18 vintage silk dresses that look like realisation par

keywords i use + how to style them!

My favorite outfit of May so far was this silk polka dot halter dress from Realisation Par I got off Depop.

It is actually my first piece from the brand and I am glad I bought it secondhand. As much as I love this dress for coffee dates or dinner out on a hot day, I personally do not think it is worth paying retail. I’d been aware of Realisation since its inception and thought the designs were pretty cute, but tried on the infamous flecked red Juliet dress once and did not like the fit. It looked way better online than in person. (Now, the Juliet dress is resale flotsam…always floating around on Poshmark and TRR).

What sparked my recent interest in the brand was my search for a very specific item on my wishlist: a silk polka dot halter dress. I wanted the polka dots to be small, and I really wanted silk. So I ended up on the Realisation site and the Sadie dress looked exactly like what I wanted. After a few days of thinking about it and browsing resale, I purchased one from Depop. My tldr review:

• Pros: double-lined, silk, cut of dress is cute, thick enough to be opaque.

• Cons: yeah it’s silk but is it the BEST silk? no. it’s more of a dry crepe-y silk, not a plush buttery silk.

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With summer coming, I’m re-invigorated to look for vintage dresses that have the Realisation Par look.

example of how I would style a “realisation” type dress

In the same vein as my guide on how to shop for vintage that looks like Doen, here’s how to do the same for Realisation. I’m going to cover:

• what keywords I use on Gem/eBay/Depop/Poshmark

• vintage brands to search

• 18 of my picks, all SILK (today’s post is a polyester-free zone)

• how to style these dresses because while they align with a *flirty feminine* aesthetic I believe they can work for sportier or eclectic style personas

Let’s dive in :)

a sunkist orange and magenta silk halter from my curated list, styled exactly the way I wore the realisation one! at $75 I think it’s an excellent alternative to retail.

I found most dresses using this keyword combo:

y2k + silk + bias cut

This combo is great in the Gem search bar, where you can filter by things like price, size, decade, gender, etc. I like the sheer layering of the spots in this dress and the buttons along the side. It’s those construction details that signal quality. This dress is such a great opportunity to play with print and color: I’d match colors on the feet with a sporty sock + shoe combo, then pull in some avocado green. The sunglasses and purse are really giving Ugly Betty!

escada dress/bonnie clyde sunglasses/miss sixty bag/le bonne socks/cecilie bahnsen mary janes (i found mine on ebay)

More dresses with a dot pattern (left to right):