Off the Rack ~ Separates from Tatyana / Bettie Page Clothing

I’ve written before about my experience with Tatyana (formerly Bettie Page) Clothing, with a couple hits and lots of misses.

I’ve basically sworn off buying any dresses from the brand unless I can try it on (or there’s a decent return policy). But apparently I have not given up on their separates! Flash sale site Zulily.com has occasional Tatyana sale events, and sometimes a random few items will turn up in a themed sale like “vintage styles” or some such. When they’re so heavily discounted, I can’t help but consider the offerings.

Additionally, the Tatyana website has a substantial sale section itself. In fact, they’re in the middle of a winter liquidation sale right now. They also have the occasional coupon, like the 50% off they offered on Black Friday.

A couple months back, I was really inspired to find a couple not-too-tight wiggle-style dresses or skirts. I have a couple wiggle dresses from Pinup Girl Clothing, but they are very tight and sexy, and I wanted something a little more comfortable and also more authentic vintage-looking. I ended up perusing the Tatyana site on Black Friday and picked out the Vickie skirt in red. It’s also available in black, as well as a full dress version in black, green, and red.

I was enticed by the gathering at the waist and the burnt shade (as opposed to a true red), ordered a medium, and crossed my fingers that it would fit. And it does!

I took these photos around xmas, so apologies for the non-seasonal décor and the blurriness thanks to the poor (but festive!) lighting.

The fabric is soft and stretchy and really comfortable. The waistband that wraps around to the back is really flattering on my tummy and gives the skirt just a little extra visual interest. I also find the burnt red shade quite versatile, which I don’t think would be the case with a fire engine red (which the Vickie dress looks like).

My only complaint is that I think this skirt is a little too long on me. You can really see how stumpy it makes my legs look in this photo:

I think it’d be better if it just covered my knee, instead of being squarely mid-calf as it is now. I’ll probably hem it just a little, but I may also consider taking it to a real tailor so that they can also bring up the slit in back to maintain the right proportion. Here I am pulling it up a little and I think I look much taller, especially in these low-heeled oxfords:

Next up is a top that I’ve seen around the internet in tons of vintage repro stores, but never really felt like spending $50 on. It’s the “All Aboard” top in navy stripes. This also comes in red stripes and I’m really kicking myself for not snatching both colors up when they were on Zulily, where I paid $35, because I just love it and have worn it tons since it arrived.

Made of a thick, tee shirt-like cotton/spandex blend, it’s yet again super comfortable. There’s a little button behind the non-removable bow so you can open up the neckline to fit it over your head, and it features puff sleeves (that for once aren’t too tight!) and a Peter Pan collar.

It’s just long enough for me to feel comfortable wearing it with regular mid-rise jeans, but it does ride up a little as you move around so I really prefer it with my high-waisted pants and skirts, especially my 1940s button pants from Freddies of Pinewood.

I made the right choice in ordering a size medium. I think it’s just the right level of tightness, though it’s so stretchy I could certainly size down if I wanted it even more fitted. The peekaboo window is small enough that there isn’t really any visible cleavage and certainly no visible bra. You can see in the photos that the peekaboo doesn’t lie perfectly flat (probably because it’s not really cut for big boobs), but it’s so minor that I don’t care and didn’t even notice until I took these photos.

By the way, for fit assessment, my measurements are 37”-29”-41” and I’m wearing the Fantasie Molded Smoothing Tee-Shirt bra in 30FF under the striped top.