This lovely suit was from a smaller women’s dress shop – it has the store’s label inside, rather than the label of the clothing company that made it.  Of course, big companies like Gap and Banana Republic outsource the manufacture of their clothing, but here I’m talking about small, privately owned shops that might have been owned by your neighbor down the street.

Back in the day, a store’s buyer (this was often the owner of the store) would sometimes pick items at the wholesale market to carry in their own shop with their own label, even though they didn’t make it themselves.  A second label giving the name of the company that manufactured the item might be present, too, but not always.  Since I wasn’t a shopper during that era and never have owned a dress shop, it was surprising and fun to learn this!  Maybe it’s still done this way by some big department stores or small, elegant boutiques with high prices but, back in the Fifties, a local small-town  dress shop might have sold frocks carrying an embroidered label with their own store’s name inside. Amazing!

Conservative but very elegant – Grace Kelly wore garments like this often in her public and private life. Looking like a tart is not elegant (and not really sexy, either).  I wish some of the popular designers and their market would get that.  It’s difficult to find well-designed and well-made clothing, if you shop at retail.

Anyway, this is another of those keep-it-for-decades ensembles that could go almost anywhere when you need a traditional style.  You can dress it up or down, or split the separates and accessorize and, if it fits well, it’s very flattering.  The skirt hem length could be anywhere from below to slightly above the knee without ruining the line.  Make it micro-mini and you’ll look like you haven’t got a clue . . . . . . . . . . ..

MORGANA MARTIN, THE MAGICVINTAGESPY

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