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While this would be a great date dress, I just wore it on a visit to The Vanderbilt Mansion on the north shore of Long Island. The day was still a little chilly but the sky and water were so so blue, my friend and I couldn’t resist taking a walk around the grounds and visiting some of the historic indoor sites as well (where, sadly, no photography was allowed).

Could that water BE more blue???

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In 1910 William K. Vanderbilt II (a regular Richie Rich) bought 20 acres on a wooded hill above Northport Bay and commissioned a New York City architecture firm, Warren & Wetmore, to build him a summer house (that’s some summer house!). These are the same two architects who designed the Grand Central Terminal in New York City for William’s great-grandfather Cornelius Vanderbilt in in the early 1900s. Over the next 26 years the architects expanded the house into a stunning Spanish-Revival style mansion Vanderbilt called Eagle’s Nest. Over the years, Vanderbilt purchased more land and expanded the estate to 43 acres. One of Long Island’s few remaining Gold Coast mansions, it is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

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I love Spanish style architecture. The tile roofs, arched windows and doorways, the wrought ironwork. This place has all of that! I think my rainbow-hued dress complements the style of the estate, don’t you?

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I’m not sure if this is a boat house or possibly a caretaker’s cottage.

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I’m wearing my sparkly black cardigan. The one that, every year, just barely makes it back from the chopping block of my closet clean-out and is hung back up “just in case.” I’m glad it was there in this case. I’d thought I would wear a fine knit black duster with this dress, but the dress is a little shorter than my other dresses and when I put the  long-line duster over it, it looked like a bathrobe! This shorter dress needed the shorter length cardigan. I guess the sparkly cardigan will stay another year.

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The dress is a faux-wrap style with a tulip skirt and elbow-length flutter sleeves. Stretchy and drapey at the same time.

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I made a short video showing the dress without the cardigan over it if you wanted a better look.

What I Wore:

  • Catherine by Catherine Malandrino plus size dress, size 3x. Via GwynnieBee and in a straight size here
  • Black flats, Taryn by Taryn Rose
  • Black sequin cardigan, old. Comparable here: plus size here and here; straight size here and here
  • Vintage pendant necklace

I’m linking up with Shelbee of Shelbee on the Edge and her #SpreadTheKindness link-up party and also Catherine of Not Dressed As Lamb and her #IWillWearWhatILike link-upThere are lots of wonderful bloggers linking up there so take a look and maybe you’ll make a new friend!

Thanks to Karen for taking these pictures and trudging up hill and down dale with me after running a 5k earlier that morning! You rock!

This post contains affiliate links, which means that I may receive a small commission if you click on them and/or buy something as a result of clicking that link.