Keep or sell at swap meet Party Dresses & fantasy life dress - YouLookFab Forum

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Keep or sell at swap meet Party Dresses & fantasy life dress

ElleH

Veteran

I apologize in advance for all the keep or purge posts about to come but I have a booth this Saturday at my local Chili cook off & swap meet.

I am going try to sell all my unwanted clothes to help pay for the new ones I need. Please help me decide.

First post is party dresses.

First dress is a Forever 21 floral dress that could be worn to a day or evening party, perhaps a garden party. Could wear with different shoes & topper for a different look. Is it too young? I'm not asking because I feel it is. It's just on YLF I've learned that some things are too young. I am 46, but unconventional.

Second dress is an All Saints Dress. It can be worn different ways at the top of the bodice, I can pull up the points. It may be a little big for me, I'm not sure if I can get it altered easily as it has an internal corset & many seams. It doesn't look too big but isn't as flattering as it would be if it were tighter. It is the internal corset that keeps it from falling down I think. Again is it too young?

Third dress edited so as not to offend the designer, it's a beautiful dress just too revealing on my bust.

Fourth dress is a DVF for my fantasy life. I have never worn it. Is it too big? I'm concerned that maybe it will slip down but I could walk around the house in it to see. It is a 10 & I wear a 6 in a DVF sheath in the same stretchy fabric from the same season. I think it is supposed to cling more but I like that it doesn't hug my tummy more than it does. I don't know when I would ever wear it but I love it, & probably the only one that is age appropriate lol. I thought I might have an occasion one day but apart from a wedding or the Oscars when does one wear a train? I could end up at the Oscars, not highly likely but possible due to hubby's work, but then wouldn't I need something more than a $700 DVF or is it only the celebrities that need to be concerned with that? Anyway it will probably never happen.

I also apologize for bathroom pics but it is the only place I could get enough light.

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Dressing

22 replies

Latest reply was from catgirl

Anonymous

They all look really nice on you, but in the spirit of true closet cleanout, I'll say sell all. The only one I'll be sad to part with is that DVF dress. Would you ve able to get a fair deal for it at a swap meet? I'd keep it rather than give it away for a couple bucks. I would rather consign it, for a better shot at getting its true value.

Anonymous

I say keep #1 and #9

Diana

Veteran

I love the DVF! I think it is gorgeous and very elegant. I would probably keep it, because one is allowed to have a couple of "fantasy life" items, I think. I am not a minimalist though!

The first two are nice also, especially with a topper. I don't think either looks too young. Whether you keep one or both I think depends on how many events you think you'd have to wear these to. I actually think both could be dressed down for more casual events (or possibly even work, if you work somewhere non-businessy like I do). Personally, I think the black allsaints dress would look smashing layered over jeans or paired with combat or moto boots or maybe even Docs.

I am not a fan of the third, gold dress. I think the baby doll style and bra-shaped top seems a bit dated, and I actually think this one reads the youngest of the bunch. The top shows off your (nice) cleavage, but personally I would find it uncomfortably revealing to wear.

Jem

Veteran

I like #2 and #4 to keep.

Mo

(website)

Veteran

I think the print, along with the cut, of #1 together makes it look young. I had/have a similar issue with not being all that conventional even though I'm over 40. But I had to admit a dress or two of mine were ready to go.
I LOVE the Allsaints - and if you do decide to purge it, let me know, seriously, I'd be interested in buying it off you
I'm kind of neither here nor there on the Sharon Stone dress. It is fine, but doesn't 'wow' me.
The floor length gown is beautiful and fairly timeless, it looks like. Not sure if I would ever have an occasion for such a gown, so I can't say whether I'd hold on to it or not . . .

ElleH

Veteran

Ok so far we have a consensus on the gold dress. The most expensive of all yet the one I like the least. I feel more comfortable showing leg than cleavage.

I have never sold at a swap meet Zap do you think it is only for cheap items? Perhaps I have to do the ebay or consignment thing. I like the idea of getting rid of everything in a day but not for pennies on the new or worn once expensive items.

Kristin L

Veteran

How often do each get worn (except the DVF)? I have to go with Zapotee and say it may be time to see at least the 1st 3 go. If it's expensive, I'd go ebay or consignment before swap meet.

ElleH

Veteran

I am thinking 1 may be too young, & 3 I just don't feel comfortable in with the cleavage. Dress 2 & 4 are still a maybe but not sure if dress 2 is too young with the bubble skirt.

Joni

I'll go against the grain and say I love the yellow dress. You have a rocking body for 46 so show it off!

Jules

Veteran

You do have the bod but I honestly find the gold dress more like a dance costume, I don't think even a woman in her 20s could wear this easily.
#1 is giving me a Betsy Johnson vibe, especially with the moto jacket. The booties keep it modern. So if you admire her style / ability to pull it off into her 50s...
I don't think the 2nd dress is perfect somehow so if you aren't loving it/wearing it perhaps it's time to purge.
I would have a hard time parting with the DVF and I would almost rather donate it than sell it for very little at a swap meet. But that's probably just me Can you invent an occasion for it? Have a dress-up party!

bj1111

Veteran

3 if you promise to wear it with either tights or a sweater/jacket. 9 is awesome-very age appropriate without looking mumsy.

you have the bod to carry off the floral and the gold dresses, but you look like you're trying to hard...no one wants to be "that woman" at any age!

ElleH

Veteran

BJ yes I wore the third dress with tights when I wore it. I don't wear these more because if lack of occasion than anything else but special occasion items shouldn't be subjected to the same criteria in terms of how often we wear them. If I wore it in summer though I doubt I would wear tights & a jacket so maybe it is too young.

DonnaF

Veteran

I'm not a fan of the gold dress, and I don't think it flatters you as much as it could. I really like the Allsaints dress, but again, I think the fit is off as you mentioned, so it doesn't flatter you as much as it could. It doesn't read too young, however. The F21 dress flatters you but the length reads too young IMHO, but that's just me. I would hold onto the DVF just cuz it seems so classically glamorous; the color makes it hard to tell if there are any fit issues.

Thistle

Veteran

Honestly, I think you should sell these all to get items that would work better for you. I really think you can do better than most of these, except the last DVF dress. It is amazing fab!

If you were going to keep any, I would keep the last DVF for your fantasy trip to the Oscars!

cciele

Veteran

Just popping in to say you look FANTABULOUS in the DVF dress. Not very helpful, I know...

catgirl

Veteran

I'd keep the DVF dress and find a way to get to some event calling for that level of fancy - it is SO beautiful. I'd let the rest go - the first is a big "young", the second (Allsaints is a fave of mine, but) is a little big/risque, and the third just doesn't seem quite your style.

BTW: I have gone to the Oscars and the Emmys, so it is not a pipe dream!

ElleH

Veteran

Thanks everyone. I love YLF it really helps. I love the All Saints dress but maybe it isn't right for me.

Alaska girl what did you wear to those award shows? It's not that I hope to go to the Oscars it is just that I find myself going to events with nothing to wear & no time to shop & hubby has been to the Grammy's. I also have a hubby who has no idea what I should wear to the events he takes me to, but why should he know? I wore the gold dress to an event once & felt so out of place. It was a party in Soho NY, arty area etc so I wore a party dress. It was either that, the All Saints or a black wool Theory shift. The All Saints felt too short for a strapless (skin at both ends), the shift felt too un party like but it turns out women were wearing black shift dresses? It looked more like an Upper East Side crowd, or like people who came from their conservative jobs. How would I have known that?

ElleH

Veteran

BTW does anybody think that my clothes would get ruined at a swap meet? Like if they didn't sell for what I was hoping to get I could sell them on ebay afterwards but could NWT end up trashed with tags. Same as high end sunglasses could get scratched there right?

Mo

(website)

Veteran

Elle, I'd ask Rae all about swap meet questions - she goes regularly.

catgirl

Veteran

I was totally ill-prepared! This was pre-YLF. Now I'd wear a Helmut Lang dress or something from fantasy-land. Your dress would be perfect with some bling added. I was a guest of my sister (the nominee), so she was really the focus. She;s been nominated for three Emmys and won two, as well as a film she edited win an Oscar. So she had a small designer make her a dress, and otherwise she wore an Adrienne Papell dress and once she wore a superfancy Indian outfit.

Here's me at the Vanity Fair afterparty in a $20 dress from Burlington Coat Factory and the love of my life, Keanu Reeves. Shameful.

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ElleH

Veteran

Una you look gorgeous & Keanu seems to think so too!

Congratulations to your sister for winning & being nominated.

I didn't know you were Indian. I have a lot of Indian clothes. I've been there twice & have some saris, kurtas, pashminas & salwar kameez but I only wear the kurtas. Would you purge the rest if you were me? I used to do a lot of spiritual events & I teach healing. When in India I dress in Indian clothing, not saris, mostly salwar kameez & kurtas & pants & shawls hiding my chest area.

I'm not sure if I will return to India but I will be prepared if I do.

One of my saris is for my fantasy Bollywood life. I even took a Bollywood dance class while there, but I don't remember it. Another is for the fantasy of going to an Indian wedding.

catgirl

Veteran

Good question. I've dumped a bunch of my Indian clothes because they are so out of fashion after a year or two. I've hauled them to NY and donated to this group:

http://www.sakhi.org/

If you're not wearing them to Indian events like weddings and such, you can keep wearing them, but my family is quick to let me know when I'm out of style! Saris can be made into other items if not valuable or sentimental, and pashminas are always good gifts. My consignment store takes them too.