Shabby Apple Dresses: A Candid Review

I love the look of vintage clothing and I've been intrigued by Shabby Apple for quite a while. If you didn't already know, Shabby Apple is an online shop that has stylish dress and separates with a fitted and very vintage flair.

I'd seen giveaways & reviews for their fashions on many blogs and looked longingly at their site, but I always hesitated buying.  I'm super thrifty when it comes to clothes, so I have to feel really confident with quality & fit before I order.  And I'd felt a bit unsure about giving them a try - even though lots of blog reviews raved about the dresses, actual reviews from buyers on the site were mixed.  So when I was asked by Shabby Apple if I'd like to review a dress, I couldn't wait to try them out and report my honest findings.  

I was given a number of dress options to select from and chose the Admiral dress because it's nautical style looked really fun and it had the vintage vibe I love:

The dress came pretty quickly and was nicely packaged.

I was a little nervous when I first put it on.  It fit like a glove and I was worried it would shrink up after a wash, (since it was 100% cotton) but amazingly it didn't.  

I did have to hem it a couple of inches, but I knew this in advance because: 1. I'm ridiculously short (5 feet even) and have to do this with any below the knee dress and 2. the description on the site gave the exact info in the item's length guide. It was easy to know how much I'd have to take it up before I even had it.  And being cotton, it literally took me less than 10 minutes to hem it, so no big deal.

I felt like the dress looked and fit just like I hoped.  It's a little snugger than I usually wear, but not too tight, more body skimming.  Really flattering and with a bit of flair.  I'd say if you're not into form-fitting, to just size up when buying.  Being in a usual "mom uniform" of t-shirts and jeans I kind of forget how a nice dress fits most of the time, but even though it was very fitted, it was comfortable all day long.

The quality was as I'd hoped too.  The belt is actually part of the dress and the pleats are in front & back, which is a nice detail.  I do have to say it's a bit tricky to take off - there's a side zipper under one arm and I need a little help from the Mr. to pull it off over my head, but other than that it's pretty good. 

I also like that the dress is washable - I don't have the time or the extra $ to keep up with dry cleaning (or want extra chemicals next to my skin).  I've washed the dress twice already and just drip drying on a hanger works out great.  No need to go crazy with ironing every single bit which is also a plus for me since I hate ironing clothes.

I thought I'd test drive the dress at the Ragtime event at one of our favorite summertime places, Greenfield Village.  Since it's made up of historical buildings and we'd have early 20th century music, costumes and cars around I thought it would be the perfect place to give it a whirl. 

I got stopped 3 times by random people saying how much they loved my outfit, so I think the dress was a hit.   I paired it with a cloche hat, nautical necklace and some vintage-look mary janes and I felt totally styled up!

Now that I've had first-hand experience, I can honestly say I'd shop with Shabby Apple and look forward to picking out a dress or two in the future.  I've got my eye on the Aquaria: 

And the super cute Root Beer Float:

I also discovered that Shabby Apple has a fabulous blog.  It has lots of tips, vintage style inspiration, ideas for styling their items AND some great crafting tutorials like this suitcase turned picnic basket: 

Definitely worth checking out.   All in all, I was pleased with my experience and will be shopping with Shabby Apple in the future!

I was not financially compensated for this post and received a Shabby Apple dress to review.  The opinions are completely my own, based on my experience.  For my complete disclosure policy, click here.