It’s a rare thing when a vintage dress that I actually like comes up in my size. I also won’t wear polyester, so that limits me too. But when this pretty cotton red dress with white daisies appeared whilst browsing ebay one night, I was very pleased indeed!
Everything about this dress is perfect! I love the design, with the buttons all the way down that don’t even gape! And the fitted bodice and flared skirt, which suits my figure. I like the short sleeves, and I can move my arms forward without them suddenly becoming so tight I couldn’t pick up a knife and fork at the same time! There are several problems that those of us on the ‘plus’ side of sizes have to worry about, but this dress thankfully beats all of them and is very comfortable to wear.
I decided to style the vintage dress with a Mori Girl feel, so I wore a pair of old black ankle boots with it. Being a teenager of the grunge ’90s; this is a style that I’ve always loved anyway, and I also tucked in a pair of knitted ankle warmers. They have a really cute cream lace edge to them, and sometimes that’s all the touch you need for a Mori style. A pair of knitted wrist warmers would also look really good with this outfit. We took these photos back in March – it was an unseasonably warm day, but not quite warm enough to go bare-legged under the dress, so I wore brown leggings. To be honest, I think bare legs would look better, but it works.
One month later these black boots went in the bin as I was given a new pair of Clarks boots for my birthday. These were cheap ones from Amazon, and a typical case of You Get What You Pay For. The faux leather had dented and creased and the coating chipped off; needless to say, I won’t be linking them as a suggestion to shop the look! It’s a shame, because they looked good to begin with!
I like the smocking detail on the front of the dress; it’s really pretty, and I like the added texture. The dress, by the way, is Vintage Marks and Spencer from the 1980s with the old St Michael label. The condition was good as new when I bought it and has definitely been one of my best ever ebay purchases. The tie at the back is very typical of the age and does mean you can pull it tighter around the waist if you wish.
We took the photos in Shaftesbury, Dorset. You may recognise the hill as it crops up A LOT on Instagram, and is known as ‘Hovis Hill’ as there’s a famous advert for Hovis bread that was filmed there. If you’d like to read my blog of the day trip to Shaftsbury and other places in Dorset, and see the photos I took, please follow the link. And this is the vlog I filmed for my YouTube channel if you’d like to see the dress in action!
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