Believe it or not, this dress was intended to advertise office furniture. (Click on the image to see the entire original picture, which also includes western-themed draperies and a bemused-looking cow skull.) I feel the same way about this ad as I do about a recent series of ads in the fashmags that are intended to advertise faucets. "Great dress!" I think. "Where can I buy it?" And then I realize that no, it's not an ad for a dress, it's an ad for something else (faucets, steel office furniture, the Letter-Matic 1960) that I have absolutely no interest in. Then my inner thwarted moppet imagines jumping up and down on the ad. (Yes, I have a rich fantasy life. Why do you ask?)
Back to the dress. I love everything about it. The lemon meringue color. The halter. The bow. The midriff. The skirt. The haircut. The "I'm thinking exalted yet business-y thoughts" pose. Even the shoes are perfect! How I hope that the model was the glamorous wife of the company president, and that he demanded she be in all the photos, until she ran off with Fred from accounting. Or, better yet, maybe she was the glamorous designer of the "steel … gloved in style" desks, and responsible for the cow skull and the palm trees, and eventually came up with an aqua-and.jpgnk ladies' version, complete with built-in pop-up vanity mirror, for "the stylish female executive."
Of course, she's probably a local catalog model, and spent the shoot complaining about the air-conditioning and snapping her gum between shots. Sigh.
Do click on the image to go explore the Plan59 site. Isn't this one great? And this one would ALMOST make me drink Pepsi. (If I were a slightly-peeved orchid enthusiast, of course.) And best of all, this one. Oh, where oh where are the flying cars? We were PROMISED them, dammit.
A Dress A Day 
These ads make me think about your post from the other day on how to dress now that you are 35, and what sorts of models there are for adult women. What I love about these dresses is that they demonstrate a balance between extravagance (lemon yellow chiffon! fur collars!) and restraint. Want to show your shoulders? Better have a lot of skirt. Want to have a nipped waist and slim skirt? Don’t show too much cleavage. Look how little skin is showing, for the most part; yet these dresses are so much sexier than most of what’s on offer now. And look how little pepsi they are drinking – no Big Gulps! (of course, much more than 8 oz and she probably would be feeling the snugness of that dress…but what a nice, properly snug feeling until then!) Alas, restraint is not a particularly American value (Christian Right take note: repression is not the same thing).Whoo! Sorry for the rant. I’m 37 and struggling with this stuff too.
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ooooooooh, yes, we were promised jet packs too! i am still waiting for my jet pack.love the yellow dress, but without the haircut, i’d feel like i was playing grown up.
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the dress is divine. I love chiffon overlay and the ankle strap shoes. In the Coke ad, my eye is totally drawn to her waist-the bit of flowered shirt peeking through. Such detail. A pizza place near me sells Coke in 8oz glass bottles actually made with sugar!! I have one once in a while; what a treat! Pepsi girl is practicing portion control and appetite suppression through nicotine. Not a great part of the mid-century glamour.
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so similar, and yet so different. guess this means i have to admit to my therapist that “things were better then.” LOVE the plan 59 site. thanks for the links!
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That happened to me recently, I watched a ‘pier one’ commerical and wanted to know where the dress came from more than anything else.The yellow dress is nice, but I’m not a fan of flimsy bows or bows in general.TOODLES
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The Plan59 site is mesmerizing. And here I thought I was going to do some work today.
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Love,love,love the dress!
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And, check out these gloves!http://www.plan59.com/av/av398.htm
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Hey, heard you on NPR today (I think) and I thought – I wonder what she’s wearing? I’m sure it’s a dress. The show was lovely and entertaining… I do enjoy hearing about your job.- Nanimal http://www.tattooedyarn.blogspot.com
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Nora, so true. Im always finding clothing that I like in a add. There’s no info on the clothing tho. They want you to buy the product. I dont care about the product!!!!I like the yellow dress. I love the red dress and jacket so cute.
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I just keep wondering how much my teenage daughter would blink her eyelashes at me until she got to pick whichever dress she liked best :o)To Love, Honor and Dismay
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I saved the pictures you linked to. Thank you!
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YES! Flying cars! This is one of my very favorite pet peeves. I was promised a flying car by the year 2000 and I want my damn flying car. I didn’t live this long to be denied my flying car!Actually, the Neiman Marcus catalog had his and hers flying cars in last year’s Christmas catalog. http://www.girlyshoes.com/Girlyblog/archives/2005/10/about_damned_ti.phpThere's a photo on that link
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ohhh, you are a woman after my own heart, with a true 50’s sensibility. Best decade for dresses in the last century.
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..I – cannot – stop – browsing this Plan 59 site..
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I want that Coca-Cola dress. If dresses were still that pretty, maybe I would wear Mrs. Cleaver dresses all day while cleaning the oven. With long, pretty gloves.
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I may be stating the obvious here, but did you realize that if you follow your “Letter-Matic 1960” link, each time you click on the picture, a picture of equal or greater coolness appears? You crazy kids and your wacky technology – Fantastic!
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Plan59 rocks. I’ve had that bookmarked forever. Someday I’ll spring for a couple prints…this one in particular has always tickled me. –Lydia
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Saw you mentioned at Heather’s Boutique! This was back in the day when dresses were cut to flatter the figure 100%!
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