We all know the trope; their eyes meet across a crowded room, all sound is sucked out of the room and they are drawn to one another, falling in love at first sight. That is how I felt about the Amber tartan kitty dress from Vivien of Holloway. Despite my wardrobe being loaded with colour, lately over the past year or so I’ve been drawn towards deeper and darker colours, plaids, tartans and checks (I think I’ve rewatched The Queens Gambit one too many times). When I first saw the Amber tartan kitty dress on the Vivien of Holloway website, through the pixels in my screen I felt an instant connection and when she arrived on my door, we finally embraced and our romance began. Yeah this might be a little exaggerated (or is it?), but this dress really filled a gap in my soul (and wardrobe) and I’m so excited to be reviewing it for you today.

I’ve only owned one Kitty dress from Vivien of Holloway before and it’s actually held captive in Europe and I won’t get it back until much later in the year (it’s only been stuck for three years over there) so it’s been a while since I got to wear one. Now I want one in every print available. Vivien of Holloway have just released a new range of tartan designs to their Kitty day dress collection and every single style is perfect. I particularly love the amber tartan as the colours give me major autumnal vibes and I love little pops of navy and orange together. The Kitty dress itself has a cutaway collar, cap sleeves, lightly padded shoulders and lovely large pockets on her pleated skirt. She has vintage buttons down the front and side zip. She is nipped in at the waist and flares out just the right amount to make her perfect for casual wear.

The fabric is made out of 65% Polyester, 32% Viscose and 3% Elastane. She has a slight stretch to her but the fabric is really soft and plush so she would be wonderful in cooler weather. Even though it’s currently summer here and we are experiencing multiple 40 degree plus days in a row, I absolutely had to wear this dress out as I just couldn’t resist her. The cut of the dress is very flattering and it hits and hugs me in just the right places without her being overly dramatic or flashy. The skirt is 29″ which means she passes my knees but isn’t long enough to make me look short and frumpy which can happen when a dress reaches my lower thigh length. I found the shoulder pads to be comfortable and not over exaggerate my shoulders to the point I looked man-ish. In fact, looking at my reflection and photographs, I forgot that shoulder pads are even a part of this dress.

I really love a subtle dress with these sort of tones. I believe that the tartan dresses are limited edition with only a few available; I haven’t seen this tartan available before and I would love it in a skirt as well. One particular feature of this dress that I am a fan of is the two large front pockets. They fit so many snacks and it’s easy to just pop your phone in when you need to go hands-free really quick. I am a little worried about gaping from pockets so I might add a press stud to each to make sure it closes, but maybe I’m just worried about someone pinching something out of my pocket.

The dress is very comfortable to wear and easy to style. Even during a warm day she felt fresh and light to run around in. I had multiple compliments whilst wearing her and it made me love her even more. To style my Amber tartan kitty dress, I was inspired by my love of dark academia so I wore a grey beret, simple vintage pearl earrings, a pearl beetle brooch, a slim black belt and simple black t-bar shoes. To add a little more ‘academia’ to this look I also wore my blu-light glasses from Oscar Wylee which I normally wear whilst working at a computer. I would love to see this dress worn with burnt orange tones or even navy so I’m excited to wear her in several different ways. When the cooler month eventually come through, I will try to find a burnt orange cardigan but I know grey, black or navy will also look wonderful on her.

This dress deserved a special day out so I went to a few of my favourite book stores in Fremantle where one had a great display of feminist literature out the front. I’ve always loved book stores and I can stay inside them for hours, sometimes I would spend my entire afternoon in a book store and not realise it was closing time until staff did their final rounds to shut up shop. Wearing this dress made me miss Borders in the city but I’m glad that there are still some great second hand book stores still around. This dress really made me want to browse shelve upon shelve of dusty books just waiting to be chosen by a potential buyer. Whilst peeping into the window I also saw some books I was forced to read during school (Joseph Conrad still makes my blood boil) but I also saw books that made me fall in love with literature all over again (I see you Bronte sisters). There’s something about this dress that I can’t wait explain that made me want to read again; it made me want to go into book stores and reconnect with an old part of myself. This dress literally felt magical.

Vivien of Holloway very kindly sent me this dress to review for you all and I cannot thank them enough for giving me such a wonderful dress. I am seriously tempted to get either the pink tartan or the bronze tartan as one doesn’t feel like enough. As always, the quality of the dress is immaculate with not a seam or stitch out of place. The dress retails for 169 pounds or $320 AUD which is a steep price but I can honestly see myself grabbing another one because it’s honestly worth it. I’ve never had an issue with the quality of Vivien of Holloway and their items are all classic, timeless and very well made. A dress like this can be in your wardrobe for years and still look fresh and in style years and seasons down the track. If you love tartan, book stores, dark academia, this is the dress for you.

Note: This is not a sponsored post. All opinions and thoughts expressed are solely my own and not influenced in any way. There are no affiliate links and I do not benefit from any link clicks or purchases made.