Thanks much to Holly at Lucite Box Vintage for the link to this one. She's so selfless, it's not even one of her own auctions!
I love this fabric with an obsessive and stifling love:
I wish I could have met the textile designer. After sitting a safe distance away from him or her, I would casually venture to bring up what creative process had led to shouting stylized crows with megaphones. "It's such an … inventive design! How on earth did you come up with it?" Of course, if the answer was "Well, I see them all the time, along with the dancing elephants wearing propeller beanies," I might shift my chair a little further away and pretend to get a text message on my phone that needed immediate attention. But I sure as heck wouldn't leave without four or five yards for my very own.
However, I can't imagine that I would be able to choose a better pattern for this fabric than this designer (the label is "Ann Sutton"). I love the surplice cap-sleeve bodice WITH the midriff band (perhaps the crows are cheering for the midriff band? Seems reasonable to me) and the lovely full skirt. I should be able to fake this up. This is absolutely a "no, but hum a few bars" style of dress.
If only I had some of this fabric! If you want the whole dress, it's B36 and a $125 BuyItNow — no auction close date, so hurry up!
A Dress A Day 
A cute dress; the fabric is so cool. I’ve never seen anything like it.
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i’ve had this bookmarked for a long time but i can’t cough up that much cash for it, sigh. i actually also have a dress in a very very similar design already (in fact i should go check the tag and see if its the same designer)…only with not such a fantastic print (mine’s in a cotton voile with a sort of folkloric stripe—a patterned stripe with flowers and yes, um, tiny hearts. eek on the hearts but you have to be about six inches from me to see them)nothing like crows with microphones!!!
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Definitely…interesting 🙂
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There is absolutely nothing I don’t like about that dress. ::love::–Lydia
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Wonderous dress in an awe-inspiring fabric. I quite like cut-on sleeves as I hate to set in sleeves and hate sleeves much longer than a sleevecap.
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I love the design, but not the colours so much (for me. I always go by what looks good on me…). But it is indeed inventive! And so so so so gorgeous. *sigh*
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I love the top of the dress and that waistband — so feminine and pretty!
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sigh, This is my favorite of late. I do think I will have to fake some sort of dress like this as well – but oh to have the fabric. That is luscious and would be the kind of fabric that I would be scared to cut – I would have to actually do a ‘practice’ dress first before I commited to it. Thanks for the inspiration.
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Oh no. I just blew $300 on dresses over the weekend (too easy to do in NYC).. I guess it’s better that some other lucky gal got to it before I did. 🙂
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It’s a pretty dress – nice silhouette, makeable-in-a-day-looking. Definitely a nice waistband. But, the skirt looks like it uses some yardage. Thanks for the inspiration for a weekend project.
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My comment isn’t about the dress, but about your comments surrounding the fabric. I love your imagined interlude with the textile’s designer. You have a great imagination.
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If I ever get married again, I’d want to do it in that dress.
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I am utterly charmed by the fabric, and of course I like the style of the dress. (I finally understand your love of midrif bands, now that I have a few dresses with them.)I am half-hoping for and half-dreading the day you find a full-skirted dress made from a fabric covered in little monsters or bats. Because that is the day I will have to wave goodbye to any spending money I might possibly have.
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It’s adorable – so fun! Not a fan of the colors but the print is so creative. I love how the designer used perfectly matched darts to shape the midriff band without disturbing the stripe. Clever – must remember that. So, who’s the lucky buyer?
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I just read todays SewingDivas’ blog and there was a dress that would be a perfect start as a pattern for this dress. http://thesewingdivas.blogspot.com/The pattern is New Look 6557. Just slash and spread to re-create the pleats in the bodice and add fullness to the skirt if you desire.
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you should check out my dress, i made it from asbestos!
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It looks so cute from far away, but I’d fear people joking that little birds are attacking me. I do love it, but I can’t see myself wearing it (especially since it is not my size).I am in love with the large circumference though.
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I can’t believe no one has said this yet: this is CLEARLY the dress that the head cheerleader for the Fighting Crows wore to a “school-colors” dance with her hunky quarterback boyfriend. What else could it be?
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That’s Hot!
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jaysus that’s cool
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I once lived in a house that had, at certain times of the year, a convention of the world sparrow population in the surrounding trees–incredible decible level. When I saw the fabric, my first thought was that the designer must have lived somewhere similar, and had a design epiphany.that said, there are similar feeling designs on equilter.com (nayy), and I think the info was that they were norwegian or danish or something. Search “horse” on the site and a couple show up–don quixote (sp?) and another horse. cotton, 58 or 60″ wide. There are other prints in the collection, a duck, i think. (can you tell I keep going back to these fabrics?)
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Haha- that’s wonderful.
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Love this fabric: It reminds me of the illustrations from 50’s-60’s children’s books. And it cracks me up that this elegant, beautiful dress is made from such goofy fabric. “Ann Sutton” is a woman after my own heart…
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Yep, this dress is gorgeous. Maybe you should ask the textile designer what the crows are saying that they need a megaphone for?
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Dorothea’s got some AWESOME dresses and she’s a great seller. She’s just hit the jackpot with this particular size as well, so if you do match this size I’d suggest scrutinizing her listings for a while.*sigh* in a way it’s lucky i’m too big for most vintage!
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I’m desperate for a pattern like that. The waistband and wide-V would suit the hell out of me. Want!! Need!!
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Oh, had to comment again, because I’ve remembered what I’m reminded of: Eastern European children’s art, puppet shows, cartoons… grew up with that stuff. A bird with a megaphone would have been totally normal there.
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bani, Veer actually had a sort of design font made up of fab images based on Eastern Block cartoons. And you’re right: it’s spot-on.
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Yes! Knew I was on to something! I’m trying to think of google phrases to find some examples, but no luck yet. 🙂
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This could be a Princeton reunion costume for wives of classes prior to the co-eduction era. See http://tigernet.princeton.edu/~ptoniana/reunions1.aspI agree that it could be a dress for a head cheerleader, but not necessarily for a crow team–those could just as easily be cartoon ravens.
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I love everything about this dress!Oh to find some of that fabric for myself. If anybody can find out the textile designer, please post it.
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My god, I would love this dress! Or even a reasonable facsimile. If you’ve managed to fake it, do let me know if I can put in an order for one. Do you sell anything? I’ve yet to go through your backlog as I was arrested by this lovely thing.
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Very informative site! I’m a Vintage Queen. I have a storgae filled with Vintage attire in addition to accessories. Would you happen to know of any place that I could sell them to?
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