My First Vintage Piece • Kerrybrooke 1950s Dress

*EDIT: This dress is now for sale in my Etsy shop.  See the listing here.*

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I'm very excited about today's post! This is my one and only (so far, at least) vintage garment!

It is a Kerrybrooke dress by Sears Roebuck & Co. from the 1950s; I'm not sure of the exact date of manufacture.

Just as a side note, Sears has come a long ways since those days, don't you think?

Juniors' fashions now versus during the 1940s.

'Nuff said.

Back to my dress, however, I bought it a couple of months ago from A Doe A Deer; she was having an Instasale, and as soon as I saw this dress, I couldn't resist it. It was actually long enough, a super cute style, and the price? Amazing! $20 shipped. You just about can't beat that.

I was very excited to receive it! I washed it up, hung it out to dry, and then tried it on.

Hmm.

One little-bitty measurement I forgot to ask about was the back-waist length; it was only about 3 inches short. After discovering that fact, I was sure I couldn't wear it; there wasn't enough of a waist-skirt seam to let out. I was disappointed of course, but still glad to at least own a "real" 1950s dress.

Fast-forward to last week, when I decided to try on the dress again just for fun. Suddenly I had the thought of making a wide waistband/belt that would cover up the too-short bodice. I went to the fabric store, found some matching fabric, and made one! 

It ended up being the most wonderful idea! You can't even tell that the waist is too short, and I rather like the green accent at the waist. I am so thankful that I actually get to wear my "real" 1950s dress! :)

The details are just lovely; the pintucks in the front, the buttons, and look at the sleeves! I can't wait to use that sort of cuff on one of my dresses!

I don't know what kind of fabric the dress is made of, but thankfully it does wash and iron up perfectly. It also doesn't wrinkle! Bonus!!

The dress was originally slightly short for me, but it had about a 2" hem, which allowed me to bring it down to the perfect length.

We were at the antique shop last week, and lo and behold, there was a card of these exact same buttons for sale. Yes! We bought them!! Now I can add an extra button at the top of the bodice (it's pinned in these pictures), and have extras in case I lose one.

That was such an amazing find. Thank you, Lord!!

I'm very happy with my dress, and excited to be able to wear it! It's not often that I even see a vintage dress in an antique store around here, so when you add the length factor, and the fact that I really don't like to spend a lot of money on one thing, it's hard to find a dress that works for me!

If you haven't stopped by my Etsy shop lately, do check out this skirt I just listed last week! It's the most lovely 1930s/40s/early 50s design, plus I will hem it to your desired length for no extra charge! The fabric is a lovely non-wrinkle polyester, so you really can't go wrong with it! ;)

Check it out here.