Dress of Dreams || Miss Candyfloss Dress Review

 Before I get into this, this post is NOT sponsored, and I bought this dress of my own volition with all my own money! Occasionally I do work with brands, but this is not one of them!

The story of this dress is about two or so years in the making. I had been aware of Miss Candyfloss for a year or so because my babe Sara blogged about a dress from them, and that’s when I fell in love. Miss Candyfloss makes the perfect hybrid of vintage housewife chic dresses in many, many glorious iterations. I believe it was about a month later that this particular dress came out on their website, and to say I was smitten was an understatement. If you’ve read my blog for any length of time you may have noticed that I have a thing for plaid. I wear it over, and over, and over, and over again through the years, so much so that it’s become a neutral to me and I think plaid can be mixed with just about any pattern or color you like! In fact, this past month I’ve been posting some Outlander-inspired outfits that all feature plaid, and will be coming out with a lookbook of the same inspiration so… plaid is A Thing with me!

So of course, when I saw this particular dress, I was head over heels in love. If I could have, I would have snapped it up right then and there. But, of course, I am not a woman of disposable means, so the dress was put on a backburner as I worked out a number of ways to save up for it, to sell things I had to buy it, perhaps to ask for it for my 30th birthday… the plans were endless. I even emailed the company on a very narrow hope that maybe they’d be interested in working with me and sending me the dress for review (but, no go.)

Finally, after saving and deliberating and agonizing… I decided to buy myself this dress for my 30th birthday. It is, to date, the most expensive dress I’ve ever purchased for myself. And, happily, I can report it’s every bit worth it! I did post a photo in this dress on my birthday, but at the time I was also pregnant and just not feeling it, so I never shared it here on the blog! Plus, I didn’t think those photos really did it justice. So here, finally, a year later, I’m sharing this dress and my review of the Miss Candyfloss quality!
 Dress, Miss Candyfloss (old) | Shoes, Amazon | tights (they’re low-rise, ugh) Amazon | purse, ebay | beret, Amazon | earrings, vintage

Before I splurged on this beauty, I did a bit of research on the sizing of Miss Candyfloss. Thanks to Sara, I already knew that the sleeves would be comfortable. As a fellow gal with “wings” as Miss Amy May has called them, she mentioned that the sleeves in the Miss Candyfloss dresses were quite comfortable. I also read that one should size down. At the time that I looked at these dresses I was pregnant and measured 42 in the bust, 36 in the waist, and.. well, the hip was not a worry as it’s such a full skirt. So, I decided to size down from an XL (41 bust and 35 waist) to a Large. And to be honest, I wish I had sized down one more. I don’t know if this is true of ALL Miss Candyfloss dresses, but the two I have both could very comfortably size down one more size on me and stretch to fit where I need them. This particular dress has a lot of stretch in the fabric, and could EASILY give from a size down. It’s particularly a bit too roomy in the sleeves and waist.

Despite the room, though, it still fits very, very flatteringly as you can see! I have room to breathe, but it’s not so loose that it seems baggy or ill fitting. I’m sure if I ever lose weight I will have to tailor this down but that is worth it as this dress is so, so beautifully designed and made! I’m impressed by the fact that the seams on the bodice match, pattern wise, and the zipper is an amazing quality. The fabric itself is that gorgeous middle-ground between weighty and breathable, being neither too heavy NOR too light, with a good amount of stretch. It’s a dress I could easily wear all day and all night and have no complaints about comfort!
 The style is absolutely beautiful as well. I often worry about keyhole necklines; they’re either uncomfortably high, or uncomfortably low for my tastes. But this one is in the exact spot where it shows neither too much nor too little, and I love how the sweetheart neckline flips just the tiniest bit out to add some interest!

If I could criticize only one thing about Miss Candyfloss, and again I don’t know how true this is for their other dresses, it would be that there are no pockets. But in the grand scheme of things with how gorgeous this dress is, I’m willing to let that slide! All in all I will definitely be saving up to purchase more Miss Candyfloss dresses, and in the meantime I’ll be enjoying the two that I have — this one, and this gorgeous white and blue striped number I bought from a buy-sell-trade group last year (and I’ve just realized I never posted these photos, so… stay tuned!) They’re two of my absolute favorite dresses, and I’m so glad to have them in my wardrobe!
Dress, Miss Candyfloss (old) | Shoes, Amazon | tights (they’re low-rise, ugh) Amazon | purse, ebay | beret, Amazon | earrings, vintage