Gingham Style

Frocks and Frou Frou Frocks and Frou Frou Frocks and Frou Frou Frocks and Frou Frou‘Matilda’ Dress: Lindy Bop

Belt: Lane Bryant

Shoes: Chie Mihara

After my success with my first Lindy Bop dress I thought I’d take advantage of their big end-of-season sale and try a few of their other styles on for size.

This one is the Matilda dress – a fifties-style shirt dress with Lindy Bop’s traditional full skirt, and a self-covered belt (that I swapped out for one of brown leather to cut back on the school-uniform vibe).

I sized up, because unlike my first dress (the Adele) Matilda doesn’t have any stretch to the fabric, and I was a bit concerned about how the button-up front would manage with the Rack of Doom.

I ended up sewing the front buttons up anyway so I probably could have stuck with the smaller size, as the larger swims a little on my narrow shoulders. The waist fits comfortably though, and I’m very thankful for the deep side pockets.

The big collar isn’t as flattering as the collar on my home-made Hawthorn dress, but for someone with a smaller bust it would provide a fantastic balance with the full skirt.

The dress is 100% cotton, and wonderfully breezy (39 degrees today in Melbourne. Sweltertown.) and while it’s not perfect, it was a steal at just 17 pounds.

In other news: If you’re in Melbourne this weekend, you might like to drop by the A Plus Market in their exciting new location at the Queen Victoria Markets. On Sunday Ashley Rose and I will be having our very own blogger bonanza stall, where you’ll be able to pick up some great pieces (and lots of favourites from the blog!)

12742537_964085757019852_1387571446755314611_nHope to see you there!

Khooky

Frocks & Frou FrouFrocks & Frou FrouFrocks & Frou Frou  Dress: Lindy Bop (via Kitty Rose Couture)

Cardigan: Cocolatte

Shoes: Seychelles

I’ve heard a lot about Lindy Bop dresses around the traps, but I’ve never taken the plunge and ordered one. I don’t know why; the vintage styling, bold prints and bright colours have my name written all over them… They’re remarkably well-priced, the brand goes up to a UK size 26, and it turns out that the size 18 fits like it was made for me. Which is either good news or bad news, depending on how you look at it!

I spotted this one through the open door of Kitty Rose Couture as I was driving up Sydney Road and pulled over for a quick look. Just a look, you know. Then it was in my size so of course I HAD to try it on. And when I found out it was only $89… well, as you see.

Frocks & Frou FrouIt’s actually my, um, third blue and white polkadot dress. But it has smaller dots than my vintage polkadot dress, and it doesn’t have the piping and buttons of my polkadot shirt dress so I decided it was different enough. That’s my story, and I’m sticking to it.

It’s a gorgeous dress made of a really heavy drill cotton, and fully lined. No pockets, but it does come with the removable belt. The skirt has a great fullness to it, even without a petticoat and I love, love that the arm holes aren’t great huge gaping things that flash my bra all over the place.

Frocks & Frou Frou Meanwhile, back when I had my fringe I used to get told that I looked a little like a plus-sized version of Rachel Khoo. It probably had more to do with my obsession with cooking and our shared Eurasian heritage than anything else, but I have to admit I was tickled to find a picture of her wearing this exact dress during a photoshoot for her – wait for it – visit to Melbourne.

Rachel Khoo n LilliSnap!