How can I believe you, when you can't believe your luck?

I am someone who, when I want something, will normally find a way to get it. Whether it’s out-of-my-budget or out-of-stock, oh, you’d better believe I’ll stalk the hell out of that until I spot it in the sale rail or on ebay. I’m persistent. But there’s one item of clothing that I’ve coveted for years – YEARS – and somehow never bought. The problem is that they never go in the sale, and ebay versions are never much cheaper, so I’ve always just longed for it from afar.

I am, of course, talking about a Vivien of Holloway dress. Probably the most ‘me’ brand there is – their retro styling makes me wish I could have been born in the 50s. My child bearing hips would have been so at home under all those petticoats! Ever since someone featured one on The Highstreet (LiveJournal’s finest, and the birthplace of many of my blogging peers) I’ve obsessed about them. When I started my current job, three years ago, I watched in envy as my boss accumulated a collection of the dresses, and shamelessly stole her idea to put her bridesmaids in VoH dresses (nope, I’m not engaged, but, you know. WHEN.). Oh, and when Sha bought her dream dress for her birthday in December – in between admiring how goddamn amazing she looked, I quietly pined for a VoH dress of my very own, even more. One day. One day.

So then, thanks to Hayley doing that whole ‘being amazing’ thing she does and passing on my details, I got an email from price comparison site, Idealo, asking me to take part in the Spring Dress Challenge - basically, offering to buy me a dress for Spring with a budget of £100. Obviously, they didn’t need to ask me twice, but when I went round Debenhams, Monsoon, Laura Ashley and the rest of the high street, nothing really stood out. And then I decided to try and be a little bit cheeky. ‘Um, can I have a Vivien of Holloway dress?’ And basically… DREAM DRESS.

Can I have a mother-flipping SQUEE?!

I absolutely adore it. The tight little waist, the HUGE skirt – I’m wearing it with two petticoats that I got from eBay (dying for a proper VoH one now) – I just feel like a princess in it. It’s so well made, too – it has boning in it to really pull you in, and you can tell it’s going to last for years. It’s not QUITE perfect for me yet – it’s a teeny bit tight, so I may need to lay off the pizzas for a bit if I ever want to wear it out, and it’s a bit long for my little legs, so I’m contemplating getting it taken up to knee-length. But all those are tiny things because IT’S SO BLOODY PRETTY.

So thank you, thank you, thank you Idealo for buying me my dream dress. I am in love.



Dress - Vivien of Holloway c/o Idealo Petticoats - eBay Belt & Shoes - Matalan Nails - Vintage Pink Models Own Lips - MAC Ruby Woo

PS – Red lipstick seemed like the right thing to do with a retro number, but yet again, it leaves me cold. It’s just not ME.

PPS - Don't forget to vote for your favourite look in my Tesco post!