‘Cotton, long sleeve, sweater dress.’
I typed this search into Google nearly every day for an entire week. I was looking for a light-weight dress in a natural fabric to layer for winter. It’s doesn’t seem like something that should be too hard to find right?
Wrong.
Every single link I clicked on came up as a dead end. Sold out. Sold out in my size. Backless. Too baggy. Too tight. Made of acrylic. Made of mohair and therefore worth an entire months rent. Doesn’t ship to Australia. Only comes in beige. Only comes in black.
I’d even looked in malls but there seems to a bit of an embellishment fad happening at the moment and I couldn’t find a single cotton, long-sleeved sweater dress that didn’t have a weird tie/ruffle/fringe or wasn’t in some weird colour like fluro green or brown.
Finally, I reworded my search and stumbled across this winner. It was the perfect size, shape and style and it’s a cotton blend which is close enough to what I wanted material wise. I bought one in grey and it arrived a few days later. I threw it in my luggage as we were about to go on a trip and didn’t think much about it until we got to our location. I grabbed it on the first day of our trip and then continued to wear it nearly every day for the next week. When I got back to Melbourne I jumped online to buy the same dress in olive green and maroon and was devastated to discover it was sold out. So I called a few bricks and mortar stores and found a store that had the two colours in my size and I popped in and grabbed them. Best decision ever. I pretty much haven’t worn anything else but these dresses since I bought them. I wear them during the day with tights and warm cardigans and at night with comfy leggings. I even wore one to bed the other night. Perfect winter pjs.
Wearing
Tights from Bonds
Boots from Ecco
Dress from Supre
Necklace from Poppy Smaggle
Bangle from Dinosaur Designs
I’ve had a few people ask me about what my stance is on chain stores and ethical clothing. I use the app Good On You to check that I’m not buying clothing from somewhere totally heinous. Cotton On (who now owns Supre) has an ‘It’s a Start’ rating which means that for a big company, it’s doing pretty well and making strides in the right direction. They could be doing better but they’re working on it, which is actually really great. When I see big companies making positive ethical and environmental changes, I like to support them as they do this.
Tights from Columbine
Clogs from Funkis
Dress from Supre
Cardigan from Vinnies
Necklace from Poppy Smaggle
Earrings from Dinosaur Designs
I’d honestly love to wear nothing but hand sewn, ethical clothing woven together from recycled materials that are blessed by kombucha drinking hippies but it’s not always practical. I tried to find what I wanted from my usual favourites but came up dry. I also have a few singlet tops I literally bought 15 years ago from Supre and they’re still going strong so I’m very happy to purchase from them again. My philosophy on clothing is to buy good quality whenever I can, only buy pieces I know I’ll wear and not demonise big chains just because I think I should. Especially a big chain I’ve had several previous positive buying experiences with. Also these dresses are ace and I have zero regrets buying them. Win win. My grey version of this dress is ALWAYS in the wash so the grey one isn’t featured – it’s on my Instagram this week though.
This is my standard work from home winter uniform these days. Tights, dress, cardigan and clogs. It’s warm, it’s comfy and I chuck a coat on over the top and look semi-respectable when I leave the house BUT I feel like I’m wearing pyjamas. Winter dressing for the win.
More fashion tips –
What To Wear When It’s Really Cold Outside
Tights: Where To Buy Good Ones in 2018
Winter Coats: How To Buy One That Will Last For Ages
5 Ways To Avoid Buying Clothes You Actually Hate
Minimalist Jewellery – 5 Items I wear Almost Every Day
Have you ever bought the same item of clothing multiple times? What was it?
P.S Also you should totally sign up for my newsletter. It’s full of cool stuff.
P.P.S Don’t forget Crochet Coach has a free trial offer period at the moment so make sure you sign up!