Polka Dots and Princesses || Karina Dresses

Karina Dresses sent me a dress for review, and if you click to purchase through my links I may gain a small commission. All thoughts and opinions are my own!

The face you see above is the face of a girl whose skirt has just flown up to her face in a public place.

But I’ll get to that in a moment. First, let’s talk about how I didn’t think Karina Dresses could get any more perfect, and then they did. Because, oh my goodness, they added pockets! As if these dresses aren’t already winners with their comfort, style, retro influences, 100% made in USA status, and ability to be thrown in the wash and come out perfect, Karina Dresses recently added a new line of beautiful blue patterns and I happened to pick one with pockets.

I didn’t realize at the time that the Maria, which is a new design, would have pockets. Whether I’m just blind to the photos they sent, or I was too excited by polka dots to realize, I don’t know. But when it arrived and I made this gleeful discovery, my love for Karina Dresses went from 100 to 1000% immediately.

I have several Karina Dresses by now, and you can see all of my reviews linked down at the bottom of this post, but I think this one may be my favorite. If you haven’t seen my previous posts, here’s a little bit about Karina Dresses:

Launched in 2008 by Karina Cousineau, the dresses are made with the goal of having something that could easily go from day to night, be comfortable, and be easy to care for in a busy life. She wanted to create a fashion line that celebrated women and promoted positivity. And thus, Karina Dresses was born. Retailing at $108 per dress, these fabulous frocks are 100% sourced and made in the USA, meaning that not only is Karina Dresses a great ethical place to shop, but every purchase goes toward creating more jobs in their community through making everything in the US.

The more I learn about Karina Dresses and the more I work with them, the more I love everything about the company and their team and their dresses. And I know I’ve mentioned this a million times before, but they are a fantastic resource for finding things that will work through literally any stage of life, pregnancy and breastfeeding included. Karina Dresses truly are the dresses for every woman.

One tiny detail that I’ve noticed, which may not seem like much to some but stands out to me, is that not only is their team responsive and helpful via email, but they are active and present in a personal way on social media. It’s a funny thing as a blogger, when you work with a company and find them only ever noticing posts you tag them excessively in, or sometimes are completely glossed over and ignored. I do understand that many companies are likely so widespread and oft-tagged on Instagram that they may not see every post they’re mentioned, tagged, or featured in. But with Karina Dresses, I’ve always appreciated that not only do they notice the posts they’re featured in, they also like and comment on posts they aren’t featured in. It really makes them feel like your friends who happen to sew and sell dresses, rather than a corporation shelling a product, and I love that about them. As you may have noticed by now, while I was out taking these photos it was incredibly windy. My mom and I went to Ocean Shores for the weekend, and the weather was exceptionally beautiful — we didn’t need jackets like we thought we would, and the tights I brought for extra warmth stayed in my suitcase all weekend– but also exceptionally windy.

I knew I wanted to take photos in front of this cute blue wall, which is part of a really pretty big building that houses a Soapworks (we went in and bought soap, too!). With my yellow accessories and blue dress, I thought the blue wall would do wonderfully for making everything stand out. And it did. But it also was the prime spot for wind to whip around the corner to where I stood, snag my skirt, and whoosh it up over my hips. I wish I had gotten photos of the moment entirely, but you can at least see me laughing and trying my best to keep my skirt down afterward!

Those moments of mirth definitely added an element to this photoshoot that I really love, and I definitely want to include more of the mishaps that seem to always follow an outfit shoot!