Romance of the Dresses

In honor of Valentine's Day, I thought it might be fun to post some photos of lovely, romantic dresses. In my mind, a romantic dress is usually flowey, lacy, pastel or other soft colors. They tend to evoke a certain dreamlike, princess quality. 

Early 1900's through the 1920's

My favorite style of dress from the 1920's. Sooooo romantic!

The 1930's

I am in love with this giant ruff! I couldn't choose between these two wonderfully romantic gowns on Carole Lombard, so I used both.

You don't get much more romantic than Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. Here is her iconic feather dress she wore when dancing to "Heaven."

For some reason I have a vivid idea in my head of what makes a dress seem and feel romantic. I believe a truly romantic dress instills confidence in the wearer. It can be sexy, but not too much so. Some eras catered to this better than others. The 50's, for instance, had more structured, designed looks which tended to be either cute (in a girly sort of way) or dramatic (in a femme fatale sort of way). I found it hard to find a dress from the 50's that fit my idea of "romantic." The 30's, on the other had, had countless examples at my fingertips.

The 1950's and 1960's

Unfortunately, this is the best picture I could find of this dress. It is one of my favorites of this whole group.

1970 - 1980

Say what you will, I think the Gunny Sack dresses are timeless.

This is the best example I could find from the 80's. I actually  kind of like it.

Anyway, I hope you agree with my assessment of what a "romantic" dress is, and I hope you enjoy my pictorial presentation. Happy Valentine's Day!

This dreamy dress is one of my favorites by Alexander McQueen. If it looks familiar it's because Fleur wore the same gown in Harry Potter.

Elle Fanning often wears more flowy, romantic dresses. She is perfect.

In Valentino (see below).

This is one of the dreamiest gowns to ever grace the Oscars Red Carpet. Lupin Nyongo.

Emily Blunt is also perfect.

I think Valentino is the most romantic designer out there. Here are a few of recent favorites:

Have you ever seen a dreamier dress?

Roses are Red: in honour of Valentine's Day

I feel like Valentine's Day often gets a bad wrap. As though one needs a significant other to enjoy the day. I say, get a new dress of red, pink, or - gasp - both and you're ready to go. 

I thought it might be fun to have a look at red and pink dresses of the past. They can both be quite versatile colours. 

This lovely 18th Century robe is perfect in the dark pink floral pattern.

I guess the 18th C. was good at combining shades of pink. Look at this charming confection!

A stately gown from circa 1790-1810

I've seen this 1810 gown at the V&A. With a white  underdress it is a shade of shocking pink, as pictured above.

Surprisingly, this is the same dress with a darker underdress.

A sweet, delicate pink gown.

The velvet accents on this red gown from circa 1850 are stunning!

I love the bold colours in this gown from the 1840s

This red floral dress from the 1830s is very nice as well.

Doesn't this look like the perfect princess dress? (1870s)

Like the 1850 dress above, this 1910s gown makes great use of velvet.

I love the suit-like feel of this outfit from the 1910s. And yet the pink works so well.

This beaded frock from the 1920s is stunning!

The simplicity of the cut, and the soft shades of pink make this dress perfect!

These red polka-dots are so jolly on this 1930s dress

Red and pink can be used in endless shades and combinations, and makes for impeccable fashion. I hope this Valentine's Day we'll all put on our pink and red glad rags and enjoy the day.

Golden Globes 2015

I'm not going to get fancy with this post. I didn't think anyone's dress was abhorrent or terrible, so I'm not going to include a worst dressed list. It did take me some time to find some favorites though. On the whole, I think most of the gowns were pretty boring.


The most surprising part of the fashion choices was the color trends: white and yellow. I think both of these are tricky colors. White is tricky because there's a fine line between red carpet and wedding. Yellow is tricky because it can be a very difficult color to pull off. By far I preferred the white dresses. Though my two favorite dresses of the night were startling blue stunners. I would love to hear what your top choices were or what your general feedback is!

My Top Two:

Felicity Jones is so completely perfect in this deep teal gown. The crazy fold of the bodice could have gone horribly wrong, but teamed with the high collar and squared sleeves, it is flawless! A true thing of beauty!

This electric blue is also perfect and elegant and utterly beautiful on Julia Goldani.

My Favorite White's:

This extraordinary white gown on Salma Hayek was so amazing close up! The silver belt gives it just the edge it needs to not look bridal. And does she age?

In photos this dress looks a little busy, but it really took my breath away when I saw Sienna Miller presenting. I thought the details were stunning!

I am thinking that some people might disagree with me on this one, but I loved the easiness of this dress, and I thought it really fit her personality too. Somehow it looked just perfect on her.

Diane Kruger is always gorgeous, and this gown suits her perfectly!

Other Favorites:

This was my favorite of the yellow gowns. I love this softness of the color and the elegant flow of the folds.

Another outfit that would not look good on everyone. But she really looked  amazing!

I just loved the gold and pink combination! Greer Grammer looked so lovely!

Sophie Hunter looked classically beautiful in this gown, though it's hard to see past that fellow on her arm.