Vintage dress disaster :-0

Cococat

I wore my no. 2 vintage dress yesterday and was feeling very pleased with myself about my fabulous find.

I sat through a work meeting, with almost all of the staff members of my school plus a lunch and then spent some time chatting with some colleagues afterwards.

I went back to my office and sat down. It felt kind of strange around my neck and I reached around to find that the zip had completely separated from the top all the way down to below my waist at the back. I have no idea how long I had been exposing my underwear.

Hahahaha....how funny and embarrassing! I spent the afternoon with a huge safety pin holding it together below my waist and a black cardi covering the rest.

Lesson learned, check the zips of vintage dresses before wearing!!

Who has had similar clothing disasters? Please share.

10 years ago

Dressing

12 replies

Latest reply was from approprio

Anonymous

Well, I think we've probably all done the skirt hem caught in the back of the tights at least once.
I have a shirt that unbuttoned itself a few times before I concluded that it wasn't that I had forgotten to button it, it was that the buttonholes were too big.

10 years ago

Janet

(website)

Veteran

Oh no! Hopefully no one saw much.

Isabel, I've totally had the unbuttoning thing happen -- a slippery silk shirt with buttons that were just a smidge small for the buttonholes. I didn't feel like changing out the buttons, so I added a few discreet stitches to close the buttonholes just a bit.

10 years ago

Karie

(website)

Veteran

I haven't recently but a friend of mine did. Last Saturday she attended an out-of-state wedding to which she wore a brand new, beautiful dress. Part of the way through the day, she realized that the store's safety tag was still attached to the dress! And of course it wasn't on a seam at the bottom, it was in the lower middle of the back of the dress (the rear end region). She couldn't remove it, so she ended up cutting it out of the dress and safety pinning the hole. There was no way to hide the pinned part of the dress, so she had to go through the day that way.

10 years ago

Vildy

Veteran

This was not a vintage item but sure was a clothing disaster. This was when I was in my 20's. Before I had my son in my late 30's and my breasts suddenly popped out, I went braless for years. We were coming back from visiting my folks - couple hours car trip - and it was a typical heat wave. I wore a heavy jersey knit halter neck top with a front with loose cups and then an empire seam below that. We stopped at a grade Z department store around the corner from where we lived and I went in to pick up a couple things I needed. I noticed a heavy set man in a golf shirt and slacks following me around the store at a distance. He made me nervous and I got my items as fast as I could. He approached me and wanted to know if I knew that I was "exposing" myself. I was bewildered and then looked down and sure enough this top had shifted and I was walking around the store with one breast completely out. I fixed it, paid for my items and left as quickly as I could. Now, I don't have an abundant supply of modesty but I did indeed feel exposed. I remember going to bed for a day with the covers over me and swaddling myself! I was aware this was an extreme reaction to what happened but I couldn't help it. I never wore the top or any of its duplicates again.

10 years ago

SandyG

Veteran

A big vintage admirer here, and always collect it to wear. And I love my items ... but many fails, from strong 'old' smells when the fabric gets warmed up, to rips and seams coming apart at inconvenient times, to broken straps on handbags and broken heels on shoes.

I stay heedless, still collecting beautiful vintage items and trying to wear them with triple-care and doing everything in slow motion

10 years ago

DonnaF

Veteran

Back in the day, I had a tube top that would flip down, and of course I've had button shirts unbutton by themselves. Since I've rarely worn dresses over the years, I guess it makes sense that the zippers that have broken have been on pants or skirts.

10 years ago

karymk

Veteran

Oh lordy. "Black Cardi Covering The Rest" gives me hope for you!!! you can keep wearing the dress as long as you have the cardigan on, right?

10 years ago

Anonymous

I have a favorite sheath dress with a long back zipper that has pulled apart, exposing my whole back. This was as a guest at a wedding, so I sat against the back on my chair all night. No dancing. DH walked very closely behind me when leaving.

I tried again because this was on a trip and I didn't have much backup. This time I wore it with a long cascading cardi that could cover any damage. Good thing because the zipper popped again.

10 years ago

Prix

Member

I still haven't found the Vintage dress of my dreams...

10 years ago

Cococat

Veteran

Funny hearing your stories.

Vildy, your exposed breast story is terrifying. I can't imagine the horror when you realised what had happened.

Joy, that was courageous giving your zipper a second chance.

SandyG, I'm glad your vintage mishaps haven't put you off vintage. I've been fortunate. This has been my first exposure disaster.

I'm going to get a whole new zipper put in to avoid future mishaps or needing to wear the cardi with safety pin look.....not a good one.

10 years ago

Beth Ann

Veteran

The only positive thing to come out of wardrobe malfunctions is greater compassion for other women in similar situations! I hereby resolve to always gently tell a colleague or acquaintance, as gently and privately as possible, when I notice somethings!

Replacing a zipper can be a pain, but modern zippers are far better than older ones! Check the fabric near the zipper -- you might need to reinforce the area before replacement.

10 years ago

approprio

(website)

Veteran

I once had a beautiful ruched swimming costume fail on me on a beach in mixed company. It was mortifying! Looking back, I don't think the designer had any clue that the wearer would want to go in the water. Or maybe it was supposed to be one of those "specially designed topless swimsuits". Suffice to say I've chosen cupped or sports swimwear ever since.

And vintage pieces can be a problem. It's the price we pay for seeking out the beautiful and unique at a knockdown price. The upside is that if they've survived this long it usually means quality materials which merit repairing. Good luck with that zipper.

10 years ago

Category