A Vintage Sailor Dress By Laura Ashley

You know what? I adore a sailor dress. From the nautical looks form the early 20th century to a Japanese school uniform. I had three sailor dresses when I was a little girl, not unusual for a child growing up in the 90s as I believe they were pretty trendy at that point in time. Here is a picture of me wearing my red sailor dress c1992.

Now although I loved this dress at the time I don't think a bigger version of it would suit me at all, mainly because it is dropped waist. The dropped waist was very in fashion in the 80s and early 90s (as well as the 1920s) and it was fine for me as a young 'un but it is not something that could work for me with the way my figure is.

When looking for vintage sailor dresses, a lot of them are dropped waist styles, especially if you are looking at an iconic Laura Ashley sailor dress.

The type of thing I was after was something more like this:

This pic is from the Qs Daydream blog, check out this page for loads of gorgeous sailor dress pictures!

I have been through several sailor dresses attempting to find the perfect dress and while it has taken me a long time (around 8 years), I can proudly say, I HAVE FOUND IT!

This dress is from Laura Ashley, and I am completely unsure of when it dates from. Please not that is has a natural waist so it actually works with my figure and it has a beautiful full square bib and sailor collar. Add to this the lovely blue colour and the full skirt and I am in dress heaven.

I did pay quite a lot for this dress, but I have been watching them on eBay for a long time, so I know that £45 is actually a good deal.

Here's a look at the side of the dress too and the back of my hair just in case you were curious :)

The coat was an emergency buy from a charity shop as the weather turned cold quite quickly and I did not have any of my coats with me. It is from M&S, but I think the collar and front looks a little but 60s.

However the coat has a gathered bit at the back to give it a nice full shape. If I'm honest had I seen it in a catalogue of full pice in a shop I may not have looked at it twice, but being in a charity shop I am glad that I gave it a chance. It was in near perfect condition and is a wonderful crapey fabric. Just what I needed to transition through autumn to winter.

Dress: Laura Ashley £45

Coat: M&S via charity shop £9.99

What do you think of my dream sailor dress? Now I just need to find one in red too!