Iconic Vintage Bus Stop dress by Lee Bender 1970s does 1930s 1940s green orange white button front deco buttons puff shoulders short sleeve
 
Oh my this is special. Sadly Lee Bender passed away early 2023, but she has left a lasting legacy of some very special pieces. Like Biba her neighbor of her first 'Bus Stop' shop in Kensington Church st, it was all about a reinvention of the 1930s with a 1970s twist , but with affordable clothing for fashionable working class girls. Ah the perfect dress for Saturday night out for the hard working 'clippie' for example. You'll have to catch an episode of 'On the Buses' to find out what that is now as we don't have them any more sadly! 
 
Bus Stop pieces were loved so much they were mostly worn out by now but occasionally you get a pretty immaculate pieces like this one, which was featured in magazines etc at the time. 
Pieces such as this are now rare and highly collectible in good condition. This is in excellent condition but has lost the original label, or would be double the price. But it's def one of theirs, as you can see in the photo.
 
It is a green jersey like fabric that doesn't feel synthetic, maybe a cotton even slight wool content, though thin,  with an orange and white print and would have been teamed with matching accessories at the time in those colours. People even drank cocktails back then which went with their outfits so hence my Singapore Sling as its gin pineapple and cheery brandy based! I do love them!  I also team with white floppy summer hat and big orange faux flower (also popular at the time to pin on jackets hats or in hair), and a more recent but a bit of a seventies vibe dark green velvet jacket, off white leather gloves,   some later 1970s/1980 green Ravel boots  as they match so perfectly, and we don't have to be slaves to period if something works, and they do for me....and gold lurex hosiery which were pretty de rigueur at the time with such dresses! And this the perfect dress to show them off! 
 
The little puff shoulders and short sleeve with cuffs are divine, as are those deco buttons the asymmetric  edges lovely so special. The collar is a wing collar again 30s retro. It is very fitted with a bit of flare, and can be unbuttoned at the top for a sultry seductive look
 
It is a size UK 6 to a small 8 
 
 
And what did our Bus Stop dress get up to in those early to mid 1970s? 
"Bus Stop, Bus Stop
Are you ready to do the Bus Stop?"
So who remembers how to do the dance? Well if you are at a party or club with some period funk, get granny up and she'll show you. Think I recall it right! How we did it at a birthday party I went to a couple years ago anyway...so goes like this...pretty self explanatory in the song 'Do the Bus Stop' by The Fatback Band released 1974/75.
"Are you ready to do the Bus Stop?
Form a line to the front
Form a line to the back
Are you ready to do the Bus Stop?
Four to the front
Then four to the back
Four to the front
Then four to the back
Two to the front and two to the back
Front, back, left, back
Bus Stop, Bus Stop
People, are you ready
To do the Bus Stop?"
 
Anyway don't miss out on this one if it fits...like the Bus they don't come by very often and if you miss out on such an iconic piece you may be waiting a long time for another!