My Middy

There is a particular kind of dress that seems to occupy a brief moment in fifties fashion history. The dress, known as the “middy”, had a drop waist seam and a beautifully contoured waistline. The middy was introduced by Balenciaga in 1952 and in ‘54 Dior followed suit with his “H-line” collection. It was one of the more original innovations of the ealry fifties.





The terminology of this striking silhouette seems to be a bit below the radar of most vintage fashion collectors and sellers because even a google search turns up only very limited selection. Although, it is also possible that the middy simply wasn’t popular enough to warrant massive production of ready-to-wear versions. However, a couple of weeks ago I stumbled across this rather striking version in a lovely etsy shop called Cali Vintage.



I’m totally in love with this dress, but alas, it is much too small for me. If any of you have a 26” waist you should snatch this one up quick—it’s well-priced and the giraffe print is adorable! I was so enamored with the dress that I set about to find a middy of my very own. Miraculously, within a couple of weeks I lucked out and discovered one in a local vintage shop.



The dress fits quite well and I really love the simplicity of the design and the perfect wintery color. Sadly, however, the dress is made of a very warm wool which doesn’t suit my winter wardrobe at all. I absolutely abhor the cold! I prefer to stay in my nice warm (okay, old and drafty, but still better than outside) country house during the dreary, dark months. If I do dare to engage in any activity that warrants a treasured vintage dress, I prefer to wear something that can be layered with both tights and over-the-knee socks. It’s just much to cold in the Heartland to expose my legs in tights alone. For once I’m going to admit that I’ll never wear the dress BEFORE it lives a sad existence in my lonely closet for months or even years. Therefore, it will be added to the shop today, along with some other fun fifties finds.