Several weeks before Christmas the delightful duo, Baby Bear and Little Chick asked what I would like for Christmas.

Now this works really well for me as I am quite specific in my tastes as you know and I lust after a lot of vintage and repro pretties. By giving them some ideas, I am more likely to get the specific pieces I would like to add to my collection.

On this particular occasion I had mentioned a delightful Dolly and Dotty dress that I had seen online.

Being the happy owner of a red, white and blue version of this dress, I knew it to be a fantastic fit for me AND also a great design, unlike anything else out there on the market.

Darlene!

The Darlene dress features a boat neck, fitted bodice and full skirt. The dress I currently own is both nautical and quite patriotic in its styling and I have worn it many times.

The fact that it also has a bit of stretch to it, works in my favour as the bustline both skims and clings, without being too revealing. The skirt is the perfect length for me and I genuinely feel fantastic when wearing it.

Festive Fancy

So, whilst bimbling about on the internet, I found myself looking on the website to see what Darlenes they had on offer. I was quite surprised to find that there were now 32 different designs available!

It was a tricky job to try and work out which one was my favourite and eventually I narrowed it down to three suspects; the Navy blue/Burgundy, the Beige/Dark Green   and the Blue Floral version.

Delightful and Delicious

After much deliberation, I finally plumped for the gorgeous blue floral Darlene and put it onto my Christmas wishlist.

I decided on this design as I genuinely do not have anything similar to this pattern and I thought it was exceptionally beautiful. I loved the pale blue background and the flowers are both vintage looking, yet very vibrant.

I even had matching floral hair accessories already, so it was the perfect option to go for.

Sitting Pretty

Christmas Day found Little Chick working until 2ooohrs at a local hospital. We didn’t open any presents until she returned home and I was extremely excited to recieve a large wrapped present from her under the tree.

Eagerly ripping the wrapping paper open, I was thrilled to find the floral Darlene in size 26 inside.

Ravishing Rear

Now came the slight issue.

Whereas the nautical version is a semi stretchy polycotton, the floral Darlene is a much stiffer, heavier weight material. There is not a lot of stretch to it and this made it a little snug when first trying it on.

The middle section is very much more structured and clings to my middle a bit more than I would like. However that is something that can be rectified by a couple of things; losing a few pounds, wearing some shapewear or even putting my corset on.

Pretty Posies

Or I could just embrace my shape as it is and wear the dress, regardless of the slighty snug section.

So, how did the dress feel on?

Well, pretty magnificent actually.  The original Darlene is a much softer material and so the boat neck is a little floppy and looks a little like a slight off the shoulder cut. The newer Darlene has a firm fold-over and gives it a very defined neckline.

Defined Neckline

I loved the dress and couldn’t wait to put it on and take some photos. I was so keen, in fact that I failed to pair it up with my normal accessories; shoes, hair flowers and jewellery.

But I really didn’t care as the dress is *that* good.

Beautiful Blooms

I must admit though that when I do actually get to wear the dress out, I will pair it with a stack of bangles in blue, pink and red, my crocheted red vintage pattern bag and my red Miss L Fire shoes. I might even add a little red pillarbox hat that I have had for numerous years but never actually worn out.

If I am honest though, I would like that to be a little closer to the warmer Spring like weather as I would hate to cover up this lovely dress with a coat, scarf and gloves.

Bloomin’ Brilliant

So, Until then,

SPSG xxx