Story

The Leonor — a dramatic, romantic, feminine maxi dress — is the piece I designed our entire FW17 collection around. With long sleeves, a voluminous paneled skirt that splits right at the knees, and eleven loop buttons dotting the front, the Leonor is the first maxi dress I've ever designed and perhaps the fanciest dress I've designed, too.

I named this dress after Leonor Fini, a Paris-based surrealist artist and one of my favorite female painters of the 20th century. Her bohemian spirit and resilience in the face of a male-dominated art world inspired in part the dress's dramatic lines and feminine silhouette. I designed the length to be worn with flats (I love pairing it with a flat, rugged lace-up boot), although heels work great too as long as you're willing to show a little ankle. The waist tie can be worn in the front or back or removed so that you can style it with your own belt.

Design Details

• Main: 70% cotton / 30% silk voile from the USA
• Lining: 100% Tencel from India
• Designed, cut, and sewn in Arkansas, USA
• Maxi dress with fitted bodice and waist
• Paneled, voluminous A-line skirt
• Full button front closure
• Removable waist tie that can be tied in the front or back
• Hidden in-seam side pockets
• Fully lined (the lining stops on the skirt where the buttons do)
• Measures 52" 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). 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, 13 vintage mother-of-pearl buttons, and organic cotton labels.

Fit

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

The Leonor 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 to avoid any gaping in the front.

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