Recently I was very pleased and honoured to get an email from the lovely Clare on behalf of Simply Be. In it she very kindly offered to send me a couple of items to review for you all. Well, I could hardly turn that down, could I?

Simply Be is just amazing for the variety and sheer amount of products they offer for the Plus Sized Woman. Not only do they sell their own clothes, they also offer a wide variety of brands including Hell Bunny, Little Mistress, Joanna Hope, Joe Brown and Scarlett and Jo.

Now, I was given a wide choice of categories that I could choose my clothes from including Party Wear, Lingerie and even fitness clothes. However, my regular readers will know that I am a sucker for a good dress (or 68!)

So I had to go with that direction. Going onto the link they sent for their Party dresses  I was almost overwhelmed by the sheer variety of products I had showing up in size 24-26.

As we are almost coming to the end of the Summer season, I started to get my head together and see what delights I could come up with for the onrushing Autumn.

If you are like me, you love the Autumn season for the beautiful colours that start to emerge not just on the trees, but on the clothes out there. I love when the weather changes and the leaves are crispy underneath your feet. I miss those summer strappy dresses but adore all the new lengths and patterns that come out.

I ended up choosing two particular dresses and this review is of the first one, the beautiful Joe Browns Floral Shirt Dress in size 26.

Joe Browns Floral Dress

Now I usually wear a 24 for most part. However having tried Joe Browns before I know I need to go up a size to accommodate my large bust.

This dress had a distinctly vintage look about it. A 40’s shirt Dress in a very old style pattern. Complete with a waist tie, it was something I would happily wear any day of the week. I liked the fact that the fabric harkened back to yesteryear, and felt it would be a perfect dress for the summer to autumn transition.

Put with a cardigan for the cooler days or even a long sleeve jersey top underneath it, it would be perfect paired with a pair of knee high boots.

Blogger Mail

The dress arrived within a few days and it was a perfect fit. I was glad that I had sized up, as the button front might have been a bit tight on the smaller size.

Really Retro

The dress fabric is great; a heavyweight cotton which doesn’t crease easily and was easy to iron. I decided to take this dress on a recent trip to Budapest. It took it a small amount of space in my suitcase and any creases pretty much dropped out once it was hung up again.

Beautiful Budapest

The weather was fabulous in Budapest, and so I opted to wear the dress without a jersey top under it or even a cardigan. I wore it with a pair of converse as we were planning a heavy day of touring around the city, including travelling on trams, buses and of course, shank’s pony.

Heroes’ Square

I wore the dress for the full day of sightseeing and it was simply perfect. It didn’t crease at all, was cool during the heat of the day, around 28 degrees and later on when the heavens opened, and I got a little bit wet, the dress still stood up to the challenge.

Szabadsag Square, Budapest

I have since wore this dress out for a relaxed lunch date and again it was as comfortable as can be, and got a lot of compliments too.

If you are looking for a vintage looking dress which is both comfortable, pretty and easy to wear, this will be right up your street.

Cicero Cafe, Budapest

It is currently in the sale at just £44.00 and it is worth, in my opinion, every penny. I am hoping that next season Joe Brown will be releasing something similar as I would quite like the same dress in several patterns or colours.

Matching the dress to the ice cream!

This dress is a perfect Summer to Autumn crossover and with the right accessories could work into the Winter. That is what I am hoping as I really love it that much!

*****Whilst items in this review were gifted, all opinions and comments are purely my own*****