Story

Fitted and structured with a modest length and a high collar, the Greta has a Victorian vibe balanced by colorful contrast banding and subtle vintage-inspired details. Getting the right balance of modest-but-not-drab and detailed-but-not-fussy was the hardest part of designing the Greta, and I kept adding and removing design elements until I settled on what you see here.

There are lots of little things I love about the Greta — the pleats, the collar, the vintage mother-of-pearl buttons on the back — but my absolute favorite is how it fits. The dress uses the same perfect-fit bodice block pattern as SS17's Picnic Dress, but with slimming front pleats and without buttons in the front, it's even better for larger busts. I love styling the Greta simply with oxfords and statement earrings, and I've also found it to work well layered under sweaters and jackets and over tights.

Design Details

• Main: 70% cotton / 30% silk voile from the USA
• Contrast: 100% silk noil from China
• Lining: 100% Tencel from India
• Designed, cut, and sewn in Arkansas, USA
• Fit-and-flare silhouette with fitted bodice and gathered skirt
• Contrast waistband, neckband, hem, and sleeve cuffs
• Back zip closure with three loop buttons above
• Hidden in-seam side pockets
• Fully lined
• Measures 39" 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 that fabric, 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 contrast fabric is a 35mm silk noil fabric from China, hand-dyed in our studio with acid dyes to be a bright scarlet red. Made from the fibers left over after spinning silk, silk noil (also known as raw silk) is unlike any other kind of silk: nubby, dense, and matte, but with a drape so luxurious you know it just has to be silk.

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). You won't be able to see the yellow lining from the outside, but it creates a fun surprise in the inside!

In addition to the fabric, this dress uses cotton thread, three vintage mother-of-pearl buttons, a metal hook and eye, a YKK zipper, organic cotton interfacing, and organic cotton labels.

Fit

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

The Greta is fitted in the bust and waist, so use both of those measurements when determining your size. The style runs true to size, but if either measurement falls in between sizes, I recommend sizing up.

Sarah is wearing a size 4 and is 5'9" with a 33" bust, 24" waist, and 35" hip.