Post #261191 by vintagegirl on Tue, Oct 17, 2006 1:44 AM

I think you should still use the vintage dress you bought. If it fits well, it will still be a very cute dress and it definitely has a vintage cut and will fit differently than a contemporary dress. It will also show more effort than the other people that might also pull a contemporary floral top out of their closet. (Unless you have one that looks very retro, of course.) Also keep in mind that not EVERY person at a Tiki party in the 50s or 60s would be wearing a floral or Hawaiian print. There's always exceptions. You might want to consider going as a 1960s Hawaiian tourist. Dress it up with some pumps, short gloves, jewelry, your tiki purse and a lei. If you have access to some 50s-looking cat-eye glasses or sunglasses, that would be even better. As if you just came off a tour bus that day and right into the party!

By the way, for the shoes, if you have any pumps or other high-heels that are not really wide on the heel, you might be okay. A spike heel would be great, but not all shoes of that era had spiked heels, but they were generally on the thinner side for evening. So before you go out and buy more stuff, just check your closet for something that doesn't have a really wide, blocky heel. Here's some samples of the shapes:

60s low stilettos:

50s suede pumps (that's just a rhinestone clip-on, on the toe):

50s pumps with wider heel:

The shoes don't have to be black or close-toed. Those are just the only photo samples I had to show heel shapes. I really hope this helps a little, but regardless, just do what you can realistically do and then don't worry about it. Sometimes it's just as much fun to see what others wear as putting together your own outfit. So once you get there, just have a Mai Tai and have a great time!

[ Edited by: vintagegirl 2006-10-17 01:46 ]