This is why I love social media.
So I'm lying at home feeling very sick and sorry for myself last week, when I get randomly followed by @cherryvelvety, whose bio reads: "Retro inspired dresses tailored to the curvy fashionista."
Well. Retro? Tailored? Curvy?
I quickly clicked on their website and found Cherry Velvet Plus, maker of beautiful little summer dresses.
I immediately followed back and arranged to visit their studios on Railway Street the next day, nausea bedamned. When I spoke to the designer, Diane Kennedy, on the phone, she said she wasn't sure if they'd have anything small enough to fit me (something I hear so often), but to come in anyway. I was so excited, I felt better than I had in a week.
Whether I've been a Size 0 or a Size 16 (and I've been everything in between), I've always complained about the lack of beautiful, on-trend, figure flattering clothes for curvy women. We've got enough prejudices to navigate in this world, with people who think if you're chubby it means you're also lazy, overeating, unathletic, and a potato-chip lover, and feel it's OK to tell you this to your face (Really. People do this.) We already have to stare longingly at clothes in Vogue and realize we probably can't fit our boobs, let alone our hips, in them. We don't need to also be in tears every time we hit the shops and all we can find are muumuus, caftans, or items tailored to a senior citizen. It's a challenge, and one that I've always been passionate (slash angry) about.
Diane Kennedy's studios on Railway Street (just down the street from me - how local can you get?!) are chock-a-block full of her various lines. I was more than a little surprised to see Fashionista Extraordinaire Barb there, formerly of Bodacious fame, but was NOT surprised to hear that she was behind the marketing of this sweet little Cherry Velvet line. Diane found me a few things to try on in my size, and I was instantly in love:
I bought this dress, which is called "The Geisha," and another in a print called "Love Letters." Both are cotton, but different enough in terms of the print and fabric (the Geisha has a sheen to it that Love Letters does not which dresses it up quite a bit) to look and feel like very different dresses. The fit is absolutely flattering on the waist and the bust, with nips and darts in just the right places, and these dresses have POCKETS. They also just scream for crinolines, which I'm hoping to try with one soon. I felt like an absolute siren in these dresses.
Here's me (sans make-up and hair!) getting ready for my birthday party in my "Love Letter" dress - just so you can see how cute the print is, and the cute lace details around the neckline (bra showing as usual - good job, Danilemon). People asked me all night where my dress came from, and I felt like a million bucks (once I'd done my hair, thrown on some lipstick and tucked my bra away). Unfortunately I was too busy partying to take full-blown pictures, but I'll post some soon. These dresses are way too adorable to keep secret, although I did briefly contemplate keeping them a delicious secret all to myself...
Cherry Velvet's blog can be found here, and their online boutique is here. I cannot WAIT to see what they come up with for fall...