Fiona Sundress // Styling & Inspiration

Montreal is the midst of an insane heat wave (I have no air conditioning at home or the studio and am living in a sweat fog), so talking about inspiration for our Fiona Sundress feels super apropos, since it's exactly the sort of thing you want to wear on a hot summer day (at least in something light and breathable like linen!)

I was wracked with indecision about our summer pattern earlier this year. Normally I'm thinking at least a year ahead, but I had so many ideas for dresses that I couldn't narrow it down. However, this style kept popping up in sponsored posts in my Instagram feed, like the universe was trying to tell me something, and one day it finally hit me; a fitted, princess seamed sundress was the only answer for this summer. I sketched out a few options and had a lot of conversations with our pattern maker Celine, and about a week later we had a working draft. I love when an idea comes together so quickly!

Today I'm sharing some styling inspiration with you... hopefully, some of these images get your creative juices flowing!

DENIM, BABY

This style feels sort of iconic in classic denim; I think it's had its moment in every decade since the 70s. If you can find a lighter stonewashed denim, you can rock the 90s Guess babe look, but I am also keen to see Fiona denim fades, either through intentional distressing or frequent wear. If you're going the denim route, you might want to consider doing a classic jeans button or snap button closure, along with contrasting topstitching. Why mess with a good thing?

PRINTS & SOLIDS

We recommend a variety of fabrics for this pattern; a midweight linen is my preference since it's breathable and lets you play with pops of saturated colour. Structured cottons are excellent as well; a sturdy poplin or seersucker, or even lightweight cotton canvas will give you lots of options for graphic stripes and prints (we have a post coming up next week with more fabric suggestions!) A lot of these images feature a gathered skirt, which would be such an easy modification if you wanted a less fitted style below. I will cover this in an upcoming post on pattern hacks.

MAKE A SKIRT!

Quite a few of you have asked if Fiona could be hacked into a skirt, and the answer is yes! All you would need to do is add a straight cut waistband, again something I should probably cover in an upcoming post. Most of the images I could find for this were in denim, which would be such a wardrobe workhorse, but a structured linen or cotton would also be perfect for summer.

What are you styling plans for Fiona?