Six Six Sick: That 70's Dress

Gunne Sax white dress from eBay

I have a new obsession---vintage Gunne Sax maxi-dresses from the late 1960's and the 1970's. I'm not exactly proud of it. First off it's almost doltfully un-chic, considering the name Gunne Sax refers to Gunny Sacks, as in BURLAP BAGS, which were allegedly used to make the trim of the original collection of dresses. Perhaps the naming was meant to be ironic, but somehow I have a feeling it was meant to be evocative of the humble days of prairies and pioneers that the dresses often aspire to sartorially imitate. Secondly, the dresses often are described with somewhat gag-inducing eBay adjectives like "boho" and worse yet, "Ren Fair" or "demure wench," and are usually accompanied by poorly styled photos evoking the above terms. Is your stomach turning yet?

In short, these aren't the type of clothes I'd naturally be drawn to. I blame it on Alyssa, and working at her store, The Sweet Ones, yesterday. Being surrounded by an archive of authentic 19th century clothing for a full day inevitably makes you want to dress in it. Unfortunately authentic Victorian clothing was cut for true Victorian ladies, with 22-inch corset-cinched waistlines, rather than my modern frame. The Gunne Sax 70's interpretation is still slender, but more forgiving, and with forty years of aging, almost looks truly antiquated, save for the modern details: zippers where bridal buttons should be, high collars descending into modestly revealing necklines, synthetic fabric lining. Plus, they look even better once you try them on, with their perfectly billowing leg-of-mutton style sleeves, and their seemingly endless cascading hemlines. Of course they easily lend themselves to the hippie outfits that they were arguably originally intended for, but to me, they're evocative of John Singer Sargent via Virgin Suicides. Here are some of the best Gunne Sax dresses I've found for sale around the internet. Naturally I didn't share my absolute favorites--I might want to bid on them myself!