It's a Romper, No It's a Dress...No, It's a Scooter Dress

Well, it's not as chic as a Vespa, but it'll do. Too bad it's 103 degrees and too hot to go for a ride...

Will the Real Scooter Dress Please Stand Up: In all of my years scouring thrift shops and vintage stores, I hadn't come across one of these adorable creations until recently. The reason for their seeming rarity might be that practically no one in this part of the country rode a scooter up until a few years ago, but apparently the "Scooter Dress" was quite the rage in bigger cities during the 60's. Looking around the internet, I have noticed a lot of vintage dresses being dubbed "Scooter Dresses," but according to my understanding, a true "Scooter Dress" is a one piece shorts-romper overlayed with a skirt that wraps all the way around. So, when you are wearing it, it simply looks like a mini dress, but you can hop right onto your scooter and jet about town without any concerns for modesty. Too clever!

Surprisingly Versatile: Mine is a lovely ivory and black check number with a cute-but-not-too-cute bow at the waist. It is so slimming too... that always gets a gold star! This type of dress is rather season-less, so it ends up being very versatile: doll it up with some tights/leggings and boots (ala Blythe-style) and throw a cardigan over it for the Fall. Or, just go simple, with bare legs and some lace-up Oxfords. I would love to see more of these around for those of us who are little shy when it comes to the shorty-short rompers that are everywhere right now. Too bad I don't own a Vespa -- my vintage bicycle will just have to do.


Images from Flickr.com. 1960's Simplicity patterns for scooter dresses and matching capelets; Blythe looking mod and fetching.