If you read my recent review of Miss Candyfloss’s Arista dress you’ll know that while their new spring/summer collection may be Disney Princess inspired it still has plenty of simpler, timeless options for those of us who find the idea of Princess styles a bit too twee and girlish for our tastes. This Aemela-Ivy dress and the Cloebella coat are both lovely examples of items that will appeal to ladies who aren’t looking for bows or butterflies.

I may not personally be a huge Disney fan, but I wanted to pay homage to Miss Candyfloss’s inspiration for this range, so let’s travel together into the woods now in an ode to fairytales, just watch out for the roses’ thorns…

Dress: Aemela-Ivy Dress C/O Miss Candyfloss
Coat: Cleobella-Minty coat C/O Miss Candyfloss
Brooch: Signature Rose Double hair flower previously gifted by Daisy Jean Florals
Shoes: Rose Gold Viviene heels previously gifted by Hotter

I almost don’t know where to start, so let’s work from the outside in and begin with the coat. Oh this coat! We may as well focus first on the obvious; yes, it has a hood. I have wanted a swing-skirted, hooded spring coat for years, but it seemed like vintage inspired brands just didn’t believe rain was a weather condition that would ever require a pinup to don a coat. There are many glamorous winter coats made with hoods, but spring? Nope. In England, as I’m sure even the most far-afield readers know, rain showers in the springtime aren’t an unknown occurrence, they’re not even uncommon, so a lightweight coat that can stylishly cover both one’s outfit and one’s hair style is a Holy Grail wardrobe item. Miss Candyfloss have made me incredibly happy in designing such a piece.

Perhaps other brands have steered clear of making a spring-appropriate hooded swing coat not because they don’t believe such coats serve a purpose, but maybe because they couldn’t quite nail a hooded design they liked. The Cleobella elegantly offers its hood as a flowing extension of the coat’s shawl collar, ascending from the high neckline in a way that offers coverage not just to your head but also to your neck and collarbone, keeping you both warm and dry. It’s that shawl collar that makes the hood lay with such a flat, neatness when not in use, something that makes a wonderful change from the way bulky hoods flap against one’s back often on other coats.

Featuring full length sleeves (obviously,) this coat not only does it’s utmost to keep me dry by way of its hood, high-neck coverage and long swing skirt, but also because it’s made from a wonderful water-repellent coated canvas fabric. Carrying around a damp coat after the rain has moved off is definitely not a fun way to experience a shopping trip or even a commute home, so that water-repellent coating works wonders whether you’re wearing the coat or not.

The coat closes with two columns of buttons, through buttonholes that thankfully do not fight against the closure even on the first use (don’t you just hate that about new coats?) The full swing skirt features large pleats in the back and side seam pockets, while the whole coat is lined in satin. It’s a comfortable and practical wear that also happens to look totally fabulous, and really, who can say better than that?

I’m wearing this coat in my usual Miss C 2XL and it’s a great fit. I have the Barbora-Kat teal coat from AW17’s line which is essentially the same coat but without the hood. In the Barbora 2XL I can’t comfortably close the top buttons on the coat without it straining under the armpits because it’s too tight a fit on my bust, but in this Cleobella coat they must have updated the sizing because the 2X fits perfectly across my bust. It’s comfortable even across my broad shoulders and my large upper arms, which is rare in coats unless I size up specifically to counteract that problem. It’s always hard to measure coats and I don’t feel confident that I can do it accurately, so I’m afraid I’m not able to offer you my usual flat measurements for it in this review. However, Miss Candyfloss have included a detailed size chart on the product page for this piece so you should find that helpful in figuring out your size. They’ve written that the bust for the 2XL is for 44.8 to 52.3 inches, and my 46 inch bust didn’t strain the fabric so that feels accurate.

My final note on this coat is in regards to colour. Miss Candyfloss have a community group located on Facebook within which I’ve recently seen some ladies complain that this coat wasn’t as minty when received as they had anticipated. The name of the coat is, indeed, the Cleobella-Minty, and it was named so because the fabric supplier for this piece call this fabric shade ‘Mint’. Miss Candyfloss kept that shade name when naming the coat, but their product photos do accurately reflect that the true shade of the fabric is blue-toned, a dusky version of pastel blue mixed with mint, almost. I understand why the ‘minty’ in the product’s name would leave customers potentially confused, I’m sure we’ve all had experiences like this when shopping online, but I can confirm the product photos on their site are accurate to the colour of the coat in person. Because I’ve edited the above photos in this post to have a more atmospheric fairytale feel I’m going to pop an unedited photo below to give you an accurate look at the colour in case you’re unsure.

Unedited shot of this coat to show the way the colour looks in both direct sunlight and in the shade

Now, onto the Aemela-Ivy! As is often the case with Miss Candyfloss, this is a dress style they have produced before. This season they’ve released it in this refreshing bright green, a shade that appropriately reminds me of the villain Poison Ivy. This dress, though, is anything but menacing, with clean, simple lines that make it appropriate not only for work but also easy to be transformed for all manner of social occasions depending entirely upon what items you choose to style it up. Add cat’s eye sunglasses and flats for a casual spring day out, or a large sun hat, wedges and bangles for fun in the sun. On chillier days you can add a cardigan with ease, and the plain green fabric will take you through autumn and winter without looking out of place.

The Aemela dress is a masterclass in both modesty and timeless style, with cap sleeves and a small V-slit neckline that flows up into the high-neck collar. The matching notched fabric belt helps to cinch in your waist before the dress flares into a pleated swing skirt that moves beautifully and can accommodate a medium-full petticoat if you want to achieve high volume. For some reason I imagined that this dress would be made of a lightweight non-stretch fabric, but it’s actually a lovely light fabric that has a decent amount of stretch to it, making it incredibly comfortable to wear.

I’m wearing this dress again in a size 2XL. The waist flat measures 36 inches with stretch to 38 inches, while the bust is flat at 44.25 and will stretch to about 47 inches. The dress closes with a hidden side zipper. The skirt is 27.5 inches long.

The Aemala-Ivy dress is available in sizes XS-3XL. The Cleobella-Minty coat is currently sold out at Miss Candyfloss directly, although it’s worth keeping an eye on the product page in case they receive any returns. Miss Candyfloss do have select stockists around the world, both in store and online, so if you’re desperately in search of this coat (or any other Miss C pieces) it’s possible to contact Miss Candyfloss to ask which of their stockists are carrying the item you are searching for.

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Disclaimer: The coat and dress featured in this review were gifted to me by Miss Candyfloss with no obligations to review. The hair flower was gifted to me previously when I was Daisy Jean Florals 2016 Brand Ambassador. The shoes were previously gifted to me by Hotter for review. All opinions expressed are truthful and my own, with no input from any of the companies listed or any other individuals.