Friday, January 7, 2011

Retro Novelty Prints

What do you think of vintage novelty prints? They were big in the forties and fifties and there is something so charming about them.


I like looking at them, but what about actually wearing them? Whenever I envision a dress made from a novelty print it envokes memories of The Magic School Bus. This was a series of books and TV shows all about Ms. Frizzle, an elementary school science teacher, and her class, who ride around on a magical school bus which takes them on field trips to impossible locations. I remember actually watching these in school in third grade. The most memorable episode to me was when they went, in their bus, inside the human body. They also went into space, the center of the earth, and back in time to the land of the dinosaurs. The teacher Ms. Frizzle was a little crazy and her dress print always matched the subject they were learning about.
Ms. Frizzle was definitely kooky but do novelty prints have to be? What do you think?





I think the novelty print is most successful in a circle skirt. Something about a circle skirt makes campiness OK.


Fabric designer Micheal Miller has the cutest retro inspired prints! Check out these.



Could a retro novelty print circle skirt be in my future?

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