Review: Lady V London Jasmine Dress

The British retro-reproduction clothing world is on fire lately. Between the Pretty Dress Company, the House of Foxy, and Collectif, I've given the Royal Mail and Fedex quite a workout in the past several months! I'm finally starting to get over my distaste for international shipping and its attendant cost, and after seeing some of my fave Insta pals looking amazing in their Lady V London dresses for ages, I decided to take the plunge. And if today's review of the Jasmine dress is a bit late, well: better late than never!

Lady V offers a ridiculously large selection of vintage-inspired dresses on their site, which is making it quite hard to focus on writing this review instead of adding a ridiculous quantity of things to my cart. I'm especially swoony over all their floral prints, as that's a recent print obsession of mine. And after seeing this lovely mustard and purple print in a different, discontinued style on my friend Caz, I knew exactly what my first purchase from them would be. Happily, the print was rereleased in a slightly different style, and I snapped one up before it sold out.

The Jasmine is a classic scoopneck swing dress with wide straps and what looks to be a 3/4 circle skirt, which obviously means it's my dream style. It's made of a nice midweight stretch cotton that drapes and moves well and doesn't wrinkle much even after a full day of sitting at my desk. It's full enough for a tea-length petticoat, as you can see from these photos, but also looks cute without one, which is convenient in the dead of August!

I'd heard that this style runs a bit bigger than the size chart, and found this to be the case. Since I was pregnant when I ordered this dress and knew that I'd only be getting bigger, I opted to size up rather than risk heartbreak. My UK 14 measures 20.5" from armpit to armpit and 16.5" at the waist, meaning it's a couple of inches larger than the size chart. It also has stretch, so take that into account if you order this style! If you're petite or shortwaisted, be aware that the straps are a bit long on me (#shortgirlproblems), but I think if I'd gone for the UK 12 they'd be a perfect fit.

This dress has been in heavy rotation since I got it, and at 7+ months pregnant, it's still comfy and makes me feel super cute! International delivery came to about $13, which was quite reasonable, and all of their dresses are a bargain compared to what you'd pay for a dress from Pinup Girl Clothing. I'm especially impressed with their price point and quality because their dresses are made right in the UK. Whenever possible, I prefer to support brands that manufacture close to their intended market, in places with strict minimum wage/labor laws, so it's nice to find one more excellent retro-reproduction option that doesn't set off my ethical alarm bells.

I'm looking forward to picking up more dresses from Lady V once I know what size I'll be after the baby, particularly since their dresses are all made in the UK! Have you ever tried their dresses?

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