WorldCon Retrospective: Blue Pattern 1940s

I found this patterned blue asymmetrical rayon dress on one of my perennial thrifting jaunts. I think this one came from Moon Zoom in Santa Cruz, probably for around $40. It's a dark not-quite-navy with and off white chrysanthemum pattern.

It's difficult to see in any of my pictures (sorry I have no full standing shot) but it has three little ruffles off to one side that give it a very 1940's look. However, I'm thrown by the length which is more 1950s, so it could be very late 40s or even a 1980's retro piece, rather than vintage.

Adrian 1942 via The Costume Institute of the Metropolitan Museum of Art; 

Madeleine Vionnet dress 1938 via The Costume Institute of the Metropolitan Museum of Art

The rayon has enough stretch to fit the rack quite comfortabley which makes me reach for this dress for many an occasion.

Here I am at the tweet-up in the bar at Melbourne world con. I always pair it with cream accessories, such as those in the previous blog post.

Here is a pattern dress in a similar style on ModCloth. Dresses of a similar take are all over the street style blogs right now, so I leave you with some ideas on how to modernize a vintage dress like this one.

Runway is Kronkron Reykjavik Fashion Festival 2011