There are certain dresses I think of as goddess gowns. There isn’t a particular characteristic that qualifies it beyond being full length; sometimes they have pleated skirts, sometimes boned busts with intricate pleating or gathers; sometimes they have bishop sleeves; and sometimes they have full flowing circle skirts for ultimate sweep and swish. It’s one of those ‘I know it when I see it’ things, and to me this lacy blue maxi from Chi Chi London is a Goddess Gown contender.
Embroidered dresses always feel special. The fact that the embroidery of this dress is stitched onto a sheer floaty overlay that gives this dress a dreamy and ethereal feel just makes it all the more special.
I’ve developed a bit of a thing lately for Chi Chi Clothing. After getting the Rosa dress, I’ve fallen for their more vintage inspired pieces, all of which tend to be tea length and sport stiffer fabrics and expert pleating that create a full vintage skirt look without the need for a petticoat. It means they’re great pieces for summer when a petticoat can be unwanted extra warmth, and they’re also beautiful evening wear pieces that look classic and stylish year round. I’ve begun stalking their New In section recently to make sure I don’t miss out on anything good, which is when I came across this gorgeous Deanna dress.
A grey-black dress with red, white, pale gold and olive green floral embroidery, this dress immediately makes me thing of Christmas and winter and glamorous dark evenings. The embroidery was designed with Spanish inspirations in mind, and I can see that too, but it’s the winter Christmas feels I most love. I was a bit uncertain when I first tried it on whether I should keep it, as I was splashing out on another one of their dresses for sure and my American trip (and it’s expenses) is right around the corner. But I asked my Instagram followers whether I should get this dress too and their Insta-shouted at me that OMG OF COURSE YOU KEEP IT IT IS GORGEOUS WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU EVEN TALKING ABOUT WHY WOULD YOU SEND IT BACK HOW DARE YOU SHUT UP AND BUY IT. And they were totally right. I had a mild lapse in closet-judgement due to focusing on finances. It was silly of me. It won’t happen again. Because lookit!
It’s not often I find a new non-pinup clothing brand these days that I actually like, you know, on account of them being non-pinup. Finding Chi Chi London recently, therefore, was awesome.
A UK clothing brand, they produce clothing with lots of feminine design details: lace, floral prints, embroidery, off the shoulder necklines, sheer overlays, satin finishes, and cinched waists. Most of their dresses are midi length or at least knee length, passably retro to my delight, and they also offer petite and plus size ranges, another bonus. There’s a lot of very pretty dresses on their site currently that I like, but when I saw the Rosa dress I fell in love. A day after discovering Chi Chi, Rosa was on her way to me thanks to the help of a 20% off discount code, one of the many discount codes and sales I’ve seen Chi Chi offer just over the past month alone that I’ve been aware of them.
Miss Amy May 