Dress Review: I'm a Fan of Trashy Diva's Red Fans

Today marks the first day of Fall in the Northern Hemisphere

While the Trashy Diva Red Fans print came out during the summer, I cannot but feel that with the beginning of Fall, this is the perfect time to review the the Red Fans Virginia Shirtwaist dress. This is the perfect Fall ready dress. Like my previously reviewed Trashy Diva Shirtwaist dress, the Virginia Shirtwaist dress features a classic 1950's shirtwaist silhouette. It has functional front buttons that extend all the way down the length of the dress, a full pleated pocketed skirt, and longer length sleeves that you can wear either cuffed or uncuffed. I wore it here cuffed to the elbows. Uncuffed, it is just about an inch longer, touching my elbows.

What's the difference between this dress and the previously released Shirtwaist dress you may ask? The biggest difference to me is the front. Whereas the Shirtwaist dress features a horizontal break at the top of the buttons creating a space or gap at the top front of the dress, the Virginia Shirtwaist dress has more of a traditional front button style that doesn't have this horizontal break at the buttons. Another design change is that the Virginia Shirtwaist dress has a smooth, fitted, darted back, whereas the Shirtwaist dress has a box pleat at the back which provides a looser fitting style. Which of the two shirtwaist styles do I prefer? I'm just so happy that Trashy Diva has decided to release not only one but two shirtwaist style dresses! It's kind of been a while since we have seen a bust friendly full skirted style from this company.

While not a style change per se, another thing that Trashy Diva has changed with this new Virginia Shirtwaist dress from their previously released Shirtwaist dress is that this dress now has extra snap buttons between the buttons at the bust, something which they previously did with other front button styles they've released and a feature I was sorely missing in the Shirtwaist style. I hope they keep including these snap buttons on front button styles and will extend this to the Shirtwaist dress styles in the future.

Now on to the print. This lightweight stretch cotton dress features an all over print of large fans. The fans themselves are colorfully and vividly illustrated with an intricate scene of geishas crossing a bridge. In the foreground the geishas are surrounded by trees and blue flower bushes while in the background boats at sea meander by. Way off in the distance a mountain peak, perhaps part of an island, can be seen. It is a really gorgeous print in which one can stare and make up stores about. While the dominate color of this dress is a vivid red, there are a multitude of other colors which subtly grace this print: blue, green, yellow, white, black and gray. Which means this dress will be fun to mix and match coordinating colors with!

One sad issue I had with this dress is that it didn't come with a matching belt. Ordinarily, that would have made me sad to see but it really made me said that when I originally pre-ordered this dress, the description said it was supposed to come with a matching skinny belt. Right before it got shipped out to me, after weeks of waiting, I was notified by email that due to miscommunication or some other kinds of problems from the factory, this dress was in fact not going to be coming with a belt. This was not an isolated incident. A very similar thing happened with Trashy Diva's Irish Polka Streetcar dresses when they were released last Fall. For this Red Fans dress I was given the option to take the dress as it was or to cancel my order. I cannot get over the idea that since I preordered and paid for this dress which was supposed to come with a belt, the company should have offered to include a different belt, perhaps a solid black or solid red one, or offered to refund me the price of what a belt should cost, maybe $10-$12 to make up for the missing self matching belt. Instead, they did neither and just offered that I could take it or leave it. An option that kind of left a sour taste in my mouth. I wish I would have fought harder and asked for a different belt or a refund for what the cost of a belt should be. In any case, it is a wonderfully gorgeous dress so I try not to let my feelings one this incident cloud my feelings about the dress itself.

I ordered this dress in my usual size and it fit to a T though if I wanted it to be more roomy I could have sized up one. It is a bit tight at the bust.

Trashy Diva Virginia Shirtwaist dress in Red Fans- Front View

Trashy Diva Virginia Shirtwaist dress in Red Fans- Front View

Trashy Diva Virginia Shirtwaist dress in Red Fans- Side View

Trashy Diva Virginia Shirtwaist dress in Red Fans- Back View

Trashy Diva Virginia Shirtwaist dress in Red Fans- Close Up

Snap button detail plus hook and eye at waist, Trashy Diva Virginia Shirtwaist dress- Close Up

Trashy Diva Red Fans- Front View