Review: Heart of Haute Sweetie Dress

Happy St. Patrick's Day, everyone! As I confessed in Tuesday's post, I'm not Irish, but I love corned beef, Irish sausages, green, and beer, so all things considered, this is a pretty good holiday for me!

I had three solid contenders for my St. Patty's Day outfit, but a dark-horse contender arrived with Tuesday afternoon's mail and completely changed the game. I had ordered the Heart of Haute Sweetie Dress in Meadow Daisy a while back, along with a cut-to-order twirl skirt, and they arrived just in time!

I must admit that I was a bit unsure about this dress at first. Princess seams and halters usually aren't my thing: I need a more defined waist, and strapless/convertible bras make me entirely despondent. However, I was utterly taken with this gorgeous daisy print, and as it only came in this dress and the twirl skirt, I decided to give princess seams and a halter neck a shot.

It turns out that this was a very good decision! The Heart of Haute website claims that this dress is universally flattering. While my academic past has trained me to run from making universal claims like a bat out of hell, I can safely say that I feel totally confident in this dress. The sweetheart neckline provides plenty of coverage while still looking super cute, and those princess seams I fussed over? They look great! It hits just below my knee with a petticoat, which is exactly where I like dresses like this to fall on my 5'2" frame. Though the dress does not have a full circle skirt, it fits my Malco Modes Jennifer perfectly, and looks super cute to boot!

My new petticoat is the perfect shade to wear with this dress. I am St. Patrick's Day-ed to the max!

Obviously, it's impossible to appreciate the full 1950s effect of a full skirt without a mugshot-style pose.

This skirt is full enough to curtsey, I suppose, but I don't know how to do that.

A few words about fit: I found this dress to be a bit looser than I expected, which is by no means a bad thing. According to their size charts, I'm at the upper end of a Large, so that's what I ordered. The waist of my dress measures 15.75" flat, so if you're right between sizes and prefer a tight fit, you can size down. 

To my surprise, I found that I could actually zip it up myself, with no extra set of hands to help with the last couple of inches. It's not loose, but there's plenty of breathing room, which is why I felt confident wearing it on a day where I planned to consume all the food and drink in the entire Midwest. This, plus the light fabric and halter back, make it a perfect dress for hot summer days as well. Even though this dress doesn't have the boning and hold-you-in-tight construction of some of my other dresses, it gives me plenty of definition in the waist. Maybe Heart of Haute are secretly wizards! 

This is a dress I'd wear in spring, summer, and fall, because I fell out of the habit of weather-appropriate dressing during my time in LA and don't much care to regain that skill. Since it's March in Chicago, I'm wearing it with a cardigan, and I'll likely add tights before I go out for the evening. I also couldn't resist pairing it with my strawberry purse, my favorite earrings ever, and my Rebel Alliance brooch, since they make me so happy! I think this dress would also look nice with lavender, gold, eggplant, and for that watermelon-y vibe, magenta and blush.

This is my second Heart of Haute dress, and I'm quite pleased with it! In fact, perhaps I'm a little too pleased: it also comes in the cutest strawberry print, and I think we all know how I feel about strawberry prints...

This print!!! That is all.

Dress: Heart of Haute

Cardigan: Forever 21

Shoes: Gap

Purse: Unique Vintage, via Amazon

Brooch: Atomic Lucite

Earrings: a store in Shibuya, way back in 2005!

What is everyone doing for St. Patrick's Day?