The Annie dress is one of Dolly & Dotty’s staple dress cuts, released each season in a variety of new prints and patterns. Whether you love florals, embroidered designs, quirky patterns, winter checks, or even lace, there’s an Annie (or several!) for you. I own a handful already, and they’re always easy to throw on to quickly create a great outfit around. My newest Annie is this little gingham number, so you know I’m in my very best summertime picnic feels! Let’s go walk barefoot through the meadow together, shall we?

Dress: Annie Green gingham dress gifted by Dolly & Dotty
Belt: Old Primark
Bag: Bamboo collapsible bag from eBay
Brooch: Old Luxulite
Bangles: Assorted Splendette Duotone and wooden Grass Fields 

Dolly & Dotty is a small business based in Brighton, an eclectic city located on the south coast of England, which happens to be not too far from me, so I always enjoy getting to feature them here on the blog. As I previously mentioned, I own several Annie dresses already, but in case this is your first encounter with Annie let me give you the full run down.

The Annie dress is a classic 50s sleeveless dress style, featuring a bateau neckline and a swing skirt. It comes with a matching fabric tie belt and has pockets, which will never cease to be worth both mention and celebration, huzzah! The skirt features box pleats so it lays beautifully worn as-is but can accommodate a medium-full petticoat to achieve a fuller shape. In these pictures I’ve only worn a slim-volume petticoat for gentle lift away from the leg. It’s a great staple for your wardrobe, especially for spring and summer when wearing gingham just feels extra special.

The gingham fabric of this Annie iteration is made from 100% cotton, so I sized up from the size 18 I typically wear in Dolly & Dotty’s stretchier pieces into a 20. As expected, there’s no stretch in the fabric, so you may have to consult the size chart if you, too, are used to wearing their styles made from stretch cotton fabrics. The bust on this size 20 measures 47 inches flat, while the waist measures 39 inches flat. The skirt is 27 inches long, and the dress closes with a hidden back zip topped with a hook and eye fastening. It is machine washable. The quality of the cotton fabric is great, feeling substantial whilst still being lightweight, perfect for warm weather.

The Annie gingham dress comes in 3 colours, green, purple and red ginghams, in UK sizes 8-26. Annie is available in 30 other fabric patterns and prints in the same size range. Dolly & Dotty ship worldwide, and have a variety of in-store and online stockists as well.

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Disclaimer: The dress featured in this review was gifted to me by Dolly & Dotty in exchange for an honest review. All opinions expressed are truthful and my own, with no input from any of the companies listed or any other individuals. 

COVID-19 NOTE: These pictures were taken alone and safely in a secluded outdoors area with no other individuals present or passing, thus abiding by the strict social distancing rules currently in place to help reduce the spread of Covid-19.