It always surprises me how few repro clothing companies offer a variety of sleeved dresses for their AW lines each year. For people in warmer climates I know a sleeved dress has limited or no wear value for them, but personally I get a bit sick of having to layer a cardigan over most of my dresses in autumn and winter, even if the dress itself is very AW in print but simply lacks sleeves. And it’s not that I have a problem with cardigans, just that sometimes I want a dress that comes wearable this time of year as is, complete and polished and seasonally appropriate in wear. Collectif have come through on that with their Trixie doll dress.

Made of bengaline, it’s a super comfortable stretchy swing dress with half sleeves, a cross over style bust and a full skirt, with a gathered detail on the front of the shoulders.

Pictures courtesy of Ed Wasson Photography

Dress: Trixie Doll dress in teal by Collectif
Heels: Everything5pounds.com
Necklace: Old Aliexpress find
Petticoat: Jennifer petticoat by Malco Modes

This dress closes with a back zipper and has a full skirt but it’s not quite a full circle. It will take a petticoat, as shown in the pictures above, but I found the waistband of your petticoat may show slightly, depending upon fit of both the dress and the petticoat on you. You can always add a belt if this happens for you and it bothers you, but I didn’t find it massively noticeable even though I sized down and was wearing a petticoat that has a fairly bulky waistband compared to some of my other pettis.

Trixie is made from bengaline, which is a super stretchy fabric. The size chart for this dress states that it sizes true, but that stretchiness does mean there’s some wiggle room in the sizing issue if you’re between sizing or find sizing difficult. This size 14 measures 13 inches flat, which is a diddy 26 waist unstretched, but I easily stretched it to measure 17.5inches flat, which makes for a 35 inch waist. If I’d followed the size chart for this dress I should have ordered a size 16 but this 14 works just fine. It’s a comfortable fit, but do be aware that if you size down bengaline can have a habit of showing off any lumps or bumps because it stretches, not cinches, so bear that all in mind when thinking over your measurements and what kind of fit and comfort you require from your dresses.

This Trixie doll dress comes available in the pictured teal as well as black and red, in UK sizes 6-18 costing £45. If you’re more of a pencil dress girl, though, it also comes in a wiggle dress in red and black in the same size range, costing £40. All are available direct from Collectif or from international Collectif stockists all over the world.