Review: Black Butterfly 'Audrey' Vintage-Style 1950's Rockabilly Dress in Ivory
I was going to give this dress 3.5 stars, but when I saw how magical it looked in the photos I took to go with my review, I instantly upgraded it to four.
This is a lightweight dress suitable for wearing to the park or beach on a bright summer's day. It is not, in my opinion, suitable for a formal occasion (although you can jazz it up with a flared petticoat). Nor is it winter wear.
Black Butterfly's Audrey dress is fun and flirty
STYLE
The Audrey is an elegant vintage style that flatters women of many different shapes and sizes. Do not be fooled by its simplicity - this style turns heads. Knee-length dresses are easy to wear but have a frumpy reputation. This dress is by no means frumpy, especially not if you pair it with a flared petticoat.
FIT
I'm a size 10-12 top and 12-14 hips, and the proportions of the size 12 worked nicely with my figure. However, I am narrow shouldered and found that the neckline gaped at the centre front. I tried a cool iron but could not persuade the front to stay flat. Therefore, unfortunately I decided to send the dress back. However, I imagine this is a problem specific to my own figure and shouldn't put others off trying the dress.
FABRIC
I don't like the fabric at all. The polyester outer is incredibly thin and looks like tissue paper. I bought the ivory version; the fabric is so thin that the darts show through. The cotton lining is also flimsy. I would accept this in a £20 dress, but I paid £35 for mine and expected more for my money, especially when there are so many good quality, affordable rockabilly dresses on the market.
COLOUR
The colour - ivory - matches the description. The dress looks white in pictures but it's actually off-white, as described.
QUALITY
Whilst most of the dress is neatly stitched, a few of the seams are unfinished. Whilst these seams cannot be seen unless you get lost between the layers, unfinished seams can fray and this lack of attention to detail discouraged me further from wanting to keep the garment.
The dress arrived so badly creased that it was difficult to get a sense of how it would hang when properly ironed. Whilst I understand that it's impossible to affordably ship a dress without some creases, I felt that the presentation was poor, particularly in contrast to Blue Banana who recently send me an order so beautifully packaged with tissue paper and ribbons that I thought somebody had sent me a gift.
PIZAZZ
One of the things troubling me about this dress in ivory was that it'd look too bridal for everyday wear, but the flimsy, matt fabric helped combat that. You could easily pair it with a contracting belt and some snazzy, colourful jewellery.
This dress didn't make me want to rush into town just so that I can show it off, like dresses have in the past. However, my flared petticoat transformed my reaction from 'meh' to 'let's have some fun' and I soon found myself swishing and spinning in front of the mirror.
Unfortunately, there was nothing that could be done about the ill-fitting neckline. So swishy or not, I had to send it back.
THE BOTTOM LINE
You can get better rockability dresses in this price bracket.
View on Black Butteryfly Audrey dress Black Butterfly's website
View Black Butteryfly Audrey dress on Amazon
Black Butterfly's Audrey dress with a white petticoat
