Picture: Joshua Sherwood
Many of you will already know that I am a massive fan of The House of Foxy. I regularly wear their beautifully cut frocks for events and shows (and I promise to share many more of these with you over coming Friday posts!) and I lived in their little red capri style trousers on my days off this summer.
My latest addition to my ever-expanding wardrobe is the Jackie O Suit, a shift dress and cropped jacket combo in scarlet red.
I’ll confess to being a little scared as I waited for this to arrive as I have owned shift dresses in the past… evil things. See if the following scenario rings any bells. You put on said shift dress, stand in front of the mirror, do your very best ‘Breakfast at Tiffany’s’, leave the house and IMMEDIATELY the hemline starts winding its merry way up your thighs until you feel like a street-walker by the time you’ve walked to the end of your street. You spend all day awkwardly pulling your hemline down as you were not planning on rocking a mini and the sheer terror of exposing more leg than you wanted makes you look a little crazed and so not Jackie O cool. Once home, you throw off the dress to reveal terrible scars that have developed, without warning, in your armpits as the dress has rubbed away at your flesh and you vow never to wear a shift dress again.
A badly cut shift dress is a terrible instrument of mental and physical torture.
And it turns out that a well-cut shift dress is rather lovely. The hemline stays where it is supposed to and the arms are cut comfortably. With the pin-tucked details and ruching around the waist, this is just about the most flattering shift dress that I have ever owned.
All of these details are typical of the 1960s and The House of Foxy are famous for their attention to detail, even adapting an original period pattern for the jacket. I am proud to call the creative force behind The House of Foxy, Clare Quartermaine, a friend and love hearing her enthuse about the latest styles that she is working on – everything from the 1920s through to the 1960s inspires her to create stunning outfits that suit modern life. Yes, they wash and wear well!
We do need to address the fact that, with suiting and any item with this much detailing, you get what you pay for. This dress and jacket come in at £165 for the set, with free delivery in the UK. I am sure that you will agree with me that this is a great price for a suit, a dress, and a little cropped jacket that will look oh so adorable with capri jeans and heels.
Picture: Joshua Sherwood
I wore the suit to present a couple of awards at The Four Counties Wedding Awards gala evening last week. My hair was teased into a beehive by the wonderful Sarah Dunn of Sarah’s Doo-Wop Dos – she took only five minutes to do this and took my breath away.
You may also notice a little glitter going on… I was glittered by Charli at Glitter Forever, along with pretty much everyone else who came to the event. It was so much fun.
There are so many options for styling this outfit and I dare say that you will see my many variations on a theme over the coming months! I showed off the suit in its full glory on my Facebook live feed a little while ago, styled with a retro-tastic turban…
If you want more style right now, click here to head on over to Sarah Dunn’s blog, where I took over for a day to talk turbanista fashion.
I’m so in love with this suit! I feel super chic in in and this is the perfect choice for anyone who wants to look super sexy and sassy without exposing too much. Click on any of the suit pictures to be taken to its full details and to buy if you fancy treating yourself today.
Wishing you all a fabulous weekend.
Stay gorgeous!
Cxx
