The world certainly has been shaken up. As the dust starts to settle, our brand - after a few years’ slumber - is resurrecting from tiny fragments of sparkle glinting through the clouds. There are a million reasons why, as we believe many businesses will be more relevant now than ever in this new world that is forming. But on a purely sartorial front, here’s what we learned so far…
Lesson 1:
Comfort is key. Away with the heels, the jackets, the stuffiness. But…
We still want to feel louche and lovely wafting around the house, Zoom camera-ready, lipsticked and just decent. We keep hearing of this layabout sweatpant trend and just don’t get it: Why? Why do that to yourself or anyone else who may catch an eyeful? What quicker way to kill the soul?
No. Just no.
Floaty, dreamy, louche lady of the manor is more the look we’ve been rocking these past few months. It works wonders in lifting the spirits, makes choosing what to wear in the morning a cinch, and is so comfortable while being super elegant at the same time.
As luck would have it, in a rummage through the old vaults, we discovered a sampling box of vintage-inspired silken gowns. They were our last collection to make it to sampling stage before we went on hiatus. And so it seems, they were waiting for the right time to present themselves to the world, and it appears that time is imminent.
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We’ve been tinkering with these dresses to get them right for the world we live in now. The list of requirements is so: easy to throw on, understanding if you gain a bit, lose a bit, haven’t been doing pilates in... a while, great for barefoot wafting round the manor, or running out the house in flats, or dressing up with heels and the right attitude, ultra glamorous for those chance get-togethers, something we can wear when life returns to some normalcy, and most importantly, beautiful.
They are a definite reaction to the current situation and take inspiration from those ‘40s Blitz belles who looked so damn lovely despite the fact the world was literally exploding. These dresses lift the soul.
The silks we’ve chosen are sumptuous, jewel tones, romantic prints, whispery flutterings of fabric to caress the skin, intricate detailing to soothe the senses, pretty what nots to emblazon on the heart. These are dresses we will live in forever. We mean like forever-ever.
Lesson 2:
This will be muttered in a hushed voice: we must confess there have been moments when we felt that inner goddess could do with a little extra help in being cajoled to venture out. To make that shocking switch from floating through all areas of life to actual, planned, real F2F meetings, and occasions where the old-normal expectations were suddenly there again in a flash. Eek.
Have you had those? Were you ready?
We have been pondering on a solution to this dilemma.
Being demanding madams who want it all, flowy and carefree is one thing, but underneath this louche and lovely vision, sculpting and streamlining is our favourite little secret confidence booster. We believe our iconic corselette dresses will become your new best friend.
We are evolving them so they can be worn by themselves for maximum slinking effect, or underneath the aforementioned gowns (or any other dress you love) to give an impeccable silhouette.
We love the vintage look of them, the boning channels, the silken panels, the click click click of undoing them. Made with spiral steel - which we know sounds rather terrifying, but is actually incredible as they bend any which way, so you can shimmy all you like in comfort. The silk is lined with mesh panels to stretch over and smooth any bits here or there. They come with hook and eye closure so you can get in and out of them in seconds. And they are adjustable which means they understand we are all human, chocolate is a beautiful thing, and with any luck, life is long.
In addition to all the above, the base list of requirements for these corselette slip dresses is thus: self-empowering, goddess-inducing, exceptionally delicious. They are the best magical armour we know of. We hope you’ll agree. We can’t wait to share all this with you soon soon soon!
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We’ll save more learnings for another time. But we’d love to hear yours: what lessons - sartorial or otherwise - has lockdown taught you? What do you want from your new normal dream dress? Send us a message. Let’s create something dreamy.
With love
The Mignonnettes