Two 1940's rayon stunners with gorgeous details from Past Perfect Vintage.

The pink Paul Sachs dress (alas, I did not find any good info about this label) has a sarong styled thing going on at the hip, counter-balanced by a loose shoulder bow. The print of the feminine hands and jewelry is charming, though a bit unnerving, since the disembodied hands appear to be floating in space, or clawing their way out of the fabric. The raised pinky is perhaps working hardest to escape. Alas it is hard to see in this photo. If I could, I would rework this print using mudras from the Buddhist tradition, like the one I have included above that is the gesture for warding off evil. Or the single hand gestures from classical Indian dance such as Bharatanatyam and Odissi, as described in the Natya Shastra. Wouldn't it just be marvelous to have a novelty print showing a story told in line drawings of hand gestures?

Or how about diagram dresses? Perhaps a print of the schematic drawings of feet used to teach ballroom dance? Or better yet, blue prints for nuclear weapons. Maybe some incendiary instructions from the Anarchist Cookbook?

I am in spy mode since I began watching Hitchcock's Torn Curtain last night. The improbable plot begins with Paul Newman as a nuclear physicist. I am laughing already. Julie Andrews wears marvelously monochromatic suits designed by Edith Head in tones of amber and avocado, yum! But Ms. Andrews hardly seems like herself in this film so far. She lacks her usual pluck, physicality, and self-mocking sense of wounded dignity. I wonder just what kind of torture Hitchcock put all of this leading ladies through, since they all display this flat, startled look and walk carefully as though their shoes are giving them blisters.

This red number is a sweetheart. The latticework at the collarbone and on the sleeves is exciting. But look deeply into this novelty print to see tiny renaisance jugglers and aerialists.