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| Gracy Q "Sophia" dress in yellow |
Do you have a "best dress," a frock or outfit that is your nicest, most polished look and, most importantly, you feel epic in? My "best dress" is this little sunflower yellow number, the "Sophia" dress by Gracy Q.
On my pilgrimage to Revival Retro in London this past June, I anticipated I would buy a few dresses or blouses or something. Of course, I managed to fall in love with the most expensive dress in the shop, but also the one with the highest quality and best fit.
Being a seamstress myself, I usually go down the "I can sew that" route to talk myself out of clothing purchases, but such is the "build" of this "Sophia" dress that no, no indeed I do not think I would come out ahead if I were to try to make it myself.
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| The structured bodice flows into a full skirt - with pockets! - with a hanging rayon lining |
The dress is a wonderful linen-look ramie textile in a mid-weight that drapes beautifully, fully lined in a very lightweight rayon (viscose). Yes, fully lined in the bodice with a hanging lining in the skirt, which removes the need to wear a slip underneath.
The bodice is structured and fits very well, particularly in the length of the waist, which is so commonly too short for me in RTW dresses. The neckline is particularly flattering, set quite wide in a 1950s style and tapering off into small cap sleeves. I feel like this dress combines business and pleasure with the structured lines of the bodice flowing into the full skirt, all of it done up in this beautiful soft yellow.
And my favorite-most-favoritest thing about this dress? It's incredibly versatile. The dress comes with a self-fabric tie belt, but as you can see it's very easy to use any color or design of belt. In my case I chose a navy blue belt to pair with the navy blue and ivory Lillian Mary Janes, but imagine red, green, sky blue....this yellow is a wonderful neutral. I do love versatility in dress.
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| Versatility in dress - today I chose Lillian Mary Janes in navy/ivory but just about any color or style will go with this dress. |
Drawbacks - the fabric wrinkles very easily. As you can see in my photos, I'd been sitting before this photo shoot. It's a fact-of-linen (or near-linen), but I consider it a fair trade-off for the cooling properties of this fabric. The dress is also a hand-wash-and-hang or dry clean kind of girl. In pressing, I found it a little difficult to iron around the neckline trim.
All in all I love this dress. I'm impressed with the quality, fit, design, material, and versatility, and highly recommend Gracy Q as great value for money in flattering, beautiful garments.
