I know what you are thinking…. Xhora? What or who is that?
Well, it certainly isn’t a regular name that you hear on peoples lips and I have to say that is a bit of a shame, because she is a stunner! However, if you follow me on Instagram then you will perhaps recall a couple of photographs I showed when I did a ‘pass the cosmetics’ transformation video.
Anyway, I first saw the Zhora gown about a year ago and fell instantly in love with it.
Chartreuse is not a colour I have ever chosen to wear before, but I really loved the design of the dress which came in two colours only; Black and Chartreuse. Now I had vowed a few years ago never to wear a baggy black dress to hide away in ever again.
Column Styling
So that left me with the Chartreuse.
Well, when it came I was so glad that I had gone ahead and challenged myself with the colour as it was absolutely glorious.
Drapes Beautifully
There are two things about this dress that I simply love. The first of course is the large hood and the second is the midriff section.
Not Pockets as such…
The hood is extremely oversized. You can wear it as a large curved collar which gives a great shape to the dress when worn down or wear as a hood in a couple of ways.
Great collar
Either have the large hood right on your forehead to give a look similar to the old ‘Scottish Widows’ advertisement or you can fold it back on itself a little. This makes the hood shrink in depth a little however this folding of material makes the shape change slightly.
Scottish Widow take 2
I love all three options and it makes total sense that on a night out it would be perfect to start with the hood up, then take it down for a more casual look during the evening and to put it back up as a hood again as you leave.
I absolutely adore this dress
Perfect!
The second thing I said I loved was the midriff of the dress. It has a very unusual design and has several gathers at the waist which drapes the fabric in a way that makes it pleat at the hips and makes faux pockets.
A perfect fit
It is a stunning design and one that I have never seen or worn before.
Dressy Draping
Now, of course we are still in lockdown so there haven’t been any events or places to go out. So I did the next best thing and put my make up on, did my hair and get the hubby to take a load of photographs in the back garden.
Makes me feel so confident for some reason!
So far I have made this dress out to be absolutely perfect but that is not quite the truth.
From all angles
Or perhaps I should say more truthfully, that I am NOT perfect for this dress.
The reason for that is I am a paltry 5ft2 and this dress is made for an Amazonian Woman. It must be at least 6ft long. Now this hasn’t had any other effect on the fitting apart from there being about 2 foot of material pooling around my ankles.
Yeah…. I am short!
Of course this is just not practical to wear out (if we were allowed to) as I would trip over that much surplus fabric. However, once lockdown is over I will be getting a chunk of that taken off the bottom and maybe if there is enough material, I will get it made into a small drawstring style bag.
Compliments my hair well
In fact thinking about it, I have a vintage expandable top bag with a black and gold ‘sac’ which is home-made and the stitching is falling apart a little. If there is the right amount of material I will replace the current sac with a Chartreuse one!
Similar to my vintage bag
I mean, let’s face it, I am probably going to find it pretty hard to find a bag that matches!
Apart from the the length of the dress, the fit is absolutely perfect. It frames and compliments the body and it super comfortable to wear.
Oh yeah… The hood is Massive!
All I need now is an event to wear it to and that may take several months!
Given the era of design reference, I would love to wear it to the next Gin evening at the Bouverie Saloon. Adding the appropriate accessories (I need some better shoes) I think it would be a real show-stopper and I should be able to pull off a decent Charleston in it.
I would wear this ANYWHERE!
I just need to be patient now and wait for Lockdown to be lifted.
I *feel* like a Goddess in this
Till next time,
SPSG xxx