I think if I had to choose a favourite gingham colour I would have to–after much lip chewing and frowning–choose yellow. A yellow gingham just feels so undeniably happy to me, all sunshine and bright smiles in a way that immediately summons good vibes and great memories. And would you look at that, today we’re going full on yellow gingham.
When it comes to summer frocks, is there anything more superlative than red gingham? I suspect not. Add pockets and a full skirt and I am one happy pinup!
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?
It’s been pretty dreary here in the UK for what feels like an age. It’s been rain, showers, and more rain, but in a shocking twist of fate this Bank Holiday weekend has heralded the return of sunshine. So it was wonderful timing that this glorious The Pretty Dress Company piece turned up this week just in time to enjoy said sunshine in true summer fashion–in gingham!
If there’s one thing that screams summer to me, it’s gingham. It can absolutely be worn year round, of course, but for me it will always feel like a joyous welcome to spring when I pack away my heavier, darker winter dresses and pull all of my summer dresses out of storage, gingham right at the top of the pile. The first time I wear gingham each season on a fresh, sunny day feels like turning the page on a new book. It always reminds me of daffodils, of picnics, of sun hats. Today’s gingham number will be a marvelous addition to my summer collection!
If I were to ask you what prints scream summer to you, what would your answer be? I’m willing to bet that gingham and florals would both be in the top 3 replies. Well looky here, because this Golightly dress from Unique Vintage serves up both!
Look, sometimes a dress is so cute there’s just no point in prefacing it with any chatter, okay? This Bardot definitely fits that bill, so let’s waste no more time and get right to it.
It’s no secret that I like a bit of gingham. Or, more accurately, a lot of gingham. I’m also a vocal fan of yellow, so this Margita dress by Miss Candyfloss isn’t exactly an out-of-left-field choice for me. And once I saw how good it looked on Miss Victory Violet and Scarlett Luxe, who had each snagged it from stockists, I was chomping at the bit waiting for it to go up for sale on Miss Candyfloss’s own website. Once it did I placed my order immediately, and now here we are, united, happy little sunshine daisy yellow dress on a happy little Amy.
If you read the blog on Monday then you will have seen me reviewing the Heart of Haute gingham Sarah dress. The first time I saw a picture of that dress I fell in love, wanting it in both the coral and teal green colourways, but since I’m (supposed to be??) a responsible, restrained adult I thought I ought to be a sensible and limited myself to buying only one dress.
…And then I ended up with the teal gingham print Picnic Circle Skirt as well anyway, so life is good and adulthood really isn’t as bad as everyone says it is so what’s the big deal??! (Remind me of this joke in a couple weeks when I have to pay all my bills. I won’t be laughing then.)
Spring and summer, to me, is all about gingham. I do love florals, the occasional polka dot, and other fun, bold prints, but gingham is not only summery and fresh, but it’s a timeless and less innocuous way of rocking a print for those who fear or dislike novelty. It’s cliché to wear gingham on a picnic because red and white picnic blankets are over presented in picnic pictures and scenes, but damnit, some clichés are just worth fulfilling–because they’re just so good. It’s a classic. And who am I to knock a classic? So, yes, we’re picnicking again, darlings, crack open your pop bottle and pass the cake.
If you’re on social media and you follow your favourite clothing brands then I’m willing to bet this has happened to you: you’re checking your feed, scroll scroll scroll, when you see a picture posted by a brand of their newest release, with which you immediately fall so in love that you rush to their website to place an order, blood pumping, because you’re half terrified it’s going to sell out in those few seconds it takes to load up their page–who even KNOWS how many other ladies just saw that exact same Instagram picture and are scrambling to buy too?! You know, at midnight–and half pumped because you are about to buy yourself a new love of your life.
This happened to me with the Sarah dress by Heart of Haute, only I was slightly delayed by the fact that I wanted to put both the coral and the teal gingham dresses into my cart. The recent bill for the work I’d had done on my car’s brakes said really that wasn’t going to happen, so a choice had to be made between the two. BUT WHICH COLOUR? I wanted both. I’m more drawn to blues and teals as a rule, and I was a bit worried the coral might secretly be a true pink only pretending to be coral–pink and I do not get along. Buuuut if it really is truly coral, I reasoned, that’s an unrepresented colour in my wardrobe compared to my plentiful selection of blues. Oh but wait, they also do full circle skirts in the same ginghams though. Do I buy one skirt and one dress? Why is shopping so hard? Why aren’t I rich?
A few hours later, I was a big girl and bought only one dress, feeling slightly panicked as I did so because an Instagram follower warned me the coral dress was selling out in many sizes. But it was okay, I got her. I got the coral Sarah. And you guys. She’s just lovely.
Miss Amy May 