I spent yesterday afternoon gazing at stunning wedding dresses from the 1950s, fabulous 1920s flapper dresses, elegant gloves and hats and shoes, beautiful hat pins and the most divine black and white images of elegantly dressed men and women. The exhibition at Killerton House was so inspiring, all I feel like doing this evening is pouring over images like these at myvintagevogue.

The most surprising thing that I brought away from the collection was a new found love of Ossie Clark. My infatuation with the fashion of the 1930s,40s and 50s means that I’ve largely overlooked the 1970s as an era. It’s certainly not a decade that conjures up visions of elegance for me.

Yet, as I wandered through the exhibition I found myself mesmerized by a lone Ossie Clark dress. Made from long, flowing black fabric, it was everything I want a maxi dress to be. I realised that my conception of what is and isn’t elegant has been far too narrow for far too long. Just look at Emma Watson in vintage Ossie Clark. Elegant, no?Then this evening, as I scoured Google for pictures of Ossie Clark dresses, it hit me. His gowns remind me of my mother’s wedding dress.

When she married my father in the late 1970s she paid next to nothing for a mexican wedding dress from a shop on the Kings Rd in London. The dress was very ‘Ossie’ and my mother certainly looked incredibly elegant in it. In fact, I can think of no better word to describe how she looked on her wedding day. I’ve never considered wearing my mother’s dress on my own wedding day, but seeing Miss Watson looking so stunning in the above pictures has made realise just how eternally stylish my mother’s dress actually was (or is, rather, it still hangs in her wardrobe).

Now, if only my parent’s marriage had been as timeless as the style of the dress!

Loveaudrey xxx