Loving Laura

Hello Lovelies,

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.

My tiniest bug bear is that after all the attention to detail elsewhere the pattern hasn't been matched up along the front seam of the skirt of the mocha dress.  It doesn't seem to be a problem on the charcoal version as the pattern is more subtle. That's really all I can nit pick for the sake of attempting a balanced review because truly this is a great winter staple of a dress- no two ways about it!!

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.

And I shall have ALL of the Petticoats, please!!

If repro vintage clothing was a buffet it'd be fair to say I've pretty much gorged myself on circle skirts recently! 

I've sampled lindybop, Pinup Girl Clothing, Vivien of Holloway and (if they are ever released by Bulgarian customs) Bernie Dexter.  Patterned or plain, novelty or not, cheap and cheerful or pricey pricey- I care not. For there is room in my wardrobe for all!!

But this isn't about my love of circle skirts- that's old news!  Though in fairness to linear thinking I ought to be blogging about the old news first rather than skipping ahead to the new news.... I digress!  At any rate this blog is about my desire to up my circle skirt game with Petticoats!!!

So if petticoats were cars it'd be reasonable to say that Sam's Petticoats are the fabric equivalent of one of those vintage rides that smell of old leather, even older money and have a busty silver lady chilling on the bonnet.  You know- Fancy with a capital F.  I have one cream Sam's that's stuffed (in a reverent way) into one of my wardrobes (I know, I know).  Like that fancy pants car though, it's pretty much only ever used for special occasions (read- twice) and being in the market for an 'everyday wear' type undergarment at an affordable pricepoint I decided to look elsewhere.   

Hell Bunny petticoats come well recommended so I duly tracked down an online supplier and got most of the way through check out before the inability to find/read my card details in the dark defeated me (PayPal is a must for anyone who does their online shopping in the dark waiting for the sound of toddler breath to change to the slow, steady sound of deep slumber that indicates ninja-ing out of the room is now possible).

At any rate I never got round to buying a Hell Bunny Petticoat.  Instead I went to London and met this awesome lady (Leanda Lewis) 

And together we visited Vivien of Holloway.  And then I went back on my own.  That's two visits to Vivien of Holloway on a two day stop over to buy not one, not two, not even three but FOUR(!!!) Sam's Petticoats.  Oh the shame.  So much for mid range affordability.  I went intending to buy a skirt.  One skirt (ok that's not entirely true).  I tried on the skirt and in the corner of my eye, I could see hanging the fluffy, swishy softness that is a Sam's petticoat and suddenly it was there in front of me and I was stepping into it.  One swish and I was asking for a red one to await me at the counter.  Two swishes and a pink one joined it.  I restrained myself at two under the watchful eye of Leanda (jk she's as big an enabler as I) and left with a vague feeling of dissatisfaction.

The missing practicality of a black one haunted me through the night and I knew that I had to go back and fill this petticoat emptiness!  So I did.  And because it was quite a long tube journey I convinced myself I needed a lavender petticoat along the way, you know, for fun.  Sadly there were no lavender petticoats so I settled for a purple one and two brooches (yes I am the worst).

I might have had to buy an extra suitcase at the airport and be that person, hurriedly re-packing my suitcase at the check-in desk.  And sure I splashed a ridiculous amount of money on undergarments that go largely unseen.  And ok... Having reached the blistering hot climes of my final destination, Sofia, I realise that I will have to wait a few months before its cool enough to wear them without dying.  But as I recall the gentle swish and soft sigh of my top quality, silky, Sam's petticoats against my bare legs and the cheeky flash of colour peeking out from beneath my now immeasurably more epic skirts I have but one smug thought- Worth. it.