It’s the first week of December, so that means it’s time; time for abandoning your shame when you find yourself humming All I Want For Christmas in the middle of the workday; time for saying ‘it’s Christmas, it’s fine’ when you make several awful food choices in a row in a single day even if it is waaay too early in the month to be getting that lax with your nutrition; time for climbing into the attic to get down the decorations and for gift buying (or wrapping already, if you’re super organised); and time, finally, for unapologetically Christmassy outfits, like this Holly Berry 50s dress from Hell Bunny.
Dress: Holly Berry 50s dress C/O Hell Bunny
Bag: KookiDeLou lucite bag from Tiki-Lou Hawaii Crews Hill Emporium
Heels: Old New Look heels
You guuuuys, I have been desperately waiting for it to be December so I could finally bust out this dress. This year for logistical reasons I’ll be having two Christmas days, on the day itself and on Boxing Day, so between those days and the various festive parties leading up to them I’ll be eagerly busting out this dress at least once or twice–as well as probably wearing it several times to run errands. But can you blame me? The fun print aside, there’s the gorgeously flattering cut and this beautiful velvet burgundy belt that make this dress a ding-dong joy.
It has three quarter length sleeves, the most universally flattering of all sleeve lengths, a cross-over style V-neckline that looks good on all bust sizes, and pockets in the flared skirt. So not only does it look good on, but those pockets mean if you sport this dress for Christmas Day you’ll have somewhere to store your lipstick and a compact for the crucial post-Christmas lunch touch up. Plus, as if it couldn’t get any better, there’s some pleasant give in the fabric that make it a comfortable wear that shouldn’t leave you feeling too full of regret once you’re already full of turkey, roast potatoes, and chocolates.
I know the print limits what time of year you can sport this dress, but I think the dress itself can be styled up or down. Pair with thick tights, boots and a cardigan and you can just as easily wear it to go shopping or to the pub as you can wear it to a festive celebration by styling it up with more twinkly accessories, perhaps even a faux fur cape and a wintery hair accessory. As long as you’re ready to get inventive with your styling options there’s plenty of ways you can squeeze in multiple wears even if you’re someone who strictly limits their festivities to the month of December alone. (As someone who begins thinking about Christmas in mid-October that’s not the case for me, but whatever.)
I opted for this dress in the XL/size 16 and it runs true to Hell Bunny’s usual sizing. The waist flat measures 36 inches with stretch to 38, the bust is flat at 42 inches with stretch to 46 inches, and the skirt is 27 inches long with room for a medium volume petticoat. As someone who has large upper arms I find that this dress is comfortable there too, without any pinching or pulling, with the sleeves flat measuring at 16 inches in the upper arm.
The Holly Berry 50s dress comes in sizes XS-4XL for £56.99 but code AMYMAY20!% will get you 20% off any order from Hellbunny.com, which ships for free and internationally. This fun print also comes in a skirt and a blouse if you’re not much of a dress person; Holly berries for everyone!
Miss Amy May 
Oh my, this is my favourite ever dress of yours! It’s beautiful 😍
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Aww that’s so great! It really is a wonderful dress, one of my best friends looooves Christmas so I’m going to wear it when I see her next week, I just know she’ll be thrilled
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I am loving all the sleeved dresses that AREN’T restrictive in the arms lately. Could it be the brands are catching on??? Either way, yes YES YES! Bring on all the Christmas outfits, music, and YES all the excuses to eat all the food! You look lovely in this dress. I have the skirt and blouse version of this and cannot wait to rock them in the coming weeks! I pretty much wear nothing but holiday outfits to work in these weeks leading up to Christmas. I think I may have too many!! hehe!
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First of all, hell yes on so many well sized sleeved finds! As I wrote this I felt like I’d been saying a lot lately that sleeved dresses aren’t arm restrictive which has been a joy. Also, I love that you wear Christmas outfits to work so often! I wish I could wear nice stuff to work at all, but it’s pretty pointless, not to mention impractical, at my warehouse supervisor job. You’ll just have to be merrily donned enough for the both of us during the week!
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That dress is really beautiful. I’ve already bought a number of new things for Christmas. The most obviously Christmas-y thing I got was a pointsettia skirt from Heart of Haute.
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I love poinsettias! That HoH skirt looks gorgeous, I’m sure you’ll be a Christmas hit when you wear it 🙂
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I’ve seen this dress around and it did seem a bit of a novelty dress, BUT it is beautiful and you’ve styled it really well! I love dressing up for Christmas and I am now very tempted to buy! Also, loving the Lucite bag! I recently bought Miss L Fire shoes that have a Lucite style heel and now really want a bag to match!
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I was never massively tempted by lucite bags until I saw this one and then I couldn’t resist! And this dress definitely isn’t as novelty as it can seem at first glance, less obnoxious than a Christmas jumper by far as far as I’m concerned, lol!
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I really want to take this dress but I am not sure about the size. Do you normally use this size on Hell Bunny? I’m usually a UK size 14 (Lindy Bop, Collectif) but I’m not sure whether to get a size L or XL. Any advice?
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This is the size I always wear with Hell Bunny. As a rule Hl Bunny run half a size large, roughly I’d say, so depending on your body type and measurements the 14 will either work well for you or potentially the size 12 might work. Best to take your measurements and compare them to the size chart
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I had this dress for Christmas from my husband. I’ve got myself a red petticoat too (would have preferred the burgundy but actually the red works well) and have velvet shoes from Joe Browns that pretty much match that belt!
Hoping I can be wearing it this Wednesday for my birthday dinner. Going to go as 1950s looking as I can.
Its looks fabulous on you.
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Any idea where I can still find this dress? madly in love with this dress!
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I know the black version is part of Hell Bunny’s current season, so it’s for sale lots of places, but for this white version in particular I imagine you’d just have to scour the internet and second hand sellers I’m afraid
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