Virginia Chadwyck-Healey on denim dresses
Google “denim dress” and you are met with choices such as “embroidered”, “casual”, “long sleeve”, “ruffled”, “knee-length”... the list is endless, the options infinite. My own personal favourite, and what my husband likes to refer to as my “milkmaid dress” is a pinafore-style denim dress by Chloé, which I bought after trying it on about six times because no one dares spend that kind of money on a
denim dress (even if I was working at
Vogue at the time). Well, I did buy it, and yes my husband doesn’t get it but, three years on, I still love it every single time I wear it. People have scoured the earth for that dress, friends have even sent me pictures of themselves having triumphantly found it at Bicester Village. Essentially, it was a great find.
A good denim dress, like a good linen shirt, or a great blazer, is a trustworthy does-what-it-says-onthe-tin type of purchase. There’s the obvious dungarees dress, or a shirt-dress style with buttons to the hemline, or a thinner denim shift dress with pockets; a style that you can throw over a swimsuit.
When it comes to denim there is a look for all shapes and sizes. Of course, we immediately consider denim to be rugged, too casual, definitely not office-appropriate, but think back to the Duchess of Sussex in her Carolina Herrera fluted denim dress, belted, last summer (yes, denim during a heatwave).
Well, I wanted to show you how the right style can turn the perception of denim on its head and offer you an option for those slightly smarter occasions on the horizon; the final
parents’ evening or the next governors’ meeting for instance. This style is by DL1961 and is a fitted, belted look. More important than all of that is that this brand means business when it comes to sustainability and, for instance, the amount of water used to make, wash and soften their pieces. (If you aren’t waking up to what goes into the clothes you buy, now is the time to start).
The hot pink jacket by Smythe is both elegantly tailored and jawdroppingly bright, so it becomes a talking point and onlookers will clock the jacket more than the dress. You walk differently in heels, so these are old favourites by Nicholas Kirkwood. No tottering, please, no tottering.
The belt of the dress adds a sense of silhouette because sometimes we need to branch out and step away from one too many floaty shift dresses and rediscover... the WAISTLINE. “And what if you don’t have a waistline any more?!” I hear you heckle. Well then you have to look to Oliver Bonas, where I’ve found a great frill-detail midi dress (£65) that works up to a size 16 and is meant to hang loose. Take your coffee, and head online now.