House of Foxy Betty Swing Dress Review

For top of the range vintage reproduction clothing, it's no secret that I'm a fan of the House of Foxy.  I recently picked up their Betty Swing Dress in the sale, helped along with some Christmas vouchers.  The dress is based on a pattern from the 1959 to 1962 era, or 'Mad Men' era in today's shorthand.  Available in both red and teal, I went for the teal.  I recently wore it to the National Theatre Awards in Cardiff, and before I headed out I had time for a few quick photos, so I can share my review of the dress with you all.  I'm afraid there wasn't time before I caught my train for a glamorous backdrop, so this is more of a review than an 'outfit post'.



The beautiful vintage '50s or '60s stole was picked up in West Wales at the end of last year, and has blue velvet on one side and gold lamé on the other, and tassels on the ends.  Perfection!  The stockings have gold seams, which you can just about make out if you look closely.  They were a new purchase from What Katie Did, bought especially for this occasion.  They really do have a lovely sparkle, but it's fairly subtle unless you're moving and they catch the light.

Dress: House of Foxy

Stole: Vintage, antiques centre in Newcastle Emlyn

Shoes: Bertie

Hair flowers: H&M

Stockings: What Katie Did

Bracelet: Vintage, car boot sale

On to the dress - it really does give a beautiful silhouette, nipping in the waist and the pleats providing a fullness to the skirt.  I like the boat neckline, and the v-neckline to the back.  It felt wonderful to wear, and didn't crumple or crease too much over the evening.  I went without a petticoat, but you could certainly wear one for extra oomph.  The quality is beyond reproach.  No loose threads, sticky zips, unsuitable fabric, weird cut or anything else.

Sizing wise, as a general rule at House of Foxy, if the fabric has stretch then a 12 is perfect for me, but I have to go up to a 14 for non-stretch garments.  The same was true with the Betty dress, with a 12 proving the perfect fit in the stretch benagaline type fabric.  The length is excellent, well below my knees, but if you're shorter than me (5'9") then you may find hemming required.

At full price the dress would have been £95, and I picked it up for £65.  At the sale final reduction it went down to £47, which if you were lucky enough that it was left in your size would have been a steal.  I do struggle a bit to justify buying dresses once we get to the £100 mark, but that's simply me working out cost per wear, and with a party dress that's going to remain fairly high compared to separates that you can wear to work every week.  Their separates in particular are excellent value.  I do have a rule 'never pay full price for anything' so I generally wait for some kind of offer giving 10% or 20% off.  You might be waiting a while though with House of Foxy, as they rarely have offers or discounts, and don't have any 'welcome' discounts for new customers.  This means that their limited editions do sell out - so if you really fall in love with something, don't dally too much!

The House of Foxy tend to reissue dresses in different fabrics, so even if they sell out of this incarnation, keep an eye out for reissues in future that will be very similar.  I'm really pleased with the classic shape of this dress, and am already planning to wear it again in the Spring for a wedding.

What price tag do you start to wince at for dresses?  And do you always wait for discounts before splurging?

Linking up with: Share in Style, Visible Monday, Reasons to Dress,#IwillwearwhatIlike, Throwback Thursdays, Passion for Fashion, Hat Attack