A Dolly and Dotty Dress at the Diner

An American style diner has opened up locally, so we popped in last weekend to show it some support. I took the chance to wear a dress from British dress company Dolly and Dotty. The dress is the 'Evelyn' style in a classic cherry print. I know a cherry print can divide people, as perhaps - like with gingham and polkadots - it has been over-associated with 'vintage', and done to death on everything from handbags to nail art.  I have always loved fruit prints though (I already own at least two cherry print dresses, a handbag, and a jacket), and I'm not going to change my mind about it just because it's fallen out of favour.   There are many levels to vintage style, from the somewhat cliched to the authentic, and with sub-groups such as pin-ups and so forth spinning off. I think there's something to love about it all.



It was another grey, wet, and windy January day, with one difference - now it's cold too!  The lighting was pretty awful, despite being the middle of the afternoon.  Somehow it's made the cherries, belt and collar on the dress look a bit pink in all of these photos, but I can assure you that they are red.  I've had a haircut too, with several inches lopped off, and it was my first attempt on this day to put a curl in my hair.  The elements were against me, and most of the curl was blown out by the wind and rain that attacked me as I walked down the road.  I'll keep trying.

Dress: Dolly and Dotty 'Evelyn'

Brooch: Gift

Shoes: Clarks

The dress is true to size, with a good fit, no issues there.  The quality of the dress is also good - a nice medium-weight fabric that hangs nicely, and will see you through most seasons in the UK.  I do like the contrast red collar, with keyhole, and the matching fabric belt.  The belt is perhaps a little bit on the flimsy side, as it's wide, which means it has a slight tendency to fold over, but it's better quality than lots of belts you'd find on dresses in this price bracket (around £30) from other brands.

On tall me, the length still hits below the knee.  It's not as long as I would ideally like, but it's a very practical length and as such is a dress I would wear to work or on more casual days.  It measures 22" from waist to hem, and my petticoats are 26", so I couldn't try it with one.

The one thing I would change would be the back zip.  In the last picture above, you can see that the zip doesn't go all the way up to the neckline, because of the collar which runs around the back.  This means that when getting the dress on and off, you unbutton the keyhole at the front, and it's therefore a fairly small hole to get your head through.  This makes it a bit tricky if you've already done your hair or make-up, as you risk either marking the dress or messing things up.

As for the diner – disappointingly the milkshakes are made from powder, rather than freshly made, and the burgers are pretty poor quality with a low meat content (what else is in there?!). It’s a shame, but we probably won’t be heading back there. To be honest, we make such good burgers at home that unless it’s a Jamie Oliver gourmet burger I’m not interested.

Have you come across Dolly and Dotty yet?  The 'Evelyn' dress by Dolly and Dotty is currently £29.99, and available in half a dozen different colours/prints.

I was kindly sent the dress for review.  All opinions and words are my own!

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