Strut like a Peacock

By now, we've all come to terms with the fact that Sex and the City 2 is not as good as we would like. Plenty of vitriol has been spewed about the writing and the setting and Sarah Jessica Parker's face (which, in my opinion, is no more unfortunate than it's always been). But besides Carrie's $50,000 outfit, there's been less talk about the fashion. My pet peeve was when Patricia Fields would dress the characters in matching outfits--in this scene, they're all wearing prints! Here they all wear maxi dresses! Now they're all in capes!

But there was one dress that made me lean over to my sister and mom and say, "I LOVE that." And, surprisingly, it wasn't a Charlotte dress! (I have a theory that Pat Fields is bored of dressing Charlotte and so doesn't put any effort into interpreting a classic style in an interesting way. Charlotte used to have jaw-droppingly gorgeous outfits that were also un-insane--remember her black dress that she wore to the wedding, and described her thought process as, "I'm usually, 'Oh, look at the bride, look at the bride!' This time I want people to look at me!")

I'm sad that this is the only photo of it I could find, because I know it doesn't do it justice. First, you're probably distracted by her hideous hair, which she is far too old to pull off. And the shoes are wacky and don't remotely match. But that dress! Delicate, glittering beading in the pattern of peacock feathers--so exquisite. It looks vintage, but if anyone knows the brand please chime in! Here's a close-up of just the dress:
I love the scalloped hem on the skirt is the only significant form detail--the rest is very basic so the beading takes center stage.

Naturally, I'm not searching for a peacock dress of my own but am finding the options lacking. Most "peacock" dresses interpret it a little less literally, like this DVF mini dress that another blog posted about in late 2009:
You can see the peacock inspiration, and this is a drop dead gorgeous dress to be sure, but why bother with peacocks if you're not going to do feathers?

See, Liberty of London has the right idea with this piggybank, part of their collection for Target:
Who would dare smash this delightful cross between a pig and a bird? Perhaps I should put money in the bank that I'm saving for my dream peacock dress, so I can know I'm destroying it for a good cause. (I know, I know, there's probably a hole on the bottom where you can get the change out without smashing it. But that's cheating and I'm going to pretend it doesn't exist.)