Story

It's really not a Margu collection without a twirly dress. While designing FW17, I knew I wanted something a little bit more than just another twirly dress, though, so with the Darla, I went a step further than ever before and made the sleeves twirly in addition to the skirt. The result is a romantic, über-feminine dress perfect for dancing (or just twirling around in circles, if you, like me, don't know how to dance). The French darts and wide neckline add sophistication to the silhouette, but the Darla is truly about the fluttery cape sleeves and voluminous bias-cut skirt. I like to think the dress pairs best with heels for a night out at a salsa club, but I also like it dressed down with flats and a structured jacket.

Design Details

• Main: 70% cotton / 30% silk voile from the USA
• Lining: 100% Tencel from India
• Designed, cut, and sewn in Arkansas, USA
• Fit-and-flare silhouette with French darts and twirly bias-cut-skirt
• Fluttery cape sleeves
• Back zip
• Front slant pockets
• Fully lined
• Measures 40" long from shoulder
• Hand wash cold, line dry, warm iron as needed (learn more about garment care here)

Materials

This dress is made of a 9mm cotton/silk blend voile milled in the USA. The fabric is delicate and slightly transparent with an elegant drape and a subtle sheen.

The floral print is a custom Margu print that I designed with inspiration from a vintage French floral fabric from the 1940s I came across this spring. I loved the slight abstraction in the curves of the flower petals and the leaves of print, and I took those basic curve shapes as my baseline as I drew and colored the print on the computer.

The fabric was custom-printed in the USA just for us with reactive dyes. It has a deep green, almost-black background with bright red, yellow, and ivory flowers and sage green leaves. The fabric pairs well with black, cream, and any of the colors featured in the print, but I especially love it paired our Holly Berry Silk Noil or a similar scarlet red.

The dress is lined with a plain-weave 100% Tencel fabric from in a fair-labor mill in India. It was dyed in-studio with eco-friendly fiber-reactive dyes to be a bright saffron yellow (the same color as our Saffron Dot fabric). In the light, you can see a glimmer of the yellow through the fabric (especially through the bits of the woven pattern that are sheer), which I like to think gives the dress a bit of extra panache.

In addition to the fabric, this dress uses cotton thread, a YKK zipper, a metal hook and eye, and organic cotton labels.

Fit

Take a look at our Size Guide to find your size.

The Darla is fitted in the bust and waist, so use both of those measurements when determining your size. The style runs slightly small, so size up if you're in between sizes.

Sophie is wearing a size 4 and is 5'8" with a 36" bust, 28" waist, and 38" hip.