Mystery Tribal Print Dress on Fashion Hunters

MissPrettyPerfect is on the case..

After my very first ever viewing of "Fashion Hunters" on Bravo last night, I knew I would not be complete unless I personally solved the problem of the mystery tribal print dress that was (almost) featured in the episode "Mystery Dresses". Allow me to set the scene..

A young  lady walks into a High-end New York City consignment shop, hoping to consign her "designer" dresses in return for some high-end money. Well, like any consignment shop seeking designer duds, one must be able to verify that it is, in fact, legitimately designer labeled merchandise. Unfortunately, the potential consignee was unable to prove that her dresses were made by who she swore by. Without proof (by label) of the Designer goods, the consignment shop would not be able to convince a potential buyer that the dress was in fact, an Oscar De La Renta or Carolina Herra (both names were dropped repeatedly by the consignee).

Question: Would you buy a "Designer" item without the label? I dont' think so.

So, they offered to have the dresses in question, authenticated by a Celebrity Fashion Stylist, to see if they were "real" goods or not. There was one dress in particular that stood out to me because of the Tribal craze going on now and the very abstract print alone. I have worked with similar and immediately recognized it as a past Designer dress that was featured in one of my industry magazines a couple years back. Low and behold, after a little research this morning, I found who it was made by and when. And can you believe it?.. it is in fact an Oscar De La Renta dress from his Spring 2008, Ready-To-Wear line! Now, whether the consignee's dress is real or not, the world may never know. Personally, (having lived in NYC, studied Fashion and worked in the heart of the garment district), I feel that it was probably a Sample cut. A Sample is made for many reasons other than being sold, so no label is necessary. And if you're business savvy, you know why. So it cannot be resold.

I believe the dress on the right was the one featured on the show.. well, almost featured.

Case closed!


Furthermore, I have been an admire of this woven print way before Mr. Oscar's runway debut of it. I grew up admiring African Mudcloth as a child. When it was featured in Oscar De La Renta's collection (and others), I was immediately hooked. When I was finally able to acquire and work with this sought after textile myself, I knew it would make a beautiful handbag.. or two.

African Mudcloth Cutting Session
Tribal Travel Bag in African Mudcloth
CrossBody Tribal Hobo Mudcloth Messenger
Click on the handbag pictures to go directly to the listing in My Etsy Shop to learn more about them.

Have A Miss Pretty Perfect Day!

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