It's a little embarrassing to think about how long it took me to finally overcome my pathological objection to paying for shipping and order from Collectif. I follow a number of British gals on Instagram, and every time they post a lovely outfit from Collectif, I am overwhelmed by how perfect it is. When Collectif announced a massive end-of-summer sale, I knew that the time had finally come to take the plunge.
I'd admired the paint-pot print for ages, but was put off by my fear of 1) the unknown (never having tried Collectif before), 2) pastels, and 3) the aforementioned shipping business. As it turns out, though, I was more terrified of missing out and then having this dress become the one that got away. For more than half off the original price, though, I had to go for it. I deliberated at great length over the relative merits of this style (the Janie) versus Collectif's more recognizable design (the Dolores). Ultimately, the slightly shorter length, more bra-friendly design, and far superior name (hi Mom!) of the Janie won out, and I'm ever so pleased with my decision!
I went with a UK 12 in this dress and crossed my fingers that it would fit my 39" bust and 31" waist. Thankfully, it fits absolutely perfectly. After road-testing this dress with a massive dinner and dessert, followed by a very long ride home on the L, I can say with confidence that it's an incredibly comfortable design. The bustline is cute without being too revealing for my taste, and the twinned spaghetti straps are a unique twist.
I'm definitely pleased that I went with the shorter dress in this print, as it hits me at the exact right spot and is super easy to wear. The white background makes it easy to accessorize even though I don't have any blue shoes or bags, and the pink in the print matches my dusty rose petticoat rather well.
In terms of quality, the dress seems very well made to my non-seamstress eye: the bodice is fully lined and the fabric is thick enough to be totally opaque. After the initial zipping up, the zipper works quite well and no longer has any resistance at the tricky point where the skirt and bodice meet. The fabric has a hint of stretch and drapes perfectly even after spending over a week balled up inside a very compact package.
Like almost all of my favorite dresses, this one has a full circle skirt, which makes it an ideal candidate for the petticoats-and-twirls treatment.
I went with a UK 12 in this dress and crossed my fingers that it would fit my 39" bust and 31" waist. Thankfully, it fits absolutely perfectly. After road-testing this dress with a massive dinner and dessert, followed by a very long ride home on the L, I can say with confidence that it's an incredibly comfortable design. The bustline is cute without being too revealing for my taste, and the twinned spaghetti straps are a unique twist.
I forget what it was that grabbed my attention off-camera, but I suspect it was a car driving down the alley.
This outfit would obviously be cuter with a belt, but that would have interfered with my 'eat all the things' evening plans.
All the things I ate. It took me about 30 minutes of continuous eating to reach the end of this sandwich.
In terms of quality, the dress seems very well made to my non-seamstress eye: the bodice is fully lined and the fabric is thick enough to be totally opaque. After the initial zipping up, the zipper works quite well and no longer has any resistance at the tricky point where the skirt and bodice meet. The fabric has a hint of stretch and drapes perfectly even after spending over a week balled up inside a very compact package.
Like almost all of my favorite dresses, this one has a full circle skirt, which makes it an ideal candidate for the petticoats-and-twirls treatment.
I'm very happy with my first Collectif order, and look forward to picking up this dress in other prints and colors in the future. The only problem now: this dress is too pretty to tuck away for an entire Chicago winter! How on earth do I winterize this?
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Yay, glad you took the plunge and ordered that dress because it's absolutely beautiful and fits you like a glove! Love, love it! And I know what you mean... always hard to pay for shipping (in my case taxes & duties too) but my love for quirky dresses and fun prints knows no bounds!! ;)
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Thank you so very much! It's so easy to wear that I've been checking Collectif's site constantly in the hopes for new colors/prints in this style! I'm sorry you have to pay for taxes and duties on top of shipping. Jeff and I were talking about whether he should apply to a job in BC and my first thought was 'oh no, international shipping/duties for American retailers!'
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