Hell Bunny's Emilie Dress, A Dress Review

Hell Bunny's been making quite an impression on me these last two seasons.

Actually, make that last two years.

While I've always admired their signature 1950's style halter dresses from the last couple of years, I'm really excited to see the new styles they have been coming out with lately. Last Fall/Winter (2013) they came out with beautiful 40's style dresses (the Mae West dress, the Nell dress, as well as the Madden dress). The Fall/Winter before that (2012) their styles were also equally impressive with their Suzy Parker dress, Posey dress, Evie dress, and Sandy dress. And they haven't been limiting themselves to awesome dresses only for the cooler months. Last Spring/Summer (2013) they had the awesome Melanie dress, and the Lazy River dress. This Spring/Summer (2014) they have the beautiful Sheila dress, and Claudia dress previously reviewed respectively here (An Apple a Day, The Vintage Dancer Dress, A.K.A. Hell Bunny's Clauida Dress ). These are just a few of my favorites from this brand. One more to add to the list is their Emilie dress. I got this dress from JBR Clothing.

I can't quite put my finger on this dress... is it 1930's style? 1940's style? Maybe 50's or 60's? Whatever style it may be emulating, it's a beautiful dress. I'm kind of leaning towards 30's (judging from the length, the crochet collar, and the pleating style) but I could be wrong. It could as easily be seen as 1960's style. In any case, I will continue on to the details.

This dress is made from a cotton spandex blend but seems to be as easy care as polyester, not wrinkling easily. It has a heavier weight which makes it a good dress for any season with the right accessories. With a pair of sweater tights and a good cardigan I can see this easily being one of my go-to winter dresses though, the cap sleeves ensures it would also be a great summer dress when worn without a cardigan or tights. The material of the dress, although on the heavier side, has a slight stretch to it as well as a somewhat soft feel to it rather than thick and starchy, making it a very comfortable and easy to wear dress. The dress has a full circle skirt, giving it lots of twirl. There is pleating under the bustline around its tailored cut. This is balanced out with clean, simple, cap sleeves. The dress is adorned with a cream colored crocheted collar as well as pearl buttons down the collar which themselves are adorned with gold.

As many dresses as I have I don't really have too many black dresses, especially swing-skirted black dresses. So it's nice to add this little black dress to my collection, particularly an easy to wear one!

Hell Bunny Emilie Dress- Front View

Hell Bunny Emilie Dress- Side View

Hell Bunny Emilie Dress- Back View

Hell Bunny Emilie Dress-Close Up of Collar and Button Detail

Hell Bunny Emilie Dress- Close Up of Bustline Detail, Pleats, Buttons and Collar

It is so hard to photograph black! The pleated detail of the dress does not come out too well in the pictures. It has a lovely cut on top though.

One thing that does drive me a little crazy about this dress is the buttons. The backs of these buttons aren't flat but more like U shape which do nothing to stop the buttons from moving around. Does anyone have any suggestions to keep these buttons still!?