Border prints are one of my favourite parts of vintage design because they just aren’t commonly utilized in modern fashion. I used to be quite happy to wear quite novelty border prints, but novelty tempts me less so these days. A simple graphic print, though, I still find lovely, and this Danube print by Collectif is certainly lovely.
If you’re a regular reader of this blog then you’ll have read me announcing at least a dozen times that it was love at first sight for me when I saw a certain dress, or skirt, or bag, or pair of shoes…okay, maybe less like a dozen, and more like a hundred. But what can I say? I find men hard work, but falling for pretty things I can twirl in is easy.
In this case, I actually saw the skirt version of this dress first, and thence came the fall. I quickly realised, though, that Voodoo Vixen would not be making the skirt in their plus sizes. Thence came the devastation. Such heartbreak! Why would they forsake me so? However, it was coming in a dress version, I was told, and so returned hope.
I wasn’t fully sold on the dress style when I saw it initially, for reasons I couldn’t quite put my finger on, but after mulling over the reality of missing out on this print entirely, as well as reminding myself honestly that I almost never wear skirts compared to dresses, I came around to the idea of the dress and decided to give this print a second chance. We could make it, this print and I. I just had to be willing to open up my heart again. And boy oh boy, am I glad I did.
If you feel like it’s unusual to see me in purple it’s because it is. It’s one of the few colours I don’t usually wear, to the point that I generally gloss over any purple styles I see whilst shopping, not even registering on my radar. However, the moment I saw this Lady V Amethyst Dirdle dress I was in love, immediately envisioning pairing it with a green cardigan to lift up the purple and put one in mind of rich toned, previous jewels.
Plus, something about purple makes me think of my mum, which is lovely given we just celebrated Mother’s Day yesterday. So let’s look at the dress that almost could have passed me by, but was much too stunning to do so!
If I’ve said it once I’ve said it a hundred times: I love border prints. I’ve gushed about landscape border prints here on the blog before numerous times, but I come across stand-out floral border prints less often, though I love them no less. Therefore, when I saw this rose border print Sweet Pea dress by Miss Fortune, I had all the love for it. I did my usual of talking myself out of the purchase because I’m saving, but then, a ha, I had to return something more expensive to a different store, so hello Sweet Pea! Welcome to your new garden. Or, rather, corn field.
The thing I love most about border print pieces of clothing is that the prints feel like artwork in a way most other fabric designs don’t. Whether the design features the architecture of a far away city’s famously beloved skyline or a scene of an anonymous corner cafe on a spring day, they tell a story as they wrap around your body. And never has that been more true than of Trashy Diva’s recently released Carnival border print collection.
Miss Amy May 