I have a bad habit of stalking the new arrivals on Modcloth. It can be an expensive addiction (damn all those cute shoes!), but it also yields lots of retro dress inspiration. When this yellow check number popped up yesterday, I had to take a closer look. The cool thing about it is the removable halter. Lots of retro dresses have removable halters, sure, but I’ve never seen one that buttons on at the waist. (Usually, they have hidden buttons inside the neckline.) (Hmm, what’s with the hoodie-esque drawstring ties? Do not want.) Upon closer inspection, there seems to be vertical rows of buttons up the bodice, along where the princess lines would be. So if you chose to remove the halter, you’d have cute decorative buttons on your now-strapless dress. (Though you’d have to be careful with that button placement to avoid unfortunate nipple-button syndrome.) There’s shirring at the waistline and back. I wish I knew if there were boning–there should be, but sometimes ready-to-wear dresses rely on shirring and that gross sticky rubberized elastic to hold up a strapless dress. The other cool thing about the design is the rockabilly-inspired halter collar. I like the dramatic proportions of the lapels. This is giving me great ideas for ways to spice up a sundress. I’d love to try my hand at draping a removable halter collar like this one!
