, not to wear, but it is fun.
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Respectfully, I must disagree with you on this one; I think the velvet absolutely goes with the vegetables, especially in this instance. Look how velvety and rich the lettuce leaves look! Of course, if we were seeing it live, and not in a photo, the lettuce leaves might look shiny and crisp, which would be a silk taffeta, and not a velvet OR a charmeuse.And I love turnips, especially mashed, like potatoes, with butter and cream, and maybe sprinkled with a little cinnamon sugar. The turnips I know, though, are the big waxy orange ones with the purple ends that are Very Difficult to chop and peel; I’ve never had the purple and white ones. Maybe I should try them.Ah, memories; I remember making a costume back in the 70’s for a science fiction convention out of rhododendron leaves – and a very fitted costume, at that.I also think this was a beautifully, beautifully executed example of this concept. It appears to be well-made, and it’s even flattering, for heaven’s sake; not necessarily the first thing one would think about a vegetable dress. And I LOVE the hat. The whole effect is total New Look, and very … fresh.
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Just lovely! Dresses should make you smile.I am a girl who asked her wedding florist to come up with a center peice of veggies instead of flowers…Erin, if I saw you turn up in a turnip, I would definatly get it.
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I like turnips but in the winter, we get those giant ones covered in wax that are impossible to chop up without an axe so I go for parsnips instead, which are nothing like turnips, I know.I watched that Project Runway and winced when the judge said that guy’s dress looked like a door mat – but it did.
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oh my god! i just changed the channel to Martha stewart’s show and THAT DRESS WAS ON! as i was reading the blog entry! hahah what a coincidence
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“Velvet is a winter fabric, and vegetables are definitely summer.”We are a strange fashiondressfabric addicted lot…..I was thinking the exact same thing! What about damask, the perfect table cloth material
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i’ve got a skirt with turnips on! its made from one of those Rowan fruity fabrics, that came up here a while ago. Its bright green and purple and i do feel slightly silly in it, but I love it! i’ll pop it on the blog sometime soon http://www.mantua-maker.blogspot.com
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Like it. I’d find this irresistible in a store (if it were less than a hundred dollars, which seems very unlikely).I like turnips a lot, too, usually mashed right into mashed potatoes. They’re also good pickled, as you can find them in a Middle Eastern grocery.
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I love turnips: Mashed, roasted, and even (occasionally) raw. I’m surprised nobody has yet mentioned the hat. That’s the thing that made me really chuckle about the ensemble.–Lydia
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I was halfway through Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of the Were Rabbit before twigging that the heroine’s (I’m blanking on her name) dresses were decidedly inspired and couldn’t wait until we got the DVD so I could see them all again from the beginning.And I won’t confess how tempted I was to recreate one or two of them.
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Take a look at these beautiful dresses:http://arabwomanprogressivevoice.blogspot.com/2006/05/i-want-one.htmlI wish she had posted a link to more details.
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I think your blog is so damn long it’s boring and hard to read, and somebody needs to lay your ugly ass so you calm down. Seriously! you scare the shit out of me with how you write. Anger much?
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Erin. You’ve gotten yourself some jealous admirers!!
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Lady Tottingham (From Wallace and Grommit) definitely has the best dresses. I think my favorite is the corn gown. Fellow turnip-lover checking in here. I love them mashed with butter, salt, and pepper, but in the summer they’re quite good peeled, sliced, and eaten raw with perhaps a sprinkle of salt. (Ok, I don’t always slice them.)
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Wow. I was on vacation last week and judging from a review of the daily threads, it appears that someone was a wee bit grumpy last week.*Sprinkling cyber pixie dust*Be gone with your grumpiness!Amy
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