Last Sunday, in what will forever be known as an act of self sacrifice and pure heroism on my part, I ventured out into -19 degrees centigrade (!) and foot deep snow (!) to walk (!) to the supermarket to fetch smoked salmon and eggs for our Sunday brunch.
That is what happened to a nearby water feature someone left running. Shortly after this photo my phone stopped working. I'm not regaling you with my weekend adventures so that you think I'm a legend on par with Edmund Hilary scaling Mt Everest for going forth in it or anything, I'm illustrating my point (but also maybe a tiny bit of the legend thing).
The point in question is that when this is the view from your window and it's cold enough to freeze running water and stop your electronics dead the only thing getting you out from under your duvet and crochet is the promise of something warm to wear! And also smoked salmon, poached eggs, smashed avocado and fresh bread. But why settle for just being warm and fed when you can also be stylish? And reproduction vintage type stylish at that!
Enter the Laura dress from Vivien of Holloway, of which I am now the happy owner of two out of four of the colour ways- charcoal and mocha fleck.
Also available are navy fleck and grey sans fleck.
It's made of a lovely warm, medium weight flannel. The label does say 'dry clean only' but as I like to live dangerously I washed them both separately on a cold gentle machine wash with a reduced spin then hung them on coat hangers to dry in the bathroom with no obvious ill effect.
The dress itself is true to waist size- the top is slashed (potential there for nursing mums) and the skirt free so there's some wiggle room top and bottom. Both the charcoal and mocha colour ways (the navy and grey too, I'd imagine) lend themselves well to partnering with multiple top colours- good news for wardrobe versatility! The Vivien of Holloway slash neck top is the obvious partner piece but anything with sleeves and a high neckline is going to work smashingly.
Another major draw card- pockets!! The contrasting stitching around the neckline and the pockets somehow stops the dress one stop short of vintage school wear for me. That being said it has the sort of comfortable utilitarian feel a school uniform would envy, paired with good design and looks it's an unusual mix of luxury and everyday practicality.
And although it's unseen, the large amount of material at the neck and arm openings says 'no expense spared.' You do have to check that it's all tucked in once you've got the dress on and zipped up (zip is hidden at the side) but aside from its technical function the double layering of the overlap is appreciated in the cold.
One of the final small details, that to me highlights the quality of the make, is the overage at the seams. This dress has not been sewn with sole intention of eking out material yardage to save on manufacturing costs. At £85 a dress though that's exactly the sort of quality you'd expect from a Viv.
Happy winter dressing!!
Amelia xx
Disclaimer** I did not wear this dress on my smoked salmon adventure. I'm not insane. I wore two layers of thermals, a ski jacket, a woolly hat, gloves and snow boots!!! Some days I do settle just for being warm.
