The dress she folded in a case and wore straight out of it
At 62, I found a summer dress I can fold into a suitcase and wear straight out of it
Six things the Livia gets right that summer and holiday dresses get wrong, from a woman who is not a fashion writer.
Caroline Richards · Customer · Nottinghamshire · 5 min read
Let me be plain about who is talking. I am Caroline, I am 62, I live in Nottinghamshire, and I have unpacked more creased holiday dresses than I care to remember. So this is not a review. It is a woman who had given up on finding an easy summer dress that actually fit and actually travelled, saying she was wrong.
The one I am writing about is called the Livia, from Nottingham Boutique, a small boutique that has been quietly dressing women our age for a few years now. I first saw it on a friend on a little seaside break, looking cool and fresh at the end of a long hot day, and when the boutique later asked if they could put my letter up for others to read, I said yes, on the condition I could be completely honest in it.
A sleeveless dress, at my age. I know. I thought that meant arms out and no thank you. Then I saw how easy it was, and how happily it took a little cardigan over the top when the evening cooled. Read on.
Here is what a lifetime of summers taught me. Easy summer dresses come in two piles. The crumpled pile, the ones that come out of the suitcase like a dishrag and need an iron you do not have at the hotel. And the never-in-my-size pile, the pretty ones that stop dead at a 16 as if nobody past that ever went on holiday. I had decided you could have easy, or you could have your size, but not both in one dress.
A creased rag out of the case, or a dress that never came in my size. Those were my two piles, and neither made for a happy holiday.
The Livia is the first summer dress I have owned that is neither, and having worn it half the days of a fortnight away, I can tell you it comes down to six things.
The morning it arrived. Soft as anything, and I could hardly believe the price on the tag.
THE PRINT IS CALM AND ELEGANT, NOT LOUD
It is a soft cornflower blue with a delicate white botanical print scattered all over, like fine coral or winter branches. It is pretty and it is calm, not one of those shouting florals that walk into the room ahead of you, and the busy little pattern is quietly forgiving over the middle. It looks far more expensive than it is, and people always ask.
Soft blue with a fine white botanical. Pretty, and quietly forgiving.
Such a pretty, calm print. It looks far dearer than it was and I am asked about it every time I wear it.
Christine B., West BridgfordIT IS SLEEVELESS AND COOL, AND LAYERS BEAUTIFULLY
It is sleeveless and light, so on the hot days your skin can actually breathe. And if, like me, you are not always keen on bare arms, it takes a little cardigan, a linen shirt or a wrap over the top without a fuss, so you can cover up in the evening and cool down in the afternoon. It works both ways, which most summer dresses do not.
Lovely and cool in the heat, and I pop a cardigan over it in the evening. It does both, which suits me.
Margaret E., SouthwellTHE RELAXED SHAPE SKIMS, NEVER CLINGS
It has an easy, relaxed shape that glides over the body rather than gripping it, with a soft dropped waist that skims the middle and the hips. There is nothing tight, nothing to hold in, nothing to think about at the buffet. You look put together and you feel completely at ease, which on holiday is the whole point.
It skims everything and clings to nothing. I felt comfortable and looked put together every single day.
Dorothy S., BeestonIT HAS REAL POCKETS
Proper side pockets, deep enough for your phone, your sunglasses and your room key. I did not expect them and now I would not be without them, wandering a market or a promenade with my hands free and no bag to mind.
Pockets, on a summer dress. My phone and my key go straight in and I leave the bag at the hotel.
Pauline H., ArnoldIT PACKS WITHOUT A CREASE
This is the one that won me over. It is a wrinkle-resistant fabric, so you can fold it into a corner of the case, travel halfway across the country, shake it out at the other end and wear it that evening. No iron, no steaming in the bathroom, no creases down the front all day. For a holiday dress, that is close to a miracle.
Folded into the case, and it comes out ready to wear. No iron required.
Rolled it in the case for a fortnight, shook it out and wore it. Not a crease. Packing sorted.
Eileen T., NewarkIT FITS EVERYONE, FROM A 6 TO A 24
It runs honestly from a UK 6 all the way to a 24, which is a rarer thing than it should be. It means my sister and I can have the same dress and both feel good in it, whatever the tape measure says. A pretty summer dress that actually comes in your size ought not to be remarkable, and yet here we are.
On the wardrobe door, ready for whatever the day turns out to be.
I am a 22 and it is genuinely flattering, not a tent. So good to find a pretty dress that comes in my size.
Maureen C., BinghamThe Livia, against the holiday dresses you have been packing
You can find a summer dress for thirty-odd pounds almost anywhere. I know, I have unpacked a suitcase of creased ones. Here is the difference, laid out plainly.
Come out of the case a creased rag
Cling and stick in the heat
No pockets, so a bag all day
Stop dead at a 16
A loud print, or dull and safe
Packs flat, wears out of the case
Sleeveless and cool, layers easily
Real side pockets
Fits from a 6 to a 24
A calm, pretty botanical print
About the price
The Livia is £29.95 at the moment. It was £60.00.
I will pass on what the boutique told me, which is that they are clearing the summer stock as the season turns, and once it has gone it is gone until next year. Their words, not mine. What I can tell you from my side is that half price is usually where I start asking what is wrong with a thing, and I have found nothing wrong with this one.
And I do not trust perfect scores, so I read the reviews before I ordered. Just over three hundred of them, sitting at 4.2 stars, which sounded like real women rather than robots, so I read on. The same six things I have just walked you through come up in them, over and over, in other women's words.
In the garden the day I got back, still fresh, and still no iron.
If you have a holiday, a warm spell or a summer of days out ahead, and you have unpacked as many creased disappointments as I have, this is the dress I would put in your hands myself, while your size is still there. Stop dithering and go and have a look.
Caroline
LIVIA | FLORAL MIDI DRESS
- A calm, pretty blue botanical print
- Sleeveless and cool, layers easily
- Relaxed shape that skims, never clings
- Real side pockets
- Wrinkle-resistant — packs without a crease
- UK sizes 6 to 24, machine washable
- Free UK delivery and 30 day returns
Summer stock clearing now — the middle sizes tend to go first.