We all know the quote from the movie The Devil Wears Prada; ‘Florals, for spring? Groundbreaking.’ Floral prints in spring and summer may not be innovative, but it does feel nice to sport something reflective of the season you’re enjoying. It would be expected, therefore, that florals are off-limits for autumn and winter, when most leaves even give up the ghost, let alone flowers. It’s definitely possible for a good winter floral to exist; special attention needs to be paid to colour schemes and flower types to create a print that doesn’t feel out of place in colder weather and dimmer lighting. As someone with no experience in fabric and clothing design, I imagine that’s hard to do. If so, congratulations are due to Hell Bunny, because this Blue Bell dress is a winter floral gem.

Dress: Blue Bell 50s dress C/O Hell Bunny
Boots: Black Cecily by JustFab (Referral link for bargain price)
Gloves: Old eBay

The print of this dress is nothing short of lovely. Featuring floral bouquets of pinks, purple, mustard yellow, muted rusty red and bright blue set on a black background, in writing alone it sounds both bright and darkly mismatched, but the reality is the colour pairings make for a moody and romantic winter print. Paired additionally with a black velvet belt which introduces a plush texture and a lush look, the overall effect is dreamy.

The dress itself is a familiar cut, available last year in their Holly Berries print and the Sherwood woodland deer print, it’s back again this year in a similar woodland scene-scape, the Anderson print, a Christmassy poinsettia print and this Blue Bell floral. A full swing skirted cut with a V-neck faux cross-over bust and three-quarter sleeves, it highlights the decolletage, cinches the waist, and provides arm coverage and warmth. The only way it could be any better is if it had pockets–wait, what’s that? Oh it does have pockets. Then forget it, it’s perfect, everyone just go home.

As far as sizing goes, I asked for this in their 18/2XL and it’s very true to size. The waist lays flat just shy of 38 inches, while the bust is flat at 42 inches with stretch to 47. The skirt is 26.75 inches long and takes a medium volume petticoat with delighted swishy ease. The arms are approximately 16.5 inches in the bicep, so my fellow ladies sporting chubby uppers won’t find themselves struggling with pinching throughout the day.

The Blue Bell 50s dress comes in sizes XS-4XL, or in a swing skirt version in the same print and size range. Discount code Amymay20!% will get you 20% off any order from Hellbunny.com.