By George!

I had a spare moment to pop down to Savers by myself ( a very rare occurrence) yesterday afternoon and being able to concentrate unfettered  on the job at hand, walked away laden with goodies.

Amongst my treasures was  a gorgeous green cardigan, a lovely black angora mix cardigan, a vintage black Sandra Dee hat, the coolest beige Nana heels and a little piece of Melbourne's history.

 

I discovered my humble 1980's piece of Georges history in this sweet 50's style frock with gorgeous colours of aqua, hot pink, orange, blue and black creating a cool tartan pattern.

And did I mention the ruffles!

 

 

Dainty little ruffles decorate the sleeves and peter pan collar and add some girly charm.

It is kind of prairie chic meets highland belle.

 

 

 

It did sport some very 1980's elbow length sleeves that severely offended my delicate sensibilities so had to be hacked off and shortened.

 

Georges was always a brand synonymous with quality  and this dress is beautifully made, and now, with it's updated sleeves, is ready to be road tested and taken out for some fun.

 

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Georges was a Melbourne institution from the 1880's all the way through to 1995, when it unfortunately closed it's Collins Street store after  115 years of business.

 

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Georges was founded in 1880 by two brothers, Harley and Willie George, and thanks to the gold rush,  Melbourne was reputedly one of the wealthiest cities in the world.

 

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Georges, situated on the "Paris end of Collins Street", became the fashionable place to shop, a mecca of good taste and class, where the service was impeccable and only the finest wares were sold.

 

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The store was founded on the simple motto, "Quod facimus, Valde facimus" or "What we do, we do well", and indeed for over the 100 years they excelled and became a Melbourne icon and assisted with the exclusive status of Collins Street.

 

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Although Georges closed it's doors in 1995 its legacy continues with the beautiful building now housing other high end stores.

I was chatting with a lovely elderly lady from my work who was sharing some great shopping tales about Georges and told me that she picked many of her wedding gifts including her china (which survived all of her married life!) from Georges.

 

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  I just love looking at this beautiful illustrations of some of the items sold advertised in the Georges catalogue.

I adore my new to me Georges frock for its cute details but even more because it represents a great quality Melbourne brand, unfortunately now gone.

Are there any brands that you particularly treasure?