If you’re on social media and you follow your favourite clothing brands then I’m willing to bet this has happened to you: you’re checking your feed, scroll scroll scroll, when you see a picture posted by a brand of their newest release, with which you immediately fall so in love that you rush to their website to place an order, blood pumping, because you’re half terrified it’s going to sell out in those few seconds it takes to load up their page–who even KNOWS how many other ladies just saw that exact same Instagram picture and are scrambling to buy too?! You know, at midnight–and half pumped because you are about to buy yourself a new love of your life.

This happened to me with the Sarah dress by Heart of Haute, only I was slightly delayed by the fact that I wanted to put both the coral and the teal gingham dresses into my cart. The recent bill for the work I’d had done on my car’s brakes said really that wasn’t going to happen, so a choice had to be made between the two. BUT WHICH COLOUR? I wanted both. I’m more drawn to blues and teals as a rule, and I was a bit worried the coral might secretly be a true pink only pretending to be coral–pink and I do not get along. Buuuut if it really is truly coral, I reasoned, that’s an unrepresented colour in my wardrobe compared to my plentiful selection of blues. Oh but wait, they also do full circle skirts in the same ginghams though. Do I buy one skirt and one dress? Why is shopping so hard? Why aren’t I rich?

A few hours later, I was a big girl and bought only one dress, feeling slightly panicked as I did so because an Instagram follower warned me the coral dress was selling out in many sizes. But it was okay, I got her. I got the coral Sarah. And you guys. She’s just lovely.

Dress: Sarah dress in Coral Picnic Gingham by Heart of Haute
Cardigan: Oatmeal Cropped Cardigan from Pinup Girl Clothing
Wedges: Beige Ankle Tie Wedges from eBay
Bamboo Bangles: 8 pack from Pinup Girl Clothing
Dark Wooden bangles: Old season Dorothy Perkins/eBay
Woven Bangle: Natural Woven Bamboo Bangle 3 pack by Splendette

First thing’s first, this print really is a true coral, not pink as I feared. Praise the lord! It has pockets and a full circle skirt, two features that automatically make a dress a contender to be one of my favourites, fond as I am of a big skirt and the ability to put my phone in my pocket. Tie straps are another feature I love in a dress, not only because I think it looks dainty and sweet, but also because it lends a certain level of adaptability and fit customisation to a piece. The skirt is 25 inches long, so at 5 ft 7 it hits me just below the knee. This dress closes with a back zipper, has an elasticated band along the top of the back, helping to allow for different bust sizes, and the waist tie that ties in the back helps cinch in your waist. It’s 100% cotton and unlined, so it’s a perfect breathable summer dress.

I bought this in the XL, the same size I own in a couple other Heart of Haute dresses. The XL is typically sized for 32-33 waists in HoH, but I found this dress sizes large. It’s a little loose on me, since the waist flat measures 35 inches and stretches to 37 inches, so I rectify the looseness by tying the waist tightly in the back and tying the shoulder straps tighter. Considering that, you might find you need to size down if you want this dress to fit snugly, just remember it is pure cotton so the stretch is limited.

I bought this coral dress on its first stock run back in early March when it sold out quickly, but it’s just been restocked along with the teal colourway and two new blue colourways, Steel Blue and Denim blue, which are freakin’ perfect and are tempting me big time. All four colourways of the Sarah dress in their picnic gingham print are available in sizes XS-2X. It’s priced from $96 and Heart of Haute ship internationally, as well as offering reward points to return customers and a 10% off discount with coupon code Haute10.

Now, remember how I wanted to buy both gingham colours and debating buying a skirt as well? Well, check back on Wednesday to read a review of the teal Picnic Gingham Circle Skirt, because yes, I got my gingham-grabbing little mitts on both.