Where can I get an amazing retro dress?

September 28, 2007 5:56 AM

My university is having a prom / formal dance for grad students. (woot) Where can I (and my friends) get AWESOME retro ironic dresses?

We'll check out the local thrift shops, but any websites that you know of that sell vintage '80s dresses for cheap? Link to event.

posted by k8t to clothing, beauty, & fashion (9 comments total)

Checking eBay for Gunne Sax should hit right in the heart of anything from 1979 farm girl fantasy to 1986 permed hair-and-lame goodness.
posted by methylsalicylate at 6:06 AM on September 28, 2007

...please say one of you will wear this (preferably with sheer black stockings and frosted highlights).
posted by methylsalicylate at 6:08 AM on September 28, 2007

Related, anyone know the formal name for the dresses that were crinkly spandex and then poofed out at the bottom.
posted by k8t at 6:17 AM on September 28, 2007

Poofed like a balloon skirt or poofed like a tiered skirt?
posted by methylsalicylate at 6:35 AM on September 28, 2007

(If you mean like a balloon, we called them bubble dresses and eBay also seems to. Wow, you can get both balloon and tiers together! This question makes me want this dress so hard.)
posted by methylsalicylate at 6:43 AM on September 28, 2007

Vintage stores like Value Village are probably a good bet.
posted by chunking express at 7:25 AM on September 28, 2007

Oh, this brings back such memories.

k8t, I think you're referring to the mermaid dress. Back in the day, the term did indeed refer to the shimmering, crinkly tight-and-then-POOF! style, but the word's still used for a lot of different fit and flare styles.
posted by houseofdanie at 7:26 AM on September 28, 2007

Metro Three. Home of the "Make Levees not War" T-Shirts and other fine retro goodness.
posted by Mr. Gunn at 8:02 AM on September 28, 2007

Mr Gunn: Your "Make Levees not War" link doesn't go where you might think it goes. Unless Natalie Portman was wearing one of their shirts?
posted by philomathoholic at 1:20 PM on September 28, 2007