The Olivia is a late 30s pattern adapted to modern figures. The exaggerated collar and puffed sleeves are typical of the era.

This print looks like it is inspired by a secret walled garden. It has some mystery to it! Big, grand magnolia type blooms in ivory and beige dominate over smaller sweet blossoms in peach and tomato red. Branches drift and clamber over a rust red base. The leaves are shades of green (forest and sage) and steely grey.
The blouse would wear well against black, grey, navy, brown or green. For a summer lift, try beige or even a wedge wood blue. Denim would be lovely too.

The fabric is 100% viscose (AKA Rayon) and as such is very true to the styles vintage origins. However it does come with a warning in that all viscose will shrink 1-2% when washed. With ironing you can recover it to its original width, but the length doesn’t revert back to the original measurement. The manufacturer recommends dry cleaning for this reason but we prefer to wash on a cool setting (30 degrees is ok) and accept the small shrinkage. You cannot put it in the dryer, not even for a little bit, as it will not iron out again! The shrinkage will be permanent!

Modelled by: Kitten Von Mew
Photographer: Mark Anton Smith

Location: Stratford Garden Centre