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The vintage shopper likes her dress with history and her wallet with change

LATELY I’VE COME OVER all Joan from Mad Men. . . those fabulous up-dos and cinched waists of the fifties and early sixties that make curves feel like a positive and feminine feature, at long last. And there has never been a better time to replicate the look – OK, except perhaps the 1950s themselves. And who wants to go back there? For dresses these days, it’s all about vintage. After all, these are frocks that have stood the test of time, made of sterner stuff than your throwaway fripperies of modern-day consumerism. They were built to last, carefully stitched without skimping on materials, and well minded by ladies who knew that they’d have to get more than one night out from their gúna.