Leah Widdicombe
Jul 21, 20222 min
New designs are coming soon!
You can see the full preview of the new collection here.
Behind the LADYBIRD dress design:
For this collection, I used my classic midweight linen, which I swear has magical qualities. It is opaque (not see through), and that always make the garments more freeing to wear with or without a bra whenever you feel like it, or wear polkadot undies if you please. The fabric is presoftened, and I wash it twice more before shipping the finished item, so it is so smooth and soft by the time it wraps around your body.
I recently found out that my linen has been OEKO-TEX certified, meaning the OEKO-TEX organization tests the fabric for over 100 harmful toxins and chemicals before approving them for public use. This is known as Standard 100 and you can read more about it here: https://www.oeko-tex.com/en/our-standards/standard-100-by-oeko-tex
woohoo! Love a fun sustainability surprise :)
I went with tea grey for my naturally dyed sample. I think choosing my dye for the sample is one of the hardest decisions I make in the design process. I might lean more toward the grey and brown when I feel more moody/rugged about the design, and I push toward my indigo blue when the piece feels like a more bouncy playful thing to wear. And I'm not even sure if that is completely true always-- sometimes a piece feels both moody and playful at the same time and my brain just wants to put it in 3 different dye baths at once! I sort of feel that way about this dress-- its got a classic mood, but I just want to romp around with it on every adventure.
This dress is in many ways modified from our ISABELLA TIGER long sleeve midi dress, but I really wanted to add more definition around the bustline. One of my favorite thrifted dresses has these under-bust pleats that are so comfortable so I thought I'd try them out here-- I am obsessed! Wish I could go back in time and put them into all of my previous bodice designs...
On or after July, 26th 2022, you can find LADYBIRD in the Charlie Darwin Clothing Collection.
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