{"title":"1990s","description":"\u003cp\u003eSlip dresses from these years barely weigh anything, which is exactly the point, satin engineered to move before you do. There's a discipline in a fitted jacket that says more than an oversized one ever could. Each piece gets handled with the same care, regardless of decade, before it goes out from Melbourne.\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"little-wishes-dolly-printed-babysuit","title":"Made Sweet · Little Wishes White Baby Bodysuit, 1990s","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eWhite cotton jersey · printed pink figures · lap shoulder · snap closures · \u003cem\u003eLittle Wishes\u003c\/em\u003e · 1990s to 2000s · AU size 0-1, approx 6-18 months\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA white cotton bodysuit printed with a small parade of pink figures, and still deadstock, so the print is exactly as bright and cheerful as the day it was made.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eLittle Wishes\u003c\/em\u003e, 1990s to 2000s. Soft single jersey cotton, a lap shoulder that eases over a small head without drama, press-stud closures at the crotch. The baby bodysuit arrived in the mid-twentieth century and became one of the quiet design triumphs of childrenswear: all the practicality of a singlet with the function of staying tucked in through everything.\u003cem\u003e Little Wishes\u003c\/em\u003e understood this and made the most of the canvas.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"caitiedid","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44084028899462,"sku":null,"price":55.0,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0657\/5960\/8966\/files\/DSC_2478.jpg?v=1782097644"},{"product_id":"little-wishes-babysuit-pink","title":"Pink Parade · Little Wishes Baby Bodysuit, 1990s","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ePink cotton jersey · printed row of girls · long sleeves · lap shoulder · snap closures · \u003cem\u003eLittle Wishes\u003c\/em\u003e · 1990s to 2000s · AU size 0-1, approx 6-18 months\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ePink cotton printed with a row of small girls, long-haired and serious, marching in a line across the chest. Each is slightly different from the last, their individuality preserved even in print, which says something rather nice about whoever designed this.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eLittle Wishes\u003c\/em\u003e, 1990s to 2000s. Long sleeves, a lap shoulder for easy dressing, snap closures at the crotch, and still deadstock, so the print is as crisp and vivid as the day it left the factory. The longer sleeve makes this a better choice for cooler months, or for a baby who runs cold. It has been waiting in its original state since the day it was made.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe long-sleeve deadstock bodysuit: completely practical and, in this print, completely charming.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"caitiedid","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44084048035974,"sku":null,"price":55.0,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0657\/5960\/8966\/files\/DSC_2494.jpg?v=1782099003"},{"product_id":"baby-gap-hickory-stripe-short-overalls","title":"Small Engineer · Baby Gap Hickory Stripe Baby Overalls, 1990s","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eHickory stripe cotton · metal overall buckles · snap legs · patch pockets · \u003cem\u003eBaby Gap Best Basics\u003c\/em\u003e · 1990s to 2000s · approx. 12–18 months\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHickory stripe in soft washed blue and white, scaled all the way down to a baby: the toughest workwear cloth ever woven, here given proper antique-finish metal overall buckles and patch pockets at front and hip, because pockets matter even before you have anything to put in them.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eBaby Gap Best Basics\u003c\/em\u003e, 1990s to 2000s. Hickory stripe was originally woven for railroad workers and farmers: dense twill-woven cotton, the warp stripe intended to take years of hard washing without breaking down. \u003cem\u003eThe Gap\u003c\/em\u003e borrowed the cloth and the silhouette and took both as seriously as the original, right down to the full metal hardware. Snap closures run the inside leg for changing. These have already had one life and the wear shows honestly, as it should on a garment like this.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe stripe has softened with washing into the kind of blue that is better than new.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"caitiedid","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44084050690182,"sku":null,"price":75.0,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0657\/5960\/8966\/files\/DSC_2503-2.jpg?v=1782101396"},{"product_id":"oshkosh-bgosh-long-overalls-in-soft-pink","title":"Sweetheart · OshKosh Pink Heart-Pocket Baby Overalls, 1990s","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ePink cotton drill · heart-shaped bib pocket · metal overall buttons · snap legs · \u003cem\u003eOshKosh B'gosh \u003c\/em\u003e· 1990s to 2000s · approx. 18–24 months\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe toughest silhouette in children's clothing, made in the softest possible pink, with a heart-shaped pocket stitched right onto the bib. The heart is shaped, not printed: someone cut it, and someone sewed it, and it is the whole character of the garment.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eOshKosh B'gosh, The Genuine Article\u003c\/em\u003e, 1990s to 2000s. The brand that made workwear for children when children still played hard enough to need it: soft rose cotton drill with real body, engraved metal buttons on the straps, snap closures along the inside leg. \u003cem\u003eOshKosh\u003c\/em\u003e began making overalls in Oshkosh, Wisconsin in 1895 and has been making children's versions since the 1970s, each pair carrying the same attitude toward construction that the adult version had. These are the children's line at its most characterful.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"caitiedid","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44084055801990,"sku":null,"price":85.0,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0657\/5960\/8966\/files\/DSC_2514.jpg?v=1782102032"},{"product_id":"castelbajac-kids-sport-striped-hoodie","title":"Menagerie · Castelbajac Kids Hooded Top, Japan, 1990s, AU 3–4","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eStriped soft knit · embroidered teddy, parrot and bee · drawstring hood · \u003cem\u003eCastelbajac Kids Sport\u003c\/em\u003e · made in Japan · 1990s to 2000s · AU size 3-4, approx 3-4 years\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA striped knit hooded top with an embroidered teddy at the chest, a parrot on one sleeve, and a bee on the hood. Each creature is stitched slightly raised against the stripe, catching the light differently depending on the angle, and a child wearing this will spend considerable time examining the bee.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eJC de Castelbajac Kids Sport\u003c\/em\u003e, made in Japan, 1990s to 2000s. \u003cem\u003eCastelbajac \u003c\/em\u003ewas the French designer who made a coat entirely from teddy bears, who put cartoon characters on adult runway clothes at a time when that was genuinely radical, and who believed that wit was a form of elegance. His children's work carries the same spirit, only warmer. The striped knit is soft in faded blue and marled grey, the hood closing with a knotted cord. A collector's piece in a very wearable form.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe knit has the loved-in softness of something that has been worn and washed and remained exactly itself.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"caitiedid","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44084060520582,"sku":null,"price":145.0,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0657\/5960\/8966\/files\/DSC_2537.jpg?v=1782107132"},{"product_id":"ticking-stripe-button-front-baby-button-front-pinafore","title":"Ticking Blue · 1990s Navy Stripe Baby Pinafore","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eTicking stripe cotton · button-front bodice · brass buttons · gathered skirt · \u003cem\u003eTarget\u003c\/em\u003e · 1980s to 1990s · AU 1 · approx 12-18 months\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTicking stripe in navy and white, that dense tight twill weave originally made for mattresses and prized for outlasting everything placed near it, here cut into a small button-front pinafore with brass buttons, a gathered skirt, and a woven label sewn carefully into the back.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAn older \u003cem\u003eTarget\u003c\/em\u003e piece, 1980s to 1990s, from before chain-store baby basics moved over to printed labels and plastic fastenings. The woven label, the separate gold size tab, the engraved brass buttons: the finishes of a garment designed by someone who thought the details still mattered, even at this price, even in this size. Ticking was originally woven for mattress covers and pillow ticking, too tightly to let feathers escape, which is why it has this particular density and drape. Somewhere in the 1970s it crossed into fashion and never quite left. It suits a baby beautifully.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"caitiedid","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44084071923846,"sku":null,"price":90.0,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0657\/5960\/8966\/files\/DSC_2607.jpg?v=1782109669"},{"product_id":"red-gingham-baby-bubble-romper-collegiate-crest-size-3m","title":"Pretty Picnic · Red Gingham Baby Bubble Romper, 1990s","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eRed gingham cotton · flutter sleeves · snap bubble leg · collegiate \"G\" crest · \u003cem\u003eGarb Team\u003c\/em\u003e · 1990s · AU size 000-00, approx 0-6 months\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eRed gingham in the brightest red, as cheerful as a tablecloth and about as far from pretentious as a garment can be. Flutter sleeves, a bubble leg that gathers in at the bottom and snaps underneath for changing, a back button closure, and right at the chest: an embroidered collegiate G crest in navy, which gives this little romper its allegiance to a team nobody can quite identify.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eGarb Team\u003c\/em\u003e, 1990s. Gingham is one of the oldest woven checks in textile history, before it became the defining cloth of a certain kind of cheerful domesticity. In red and white at this scale, it reads purely joyful. The elastic leg closures stretch generously, the gingham is bright and even throughout, and the collegiate crest sits at the chest with full commitment to its own absurdity.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA romper that knows exactly what it is.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"caitiedid","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44084092862598,"sku":null,"price":70.0,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0657\/5960\/8966\/files\/DSC_2666.jpg?v=1782113347"},{"product_id":"vintage-jessica-mcclintock-gunne-sax-navy-floral-girls-dress-lace-collar-size-5","title":"Roses After Dark · 1990s Gunne Sax Navy Dress, AU 5–6","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eFine cotton · navy rose print · eyelet collar with crochet lace edge · lace-trimmed sleeves · \u003cem\u003eJessica McClintock, Gunne Sax \u003c\/em\u003e· made in Mexico · 1990s · AU 5-6, approx 5-6 years\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eDeep navy strewn with blown roses in pink, peach, and butter yellow, and at the collar a wide piece of white damask finished with crochet lace. The collar is the quiet showpiece: wide enough to lie across the shoulders, substantial enough to feel like a statement.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eJessica McClintock, Gunne Sax\u003c\/em\u003e, made in Mexico, 1990s. \u003cem\u003eGunne Sax \u003c\/em\u003ewas the great American romantic label, founded in San Francisco in 1967 and built on prairie nostalgia: natural fabrics, lace trims, feminine details that drew on the Victorian and Edwardian wardrobe and made them feel urgent again. The eyelet collar on this dress is densely worked and finished with a hand-look lace edge, transforming what could have been an ordinary floral dress into something genuinely romantic. The print and the cloth and the construction are entirely characteristic of the label at its most assured.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe gentlest fading to the rose print from a few washes and a few birthday parties is noted below. \u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"caitiedid","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44084164034694,"sku":null,"price":155.0,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0657\/5960\/8966\/files\/DSC_2830copyLarge.jpg?v=1782174668"},{"product_id":"the-fold-1980s-90s-black-leather-ankle-boots-tosone","title":"The Fold · 1980s-90s Black Leather Ankle Boots, Tosone, AU 9","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eButter-soft black leather · folded tongue · knotted leather cord detail · inner silver zip · red pebble rubber sole · \u003cem\u003eTosone\u003c\/em\u003e · made in Italy · late 1980s to early 1990s · AU 9 · EU 40 · UK 7 · US 9\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eButter-soft black leather, calf height, with a wide tongue that folds across the front and is held in place by two knotted black leather cords threaded through eyelets. The cords are not laces in the conventional sense; they are part of the architecture, thick and purposeful, ending in small gathered knots. An inner silver zip at the ankle closes the whole thing from beneath the fold.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eTosone\u003c\/em\u003e, late 1980s to early 1990s. The Italian leather boot of this period operated in a particular grammar: serious construction, minimal decoration, every detail load-bearing. The folded tongue and knotted cord are not decoration added to a plain boot; they are the boot's entire identity, a structural move that happens also to be beautiful. \u003cem\u003eTosone\u003c\/em\u003e worked in exactly this register: shoes made to be worn seriously by people who paid attention. The leather is the kind that softens to the foot rather than resisting it. The red pebble rubber sole is the one note of colour, and it is correct.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe boot that asks nothing of its wearer except to walk.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"caitiedid","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44108990218374,"sku":null,"price":100.0,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0657\/5960\/8966\/files\/DSC_2925copy.jpg?v=1782266911"},{"product_id":"the-prowl-stitches-1990s-leopard-longline-coat","title":"The Prowl · Stitches 1990s Leopard Longline Coat","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003ePolyester · leopard print · disc buttons · princess seaming · longline A-line · charcoal satin lining · Stitches Australian Design · 1990s · AU 12 · buttoned flat L 92cm · Very good\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA camel ground printed with black leopard spots, longline, collar-pointed, with black ribbed disc buttons the size of a small coin. It is the 1990s take on the animal print coat: not apologising for itself, but considered in the execution. The princess seaming gives shape without tightness. The A-line swing of the skirt below the waist lets you walk properly. The charcoal satin lining does its job and stays quiet.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe leopard print coat has appeared in every decade since the 1950s, each generation reinventing its own version of the category. The 1990s iteration, typified by sharp construction and clean minimal tailoring, was democratised well beyond the prestige houses into labels like \u003cem\u003eStitches\u003c\/em\u003e, which produced Australian-designed pieces for women who wanted the look without the price.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"caitiedid","offers":[{"title":"Default","offer_id":44143289401478,"sku":null,"price":130.0,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0657\/5960\/8966\/files\/DSC_3107.jpg?v=1783497678"},{"product_id":"close-fit-pto-1990s-black-fitted-jacket-au-12","title":"Close Fit · PTO 1990s Black Fitted Jacket with MOP buttons, AU 12","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ePolyester crepe · black · pointed shirt collar · 4 mother-of-pearl disc buttons · princess seaming · shoulder padding · hip length · pto · Made in Australia · 1990s · AU 12 · flat L 59cm · Very good\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe collar is a pointed shirt collar, not lapels: a deliberate choice that sits closer to the chest and keeps everything tidy. Four large mother-of-pearl disc buttons close the front, round and cream against the deep black crepe. The seaming is princess: a clean vertical line from shoulder to hem that holds the silhouette without excess fabric between you and it. Padded at the shoulders, as the decade insisted, which is what gives that strong clean line. Hip length. Lined.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe tailored black jacket is among the most persistent garments in 20th-century fashion, reappearing every few years in a different guise. The \u003cem\u003ePTO\u003c\/em\u003e version is 1990s in its precision: a strong shoulder line, a fitted body, nothing decorative except the quality of the buttons. Made in Australia. The label is small and clean, lowercase script, which was its own kind of statement.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe crepe is in good order, the black holding without greening. The mother-of-pearl buttons are intact.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"caitiedid","offers":[{"title":"Default","offer_id":44143314468998,"sku":null,"price":75.0,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0657\/5960\/8966\/files\/DSC_3120_1.jpg?v=1783497459"},{"product_id":"after-hours-su-1990s-black-dropped-waist-jersey-dress","title":"After Hours · sü 1990s Black Dropped-Waist Jersey Dress","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eStretch jersey bodice · fluid skirt panel · wide scoop neck · broad U-back · long sleeves · dropped waist · midi length · sü · 1990s · L 118cm flat, stretchy · AU 8–12 · Very good\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe bodice is black stretch merino wool jersey with a wide scoop neckline, the sleeves long and easy. Below the dropped waist seam, fold asymmetrically with a hidden slit in the folds. The hem falls at midi length. There is nothing superfluous here.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe dropped-waist silhouette recurred in the 1990s as an angular contrast to the body-conscious dressing happening in parallel. Where lycra clung, the dropped waist descended and flared, returning the emphasis to hem rather than hip. \u003cem\u003esü\u003c\/em\u003e was a label that understood this register: understated, well-cut, working in black.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe wool jersey is clean and smooth. The skirt panel holds its drape without clinging. The seam between bodice and skirt is secure.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"caitiedid","offers":[{"title":"Default","offer_id":44143315976326,"sku":null,"price":85.0,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0657\/5960\/8966\/files\/DSC_3130.jpg?v=1783496602"},{"product_id":"copperplate-1990s-baroque-engraving-print-crepe-shirt","title":"Copperplate · Mariko and Swan 1990s Baroque Engraving Print Rayon Shirt","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eMariko and Swan, Australia · soft brushed black rayon · baroque engraving print in blush and rose · pointed collar · breast pocket · buttoned barrel cuffs · tagged a vintage 12, modern AU 10–12 · 1990s · L 71cm flat · very good condition · dry clean or careful cold hand-wash\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe print looks lifted from an engraver's folio: rosettes, acanthus scrolls and cabbage roses rendered in fine crosshatched lines, each motif floating on black like a plate torn from a baroque pattern book and scattered across the cloth in blush and dusty rose. A pointed collar, a breast pocket cut so the pattern keeps drifting across it, small black buttons down the placket and again at the barrel cuffs of the long sleeves.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eShe is a 1990s shirt to her bones. The label reads \u003cem\u003eMariko and Swan\u003c\/em\u003e, in the hand-drawn lettering small Australian houses favoured, with the centimetre-based size tag of the era sewn beneath. The label has all but vanished from the record, which is its own kind of provenance. Australia in that decade was full of these small labels, cutting good rayon in city workrooms, selling through boutiques, keeping no archive. Their surviving pieces are the only documentation they left, and they are almost never seen twice. The decade loved this trick too, raiding the archive of European ornament and printing it oversized on fluid black cloth, equal parts library and nightclub. The cloth is rayon, soft and faintly brushed, with a fuzz you feel more than see. Rayon takes a print like this with more depth than silk would, drapes close, and softens further with every wear.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"caitiedid","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44149781823622,"sku":null,"price":110.0,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0657\/5960\/8966\/files\/DSC_3271.jpg?v=1783582498"},{"product_id":"night-letter-1990s-sheer-crinkle-georgette-duster-shirt","title":"Night Letter · Garage 1990s Sheer Crinkle Georgette Duster Shirt","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eGarage label · sheer black viscose crinkle georgette · duster length, 124cm flat · pointed collar · carved-look buttons · side slits · permanent pleat texture · fits AU 10–16 · 1990s · very good condition\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIt weighs almost nothing and changes everything it is worn over. A full-length shirt cut from black georgette crinkled into fine permanent pleats: smoke given a collar and buttons. The collar is long and pointed, the buttons dark and carved-looking down the full length of the placket, and the side seams open into slits so the whole thing moves like a held breath. The label reads \u003cem\u003eGarage\u003c\/em\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eShe is a 1990s piece through and through. That decade understood sheerness as layering rather than exposure, the long transparent shirt worn over a slip, over jeans, over a swimsuit in the right January. The crinkle is the practical genius here: pleated cloth that cannot wrinkle, packs into a fist, and falls back into its texture the moment it hangs.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOver the black Outrage slip also in the archive this week, she becomes an entire evening.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"caitiedid","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44149784313990,"sku":null,"price":135.0,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0657\/5960\/8966\/files\/DSC_3301.jpg?v=1783583467"},{"product_id":"cloud-study-handmade-shibori-silk-dress-with-velvet-sleeves","title":"Cloud Study · 1980s–90s Handmade Shibori Silk Dress with Velvet Sleeves","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eHand-dyed shibori silk · indigo grid on storm-brown · black crushed velvet raglan sleeves · square neck · drop-waist pleated skirt · silver back zip · artisan handmade · 1980s–90s · L 111cm flat · AU 12–14 · very good condition\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe dye tells you how it was made. Across the silk runs a grid of soft white blooms, each one a point where the cloth was folded and bound before it went into the indigo. This is shibori, the Japanese resist technique in which the fabric itself is tied into a pattern and then released. At the yoke the colour deepens into storm-brown, as if the weather is arriving from the shoulders down. The sleeves are cut from black crushed velvet, raglan, ending below the elbow. The neck is square, the skirt drops from a low waist into flat pleats, and a silver zip runs the spine.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBy her make, she belongs to the 1980s or 90s, the decades when studio dyers and art-to-wear makers revived shibori in earnest and put it into dresses exactly like this one: hand-dyed cloth, a 1920s drop-waist line borrowed knowingly, velvet against silk. She carries no label, which is common for studio pieces sold at markets and galleries; the dye work is the signature. Every shibori cloth is unrepeatable by nature. The same folds and the same dye will never bloom into the same grid twice. One of one in the truest sense available to cloth.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"caitiedid","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44149785329798,"sku":null,"price":175.0,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0657\/5960\/8966\/files\/DSC_3751_9994b8f6-c9e0-4675-985f-8e1ee32d84e6.jpg?v=1784766532"},{"product_id":"menagerie-tsumori-chisato-illustrated-knit-dress","title":"Picture Book · Tsumori Chisato 1990s Illustrated Wool Knit Dress","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eTsumori Chisato · 1990s, the label's first decade · hand-drawn print of birds and sea creatures · charcoal wool knit · metallic crochet neckline trim · silver thread seams · L 95cm flat · AU 10–14 · very good condition\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSpend a minute with the print and it keeps introducing new characters: birds, sea creatures, an octopus unfurling in orange, florals in teal and violet and gold, and the designer's own name hiding in the drawings like a signature worked into a mural. All of it hand-drawn in the loose, joyful line that belongs unmistakably to Tsumori Chisato, printed across a soft charcoal wool knit and finished at the neckline with a braid of black-and-silver metallic crochet.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis is a 1990s piece, from the label's first and most collected decade. Chisato trained at Bunka in Tokyo and joined Issey Miyake's design company in 1977, rising to head the Issey Sport line before Miyake himself encouraged her to launch her own label in 1990. The illustrated prints of those early-label years, drawn by her own hand and dense with hidden creatures and lettering, are exactly what collectors hunt now. She became one of Japanese fashion's great storytellers, building collections like picture books, serious craft wearing a childlike grin. And she drew on wool here: a fine jersey with the gentle brushed surface wool takes on, warm without weight, with fine silver thread caught in the seams. Whimsy, rigorously made.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"caitiedid","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44149787033734,"sku":null,"price":240.0,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0657\/5960\/8966\/files\/DSC_3771.jpg?v=1784766421"},{"product_id":"nocturne-black-liquid-satin-bias-slip-dress","title":"Nocturne · Outrage 1990s Black Liquid Satin Bias Slip Dress","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eOutrage, made in Australia · black liquid satin · polyester · deep V front and plunge back · pointed midriff seam · invisible zip · gathered bust · bias fall · evening length, 153cm flat · tagged a vintage 10, modern AU 8–10 · 1990s · very good condition\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ePoured, not sewn. That is the first impression. Black satin with a wet-look lustre, cut to a deep V and gathered gently beneath the bust so the fabric falls from that one point of tension into a long bias sweep. Wide-set straps, and a back that answers the front with a plunge of its own, diving to a pointed midriff seam where an invisible zip hides along the spine. That pointed seam is proper dressmaking: it lets the bodice gather softly above while the skirt falls dead straight below, and it turns the back of the dress into its best angle.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eShe is a 1990s dress. The label reads \u003cem\u003eOutrage, made in Australia\u003c\/em\u003e, one of the Australian labels of that decade that vintage dealers now trade on sight and historians never wrote down. Even the vintage forums come up empty-handed on \u003cem\u003eOutrage\u003c\/em\u003e, which tells you how these houses worked: city workrooms, boutique racks, no archive, all the documentation left hanging in wardrobes like this one. The dress itself is the record, and it records its decade precisely, the years the slip dress climbed out of the underwear drawer and into the evening. Born as lingerie in the 1930s when bias-cutting first made cloth cling, revived by the minimalists sixty years on, and never quite off duty since.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWorn alone she is an entire argument. Under the sheer Garage duster also new to the archive, a whole conversation.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"caitiedid","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44149789229190,"sku":null,"price":130.0,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0657\/5960\/8966\/files\/DSC_3765.jpg?v=1784766293"},{"product_id":"second-skin-valisere-by-triumph-international-1990s-black-lace-bustier","title":"Second Skin · Valisère by Triumph International 1990s Black Lace Bustier","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cem\u003eNylon and elastane · black floral lace over sheer mesh · boned structure with multi-row hook-and-eye back · Valisère by Triumph International · 1990s · 41cm length · tagged 14C, stretches generously · excellent condition\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ePress a finger to the boning and it pushes back exactly as firmly as it did new, no give, no bend, doing the quiet structural work that the lace on top gets all the credit for.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBoning wants to be felt before it is seen, cool then warm as it takes the shape of a ribcage, doing its work in private under a decoration that gets all the attention. Someone guided this lace over black mesh with real patience, close enough that from a distance the two read as a single fabric, structure and ornament sewn into the same breath. She is Valisère, a French name already old by the 1990s, made for Triumph International in a factory in Thailand that still bothered to hide good engineering under something this pretty.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe floral lace sits over a black mesh panel down the centre back and front, so the structure beneath is visible through the pattern rather than hidden by it. She closes with a long row of hooks and eyes up the back seam, and the nylon-elastane blend gives real stretch, 66cm at rest, out to 83cm under tension, without asking the boning to compromise. Tagged a 14C, and by these measurements she runs true to that size.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"caitiedid","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44179755401350,"sku":null,"price":95.0,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0657\/5960\/8966\/files\/DSC_3688.jpg?v=1784768194"},{"product_id":"chalk-line-ellen-tracy-1990s-navy-pinstripe-mini-skirt","title":"Chalk Line · Ellen Tracy 1990s Ink Black Pinstripe Mini Skirt","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cem\u003eInk black pinstripe polyester suiting · straight mini silhouette · front vent at hem · back zip · fully lined · Ellen Tracy · 1990s · 53cm long, 36cm waist flat · tagged a vintage 10\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eEvery stripe on her runs the same distance from its neighbour, an obsessive kind of regularity that only shows up close, and at the hip the fabric softens just slightly, draped rather than seamed flat, before the whole thing snaps straight again down to a single vent at the hem, set right of centre rather than in the middle where a vent usually hides.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe stripe is woven in, not printed on, fine white against the darkest, inkiest black, a shade that edges toward blue without ever quite arriving, the way proper suiting has always done it. The whole skirt is built with a tailor's instinct for movement: draped ease at the hip rather than a stiff seam, and a vent at the lower hem placed slightly off centre so the leg has somewhere to go without the line ever looking accidental. Ellen Tracy built a career on precisely this kind of American workwear, tailored pieces meant to survive a decade of Mondays, and this one carries the label from the 1990s, when a pinstripe this fine on a hem this short was its own kind of office rebellion.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eShe closes at centre back with a lapped zip alone, and the fabric is fully lined so the pinstripe never has to do the work of hiding anything underneath. The hem narrows slightly from hip to knee, 50cm at the hip easing to 48cm at the hem, a straight rather than pencil-tight cut that still reads sharp on the body.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"caitiedid","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44179901120646,"sku":null,"price":85.0,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0657\/5960\/8966\/files\/DSC_3832.jpg?v=1784775963"}],"url":"https:\/\/checkout.caitiedid.shop\/collections\/collections-1990s-vintage.oembed","provider":"caitiedid","version":"1.0","type":"link"}