Review – Vienna de Havilland

Note: I haven’t been paid, cajoled, bribed, or gifted anything for this post. I’m just in love.

I’m not a brand purist when it comes to clothes, the way I am with shoes. If it’s pretty, and it suits me, I’ll buy it. But I looked in my wardrobe yesterday and realised there’s a whole lot of Laurina Jean Retro staring back at me, and figured that must mean it’s time for a review!

I have to say that I raised an eyebrow when I first saw the prices of these clothes. At $90 NZD for a dress, Laurina Jean runs far cheaper than a lot of other retro brands. But the pricing is deceptive — they are great quality and made in really good working conditions. Most of these dresses run from a size 8 all the way up to a size 26, and they look great on ALL those sizes!

A note on the sizing — these do run small, and you will probably have to size up. Kabella Baby is the exclusive New Zealand stockist for Kabella Baby, so if you’re in Christchurch you’ll be able . to try out the sizing.

A really cool feature on a lot of the dresses is the adjustable straps. They have buttonholes on the straps and buttons in the back so you can wear them as normal straps, crossover at the back, or tie the straps up as a halterneck. One thing I’ve found is that with a few of the dresses, I’ve had to add another buttonhole to the straps as my shoulders are quite low, so the straps were too loose wearing them normally. But a buttonhole addition is pretty simple if you know your way around a sewing machine, or a very quick and cheap job for an alterations place to do!

Laurina Jean has a new range coming out on Wednesday that I’m super excited for! (My credit card is less excited.) She’s put a few sneak peeks on her Facebook page already, so head over there if you want to see what’s coming up, including FLAMINGOES!!

But enough gushing—here’s just a sample of my amazing Laurina Jean Retro outfits! If you want to see more, you should definitely make sure you’re following me on Facebook or Instagram 🙂

: Lady Classic Norah. Full outfit details: https://www.instagram.com/p/BetXEwChP_u/

: Miss Cherry Bunch. Full outfit details: https://www.instagram.com/p/BfmEoC4hvhY/

: Lady Classic Coral. Full outfit details: https://www.instagram.com/p/BfIhlstB99T/

: Miss Sweetpea. Full outfit details: https://www.instagram.com/p/Bd1hq4phlvH/

: Lady Sweet Muriel Cupcake. Full outfit details: https://www.instagram.com/p/BfprNqIhc0R/

: Lady Fairytale. Full outfit details: https://www.instagram.com/p/BerIOGxBLtz/

: Miss Vegas. Full outfit details: https://www.instagram.com/p/Bd9RbyTBjNV/

: Lady Rockabilly Roar. Full outfit details: https://www.instagram.com/p/BdBrVJdhcwg/

Note: I haven’t been paid, cajoled, bribed, or gifted anything for this post. I’m just in love.

If you follow me on Facebook or Instagram, you’ll have seen the same thing over and over again on my outfit of the day posts: “Shoes: Popping Candy from Kabella Baby”. There’s a reason for that.

I’ve always struggled with heels. When I was 14, I dislocated my knee skiing and made the extremely bright decision to strap it up and finish out the last six weeks or so of the football season. I do not recommend doing this. Needless to say, my knees have been dodgy ever since. I’d pretty much given up on being able to hear heels apart from sitting at my desk at work when the wonderful Kaye at Kabella Baby insisted that I try a pair on.

I swear these must be the most comfortable heels in the known universe. I have worn my SugarPOPs to Christmas in the Park, on multi-hour shopping trips, dancing, to Orana Park and Willowbank, and just all day around the house when I’m doing chores. The bows can be bought separately and can be switched out or removed entirely, for some very cool looks!

And… there’s a chance I’ve gotten slightly obsessed with them:

Image: My SugarPOP shoes, surrounded by petticoats. In order: Dragonglass (black), Redrum (red), Reign (purple with paisley on the heel), Salute (navy), High Tea (pink with white polka dots), Spotted (black with white polka dots and a solid white heel) and ChaCha (gold glitter with a solid non-glitter gold heel). With a bonus pair of Habana Chocolaticas at the bottom for those extremely rare occasions where flat shoes are required!

The sizing is reasonably roomy—I’m normally a 9.5-10, and the size 9 in these fits really nicely. One of my friends wears a 6 where she’s normally a 7, while another is an 8 in everything including these. So if you’re able to get to a stockist and try some on in person, I would definitely recommend it to save yourself potentially having to sort out a return! New Zealand stockists include: Kabella Baby in Christchurch (which is where I bought all of mine!), 19 Black in Hamilton, Vintage Honey’s Parlour in Dunedin, and Vintage Addiction in Auckland. Alternatively, you can find Popping Candy at their website or on Facebook.

But enough gushing—here’s just a sample of my amazing outfits that have been totally jazzed up by these incredible shoes! If you want to see more, you should definitely make sure you’re following me on Facebook or Instagram 🙂