Dress: Dream Diva
Shoes: Chie Mihara (via eBay)
Season’s Greetings, everyone! I hope you all had lovely days yesterday (or today, for those of you on the other side of the world!)
Yesterday was a big and pretty momentous day for me, with my side of the family coming together with The Sophisticate’s for what will hopefully be the first of many big blended family Christmasses.
We hosted it at my old digs in Southbank, which is why you’re enjoying a blast from the past in my backdrop – Ah, The Wall… how I miss your neutral palette and natural light.
I’m never one to turn down the opportunity to dress up, so when Jacqui from Dream Diva contacting me with a very generous offer to choose an outfit for Christmas I knew I wanted to pick something a bit special.
This dress reminds me of the first formal dress that I bought myself – a midnight blue, floor-length strapless gown that made me feel like a princess – except obviously a bit more low-key.
The bodice fits wonderfully, and curves from a lower back to a higher front. It was snug enough not to need constant adjusting, and there was a strip of silicone across the back to help keep it in place without any uncomfortable boning. It did come with attachable straps, but they weren’t wide enough to disguise f-cup bra straps, so I just sucked it up and wore the whole ensemble strapless.
The fabric’s quite a soft satin – it also came in black, and a kind of greeny-blue that was lovely, but slightly too shiny to down-play. This blue is perfect to me, with just enough sheen to give the colour a glow without making me feel like it was inappropriate for a dinner-at-home scenario.
Underneath the skirt was a petticoat with a single layer of stiffened tulle to give the dress a bit of foof, and the belt is detachable and could be subbed out for another colour or done away with entirely.
I’m a Melbourne local, and went into Dream Diva to try the dress on in person, and I’m glad I did. The size chart would suggest that I’m a size 16, but I bought the dress in a 14, and it fit fine. In a few of the other items that I tried (the denim skirt for instance) I would have had to size up. The Dream Diva customer service is great though, so if you’re in doubt about what size you should get, shoot them an email.
