Tuesday 7 April 2015

Lady V London and Collectif sale haul!

If you're a regular reader here you'll be familiar with UK vintage reproduction brands, Lady V London and Collectif . Both online stores had winter sales a few months ago with dresses from as little as £20, so who am I to resist a bargain? 3 from Lady V, 1 from Collectif! All dresses I try in this post are a UK size 8.

I won't link to the individual sales page or prices for each dress because at the time of publishing, only 1 or 2 sale dresses remain so instead I'll link to the shape of the dress where you can see which if any) other fabrics are available.

Tip: sign up to their mailing list for the latest offers and sales.

For quite some time I've had my eye on the Isabella as a less expensive alternative to Pinupgirlclothing's famous Heidi, a swing dress with fitted bodice and sweetheart neckline made to flatter EVERYONE. I ordered Isabella in this gorgeous red wine polka dot, as modelled by the stunning October Divine below.

Pin up model October Divine in the Isabella


Sadly it didn't look as gorgeous on me! As always, my short torso let me down and it was a little on the baggy side too. A size smaller would have been perfect I think but it wasn't produced in a UK size 6. I also feel it doesn't have enough fabric in the skirt. It's more of a circle skirt than a full swing I'd say, and a small circle at that. If you add a petticoat it doesn't swing as nicely as Heidi does, it just sort of...sits kind of stiffly on top of the petticoat without a gathered, swingy effect. Does that even make sense? 


The verdict; refund please!

Onto another Lady V number I've had my eye on for a while. This one I hold close to my heart as it was designed by none other than the lovely Georgina Horne of FullerFigureFullerBust. Named after a friend, Georgina put her heart and soul into creating a the Estella designed to make every super curvy woman feel like a twirly whirly dream! I chose the pretty pink rose print dress as it reminded me of the Rosetta I reviewed in a previous post.

Georgina modelling her Estella dress

 Unfortunately I'm not quite curvy enough to fill the Estella out properly so the wrap neckline felt quite modest for me. I think it's better suited to those with a larger bust and/or longer torso than myself as the waistline was too long for me too. 



The bad points aside, I liked the loose fit sleeves as it turned the dress from an ordinary 50's swing style to a sort of Japanese-y 1940's tea dress on me, which I quite liked. I then had the bright idea of throwing on my Orchard Corset CS-301 over the dress and adding my usual petticoat and it completely transformed it! What do you think?


The verdict; as much as I like the look with a corset, I probably wouldn't want to ONLY be able to wear the Estella dress with my waspie, so back it goes.

Lastly from Lady V London is an old favourite style of mine, the swing dress, this time in a gorgeous poppy print! I initially had a few fit issues with the swing dress being too big on the waist and/or shoulders so I stopped buying them, so I was reluctant to try again but with the Poppy swing dress in the sale at around £20 I threw caution to the wind. 

I'm so glad I did as this version is made from a slightly stretchy fabric and actually fits without the need for a belt, corset or alterations! Hurrah! It's a tiny bit snug on the but I can live with that. I absolutely love the print and plan to wear it casually, out to dinner and even to work on November 11th! I tried the Poppy swing dress with and without a corset and petticoat and it looks good either way. 


With belt and corset, no petticoat

With belt, corset and petticoat

With corset and petticoat, no belt

The verdict; Faith in the Lady V London swing dress restored! It's a keeper!

And from Collectif...


Dolores Doll dress in red gingham from Collectif

And finally, one I've ordered and returned before, the Dolores Doll in red gingham from Collectif. The Dolores Doll is another swing dress, this time with a sweetheart neckline and cute puff sleeves. I have both the Dolores doll dress and Dolores pencil dress in numerous fabrics now and is a strong favourite shape for me year after year. 

The size chart advised to size up if you are in between sizes as the gingham fabric doesn't allow for much stretch, but I often find Collectif Dolores doll dresses are very much hit and miss when it comes to a 'usual' size, so I threw caution to the wind and ordered my usual UK size 8. Thankfully the fit is spot on! Since the bust is ruched, I imagine it will fit most boobs, big and small. 



As I said I'd already ordered and returned this dress before back in the summer because on me it's far too long to look cute. I'm 5'2" and it sits longer than my petticoat so it look a bit odd. I figured that I couldn't live without this dress at the sale price I got it for so I will get it shortened and won't return it! 


The verdict; with a few inches taken off the length, it's a definite hit!

Oh, as for what I wore underneath, my Freya Deco, Orchard Corset CS-301 and Lola petticoat from Collectif.



Which dress was your favourite? Have you found any good bargains lately? Share your photos on my Facebook page or comment below. 

Thanks for reading!

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