I’ve pined over many a Trashy Diva piece for a long time. Their price ranges are a little higher than my typical repro purchases from brands like Pinup Girl Clothing and Unique Vintage, so ideally I’ve always hoped to try one on before I took the cash-thrashing plunge. I’ve never been able to find any of the pieces I’ve wanted stocked in the UK, though, so I just tried my best not to expose myself to TD too frequently to lessen those keenly sad unrequited feels.

But, you know, I turn 30 this year, and I enjoy any excuse to spoil myself, so when I made some extra dough recently from selling pieces from my wardrobe that were going unworn, I decided to treat myself to my first Trashy Diva piece. I umm‘d and ahh‘d over which direction to go–dress or skirt? Chambray or gingham? Oh, or seersucker? Eventually, I settled on the first ever TD piece I had fallen in love with: the Apple Tart dress.

Dress: Apple Tart dress by Trashy Diva
Cardigan: Old season Primark
Shoes: Primark (currently in stores)
Bag: Vintage
Bangles: Red & Blue Splendette carved Bangles / Bamboo bangles 6pk from Pinup Girl Clothing

I’m a huge fan of seersucker, so that alone would have made me a fan of this dress, but it’s that frilly, girly, sweet ruffled bust that really clinched it for me. In all my repro and vintage-inspired browsing, buying and beloving, I haven’t yet, to my memory, found anyone else recreate this beautiful bust design. It’s one of those vintage features you just don’t see on modern designs, and since I hadn’t seen it anywhere else I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to own it for myself.

As well as that gorgeous sweetheart ruffled bust, this dress features a gathered skirt and pockets, two of my favourite things in a dress. More specifically, the skirt is made of 8 fully gathered panels to form a circle skirt, so it takes a puffy petticoat beautifully. What surprised me about this dress, though, is that when I first tried it on without a petticoat, I liked it just the way it is. That probably doesn’t sound like a big deal to you, because most ladies are happy to rock their swing dresses sometimes–or even always–without a petticoat. I am not one of those ladies. I almost never wear a swing dress without a petticoat. I’m not being dramatic, it happens maybe 3 times a year, total, and even then it’s only for practical reasons and done grudgingly. I just don’t feel swing dresses lay as nicely on me as they do even with the help of only a lightly volumed petticoat. So it was a huge surprise to don this dress and love it sans petticoat, such a rarity in my eyes, and that makes this a perfect summer dress to be worn alone when the heat gets a bit too much for a pinup.

This dress closes with a back zipper and has two slim straps. Those straps aren’t adjustable, which is a bit of a shame for a dress in this price range as that cuts out down the slight customisation of fit per customer that adjustable straps offer, but they actually fit me perfectly so they’re a standard length, at least.

In terms of fit, I ordered this dress in the L/14, as each Trashy Diva piece has an individual size chart specific to that item that you ought to check before ordering. The L/14 in this dress is listed on the chart as being suitable for up to 43 inches in the bust and up to 34 inches in the waist. The waist flat measures at 17 inches, the mentioned 34, so while that is spot on sizing, keep in mind that the fabric itself doesn’t offer any stretch and the size chart is listing flat measurements, not a measurement that can be gained at maximum fabric stretch. So if you’re a 33 inch waist and you don’t have any squish in your waist that can be comfortably compressed in a dress’s tight waistband in order to size down to the 12 (32 inch waist,) you may have to size up to the L/14 and alter the dress by an inch if you want it to be a snug fit. The skirt is 26 inches long, vintage perfection.

For my first Trashy Diva dress, I’m super happy with the Apple Tart, and now can’t stop repeatedly visiting the website to look at the other items next on my TD wishlist. I mean, my birthday is still coming up, maybe I should treat myself to another piece to celebrate?

The Apple Tart dress costs $159 and is available in sizes 2-18, covers waists of 24 to 37 inches. Trashy Diva offer free domestic shipping on orders over $200 with coupon code VINTAGE and also ship internationally for a flat rate of $39, with some cheaper options available for Canada. International shipping is available for free with orders over $400 with the coupon code VINTAGEWORLD.