Dress Review: Dog Days of Summer

While the winter is slowly but surely making its way out I am enthusiastically waiting for the warm weather to hit!

Seeing the new Spring collections rolling out by Trashy Diva makes me all the more excited and impatient to finally get to wear dresses again without tights and overcoats! Bring out the light and airy prints as the sun shines down on my skin <3

The Dogwood print is the first new Spring print by Trashy Diva to hit the site. It features an overall bright turquoise blue reminiscent to me of a clear tropical beach or as Trashy Diva has described it on their website, the color of a bright spring sky. While my eye is really drawn to the bright tropical sea colored turquoise blue of the body, this print is all southern charm. It was created as a love letter to Atlanta perhaps in celebration of Trashy Diva's new store launch which just occurred there a few months ago. It features a southern inspired all over print of dainty dogwood blooms in white with accents of dark green, light yellow green, shades of grey to add depth and rendering to the blooms and a smattering of dark burgundy. It is an incredibly feminine and dainty print which I think is just so pretty and charming.

I opted to get this print in the separates, the 1940's skirt, the Lena blouse, and for fun the Alexa tie top, imagining all the different ways I can wear it and all the different things I can pair with it. I am looking forward to wearing this all together as a set making it look like not just one dress but two completely different dresses when worn with the Alexa tie top. I'm super excited as well to wear the pieces separately... the 1940's skirt paired with a white Trixie top, or perhaps even the Citron green trixie top they came out with several months back. For so many other combinations of completely different outfits I also am looking forward to wearing the Lena blouse or Alexa tie top paired with a seersucker or chambray skirt or even shorts! That's 6 different combinations just right there. What I love about separates is that there really is no end to the different looks you can put together with them!

Let's get back to the pieces themselves though. The 1940's skirt in this print is a bit different from other 1940's skirts I've seen released by Trashy Diva. This skirt features a wide waist band which is wider in the front and tapers down a bit as it goes towards the back. I'm not sure if it's because of this different band style, but I ended up having to size down from my usual size up in skirt and get my usual dress size in this skirt. Not sure if that line makes sense... but usually in skirts most ladies will have to size up. I usually have to size up. But for this skirt the size up was way huge on me and I ended up exchanging this for a size down from what I usually order in skirt. This a-line skirt has two pockets and is gathered at the waist. For some reason both skirts I received from Trashy Diva seemed to have more gathers at the sides then in the front which I feel makes the drape a little funny in the front. Even with steaming, it still has this funny kind of drape where the folds seem stronger in the front and not as equally distributed as is usual with their 1940's skirts.

I also got the Lena blouse as a perfect accompaniment to this skirt. It features a pleated bust with a structured underbust to accentuate curves. It has stretchy ruched side panels for easy wear which helps ensure a great fit. Also helping with the fit, this top has adjustable straps which can be buttoned at three different settings to make shorter or longer in the straps as needed. I got this top in my usual size.

And because I love the idea of making a dress look like a completely different dress with the addition of a tie top, I also got the Alexa tie top in this print. Like Trashy Diva's previous Carol tie tops, this top ties in the front and has an overall similar construction. However, unlike the Carol tie top, this top features petal sleeves which features fabric that layers over each other at the shoulders rather than the usual gather puff sleeves that the tie tops had before. This unique structure is supposed to help with movement of the arms and allows for full arm range movement. I've always felt that my tie tops fit a little blousier than I like so for this one I ordered it in a size down from my usual size which I feel gives me a better fit. I don't think this size advice would be able to be applied across the board to ladies though. I have heard that with the tie tops some ladies have had to size up. I think it all depends on body type with the limiting factor here being how broad your shoulders are.

One other note to add is that this print came out in a light airy flat rayon rather than the stretch slightly thicker rayon they have been releasing lately. For fans of the old flat rayon can rejoice! It's back!

And so there you have it! I hope you have found this review helpful and hopefully not too long!

Trashy Diva 1940's skirt, Lena top in Dogwood-Front View

Trashy Diva 1940's skirt, Lena top in Dogwood-Front View

Trashy Diva 1940's skirt, Lena top in Dogwood-Side View

Trashy Diva 1940's skirt, Lena top in Dogwood- Back View

Trashy Diva 1940's skirt, Lena top, Alexa Tie top in Dogwood- Front View

Trashy Diva 1940's skirt, Lena top, Alexa Tie top in Dogwood- Front View

Trashy Diva 1940's skirt, Lena top, Alexa Tie top in Dogwood- Side View

Trashy Diva 1940's skirt, Lena top, Alexa Tie top in Dogwood- Back View

Trashy Diva Alexa Tie Top in Dogwood shoulder detail- Close Up

Trashy Diva Dogwood- Close Up