toile de jouy, toile de me

I started getting sick midway through the week, like everyone else it seems, but I thought I should dress up for New Years anyway.  We don't go out for the occasion- it's sort of our last hurrah to the cuddliness of sitting at home together, watching a movie and ordering in. Well, any plans I had for current dresses were waylaid when I got home from work and discovered a long, awaited package had arrived in the mail...

Leifsdottir's Majestic Cypress dress, Anthropologie Spring 2010

A bit of a whim, but I love toile de jouy prints and was drooling over a similar Vivienne Westwood dress on  Dita von Teese earlier this year.

I actually never saw this dress hit sale at Anthropologie from it's wild original list price- I must have cleared out my wishlist at some point when it sold out.  I usually don't go for the whole corset look, but it gives some structure to the over-the-top Marie-Antoinette/ Fragonard frilliness.  I was looking for a thin blouse to wear underneath and the colours in this one matched the overall tones of the dress (thank-you open wardrobe shelves!)

The only review I've seen for it online is a guest post by Ivoire at Effortless Anthropologie.  I was afraid the size 4 might be too big, given the sizing of things these days, but stupidly bought it anyway.*  Fortunately, I am rewarded for my acquisitiveness, since it fits perfectly, which means these must run small, since I'm usually a 2 in dresses.

Majestic Cypress dress (Anthropologie), Staring at Stars blouse (UO), cheapo cardigan, vintage belt, Beene Bag shoes (Etsy)

Toile de jouy is the french version of the chintz prints (printed calico) being imported from India in the 18th and 19th centuries- in this case the term refers to the textile mills in the town of Jouy (I always thought it referenced 'joie' somehow!)

Great Thames & Hudson book on the subject, well-illustrated as below

toile and gingham- I'm sold!

sigh...blue and white.  glad I don't need the Catmint dress now!

I need an architectural dress!

While picking up some images I came across this customizable dress- the seller Sarah Seven has moved on from Etsy into her own bridal line, but maybe she still does custom pieces...

Other toile inspirations,  the good:

Sofia Coppola's Marie Antoinette- great potential to play with the genre, disappointing result, but fun visuals nevertheless!

 the not-sure:

Wunderkind, Spring 2010

 and the frankly horrifying:

don't know where to look...

really the garbage bin that kills me!

 *side note- what is up with sizing these days anyway?  In high school, 15 pounds lighter, I took a size 29 in jeans.  Now I'm down to 27 and sometimes 26?  What's up with that?  And that I have to size down to a 0 in pencil skirts from J Crew is pretty ridiculous.  Most pencil skirts used to be tight in a size 4 on me!  Egads.