Summer Feels [Collectif + Lulu Hun]

It’s been an awkward spring this year, what with winter insisting on overstaying its welcome, but the sun has finally started to make a few appearances and I am more than ready for her to begin reclaiming her time. I have several fabulous new summer-loving outfits hanging in my wardrobe ready for the feel of fresh air and warm sunrays, but none more so than this Collectif Joice dress and Luzia heels combo, which absolutely scream SUMMER TIME to me. It might not be quite nice enough yet to hit the beach in this outfit for a boardwalk stroll and, of course, the eating of ice cream, but wearing it even on a slightly dreary day still has me experiencing all the summer feels.

Joice Striped swing dress Collectif Vintage Luiza heels Lulu Hun Miss Amy May

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This Lil’ Dollface [Vixen + Doll Me Up]

Look, I don’t want to be dramatic but: me and this dress have been a long time coming. No, for real. So long.

For those of you who aren’t keeping up to date on Micheline Pitt’s incredible Vixen line you may not be aware that she sometimes posts sneak peeks of upcoming designs in her Facebook Vixen Salon group, wherein she will also ask for feedback on said designs. It was in this group that I first saw the design sketches for this striped glory that is the Dollface dress, many months back. It wasn’t scheduled to be released until SS17, so even back then those of us who were drooling over it knew we would be in for a wait.

I decided I would buy mine through Doll Me Up, a website I love to support when I can, so I mentally committed my purchase to DMU and excitedly awaited the dress’s release with cartoon-like wide fluttery eyes of anticipation. As it happened, this dress was so popular that it sold out through three wholesale pre-ordered phases over the entire spring season before DMU got their original pre-order finally fulfilled in July. As those months passed, I watched in the FB Salon and on Instagram as gorgeous pinup after gorgeous pinup got their Dollfaces from other stockists, while I waited, whimpering only a little, wondering if we were ever meant to be. Do you not love me as I love you, Dollface? Did I do something to forsake you before even we had been united? My heart (my closet) ached at the empty space set aside for this beauty, the money saved and sat waiting to be spent on it. 

And finally, finally, it has happened! We are one! After a long journey, only a touch of jealousy but a great deal of excitement, I have my Dollface dress and she is just as wonderful as I hoped.

black white stripe Vixen by Micheline Pitt Dollface dress Doll Me Up

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Pom-poms, Ruffles & Stripes, Oh My! [Voodoo Vixen]

Voodoo Vixen Adelyn striped dress

One of the best things about being a style blogger is that you get to see some of your favourite brands’ upcoming lines early, allowing you to plan out your buys and picks for that impending season. It’s also probably one of the worst things, because in the bitter middle of winter you will see and fall in love with a dozen fabulous summer dresses that not only make you fed up of the cold you’re weeks and weeks away from escaping, but you also have to wait months yet for those dresses to be released, knowing they are coming and that you are a terribly impatient person who struggles to wait.

 

When I say ‘you’ of course, I mean me, the impatient, deeply flawed clothes addict who is both blessed and cursed every 6 months to be able to go to London Edge and see what beautiful things we will all be cooing over for the upcoming season. One such beautiful thing I saw at the last LE in February is this Adelyn dress by Voodoo Vixen, a dress that would immediately have become my favourite pick of the season had Voodoo Vixen not offered such a strong SS17 line that I think my 3 favourites will forever be equally tied and adored. My other two picks, of course, are the Violet and Deliliah dresses, both strappy, flower trimmed little numbers made of lightness and springtime happiness and wonder. Adelyn is similar in the same respects of being a strappy, happy little number, but this baby has some sass and hotness on offer to boot.

Voodoo Vixen Adelyn striped dressVoodoo Vixen Adelyn striped dress

Voodoo Vixen Adelyn striped dress

Voodoo Vixen Adelyn striped dressVoodoo Vixen Adelyn striped dress Voodoo Vixen Adelyn striped dressVoodoo Vixen Adelyn striped dressVoodoo Vixen Adelyn striped dress

Dress: Adelyn dress C/O Voodoo Vixen
Shoes: Old F&F Tesco

This dress is beyond perfect for summer. Apart from the fact that it’s obviously so vibrant and fun, with its stripes and cute ruffly pom-pommed sweetness, it’s probably the most comfortable dress I’ve tried from any brand this season. Like the Deliliah dress, this is because the entire back of the dress’s bodice is made from elasticated smocking, giving the dress tons of stretch and room for movement. The double spaghetti straps aren’t adjustable, something I had got used to from my VV summer dresses, but luckily for me they’re the perfect length as they are. Both the ruffle feature of the neckline and the hem of the skirt are trimmed with black pom pom edging, beyond cute, and the full flared skirt has pockets deep enough to securely hold my phone in its bulky battery case. This dress closes with an invisible side zip, although I was very happy to find that unlike most side zips this one didn’t get stubbornly stuck trying to zip up over the bump of the waistband.

I have this dress in my usual Voodoo Vixen XL and thanks to the smocking it’s generously sized compared to the size chart. VV pieces do tend to run a little larger than their charts state as a rule, but for comparison an XL is listed for 40 inch busts and 33 inch waists, but this dress flat measures at 40-46 in the bust and 32-37 in the waist. Voodoo Vixen had to scale down their Curve line this season due to a stockist change, so sadly there was very little on offer from this line for their plus customers (they do have plans to expand the Curve line again moving forward, thankfully.) The generous stretch in this dress, though, does mean that 1X girls at least might be able to pick up this dress style in this XL and find that it works for them.

This dress arrived on my doorstep on Tuesday last week and since then I’ve already worn it twice; if that doesn’t tell you just how comfortable and lovely this dress is to wear, then I don’t know what will. There’s also the fact that everyone who saw me in it told me how much they loved it, something that, for me, an almost constant wearer of new clothes, is often the mark of a stand-out piece. You know, just in case you had any doubts.

The Adelyn dress comes in sizes S-XL for £55, although discount code vintage20 will get you 20% off your order. Voodoo Vixen ship internationally.

Pinup Halloween: Beetlejuice

beetle

You know how it goes. Bettlejuice, Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice!

It was such a cult classic movie that those of us who are old enough to have seen Beetlejuice during the late 80s or 90s tend to associate chunky black and white stripes with the character. I own a bold black and white striped Jenny skirt from Pinup Girl Clothing that almost always spurs people to say ‘Beetlejuice!’ at me whenever I wear it, no matter what other colours I add into the style. Because of that, I thought I’d add Beetlejuice into this pinup Halloween costume series as I know a lot of pinups have a passion not only for vintage style but also for all things dark, spooky, moody and creepy.

beetlejuice Halloween easy costume pinup vintage Continue reading