Help me find a 100% cotton shirt dress pleeeaaaaase!

[AllFloatOn]

I’ve seen people suggest brands on here that I’d never heard of before so I’m hoping someone has seen something!

size 12

budget up to around £125

If I could find something this shape:

https://www.oxfordshirt.co.uk/products/womens-pure-linen-long-shirt-dress-pink

in 100% cotton, in maybe a slightly stronger, warmer colour (or cream) that would be ideal! (I am a bright spring)

So, knee length, tailored, not baggy or oversized etc. it just seems like there should be a million but they’re all polyester!

Grayson Perry probably has a wickedly stylish grandmother ...

I love pussy-bows as I think there's something slightly subversive about them, & think those dresses are actually quite wearable?! Though I'd prefer a plain black version ...

I've now gone down a Seidensticker rabbit hole - it's not that often that a brand appears on threads here that I've never heard of at all. Sadly Vinted & eBay haven't revealed much apart from the more boring stuff. It's not even the shirt-dresses that most tempt me!

Grayson Perry probably has a wickedly stylish grandmother Grayson Perry was born in 1960. He's probably older than many MNers' grandmothers.

Well aware of his age, & that his grandmother was probably born sometime in the early part of the 20th century! Doesn't mean she wasn't immensely stylish ... who knows??

I'm also aware that I could (theoretically) be a grandmother to some of the very youngest MNers ... which is a slightly scary thought ... 😬

That’s a good idea! I hope you find something you like ❤️

Have you looked on Vinted or eBay for this brand yet, OP? There's a surprising number of her dresses out there (& some skirts, cardigans etc too, but especially dresses). And they're surprisingly reasonable considering how much they cost new. Some are ridiculously cheap for the quality!!

They're not really my thing (though I'd wear the longer full skirts), but I can appreciate the classic 50s/early 60s style & tailoring of the full-skirted dresses plus the "wiggle dress" styles. They look like they're beautifully made & would be lovely to wear.

Though (re Samantha Sung) it does puzzle me when brands emblazon their websites with pictures of the royals wearing their clothes.

Especially the older ones like Camilla & Anne, who are well-dressed women - but done in their own very safe, very conventional way, that's governed by so much constraining etiquette. I would personally find it very offputting to think I was wearing the same dress!!

I understand that some would feel quite the opposite to me (avowed republican that I am!), especially having once ventured onto the MN royal fashion thread ... But I think I wouldn't advertise royal patronage in quite so upfront a manner, as surely it's as offputting to some women as it is a draw to others?

Have you looked at Toast (new or old)? I have a (denim) A-line shirt dress from there that is one of my most-worn pieces. I know lots of people on MN seem to think you can only wear Toast if you're tall - & I am. But the shop assistants round the corner from
me aren't, & they look great in the clothes!

(I never pay full price these days as I can't afford to any more. It's always the sale or, more likely, eBay/Vinted.)

https://www.toa.st/products/garment-dyed-linen-shirtdress-black-pepper

https://www.toa.st/products/button-through-cotton-linen-poplin-dress-brick

https://www.toa.st/products/gathered-crinkle-cotton-gauze-dress-tomato-red

I especially like this one.
https://www.toa.st/products/indigo-cotton-twill-shirt-dress-indigo

https://www.toa.st/products/button-front-crinkle-cotton-dress-black

https://www.toa.st/products/gingham-check-cotton-dress-pacific-blue

https://www.toa.st/products/garment-dyed-linen-button-front-dress-carmine-blue

Though (re Samantha Sung) it does puzzle me when brands emblazon their websites with pictures of the royals wearing their clothes.
I totally get it. The dresses look nice and appropriate on QC. QC does not have a standard conventional fashion model's physique but she looks good in the dresses, and they'd probably look good on most women.

Samantha Cameron's clothing brand Cefinn were clothes for women with her sort of lifestyle, so they came across as failsafe choices when you needed to look good even if living at a fast pace. SC did have a physique more like a model.

I would buy the clothes if i needed them and had the lifestyle for them.

Would I find it off-putting? Possibly, possibly not. I am not a royalist, but I'm a fair bit younger than QC.
I have become aware of some brands because Princess Beatrice or Princess Eugenie, or the Princess of Wales or Duchess of Edinburgh has been photographed in them. I'm probably nearest in age to the DoE.

I'd probably be just as drawn to anyone in the public eye who looked good. I probably have been more willing to consider Me+Em because it is a brand liked by MPs.

I might not agree with Kemi Badenoch's politics, but she always looks suitably dressed and I think she's the about the same height as me.

I think it's because they've promoted it to the extent of having a named "Queen Collection", with photos & videos of her wearing them, high up on their home page!! I find it, as my wee nephew would say, a bit cringe ...

I liked Cefinn clothes (though not her husband!) & thought they fitted a place in the market very well - so was surprised that it folded. It sat alongside & overlapping with Me+Em, Wyse, Reiss etc - those brands being a bit more fashion-led than, & having taken over from, Hobbs, Phase 8, LK Bennett etc, I think.

Me+Em did well from Victoria Starmer's patronage. Kemi Badenoch does dress well for her position, I'll give her that I suppose ... I too like to see a wide range of women wearing a label - it gives it some "realness".

Although my sister, who watches more TV than I do, has once or twice called to tease me when she's spotted Lorraine Kelly or an actress from Eastenders or similar series wearing, say, a Jigsaw top or Me+Em dress I also own!!

I'd rather it was Cate Blanchett or Tilda Swinton that I shared even one wardrobe item with ... but that's me being too up myself!

This, for instance, is a really nice longer shirt-dress style from Toast.

https://www.vinted.co.uk/items/8662783317-navy-dress-from-toast

I think it's similar to/the same as the one in these photos, where it looks good as a coat dress too.

Frontiers Edinburgh used to stock Samantha Sung around 2005 to 2010 when they were around £3-£400. They stopped when prices rocketed. The dresses weren't as ubiquitous as say, Hobbs and they only stocked 1 size of each pattern but they did tend to appear amongst women over 40 in a certain income bracket. A Newsnight Scotland presenter had several as did one of my partners. I remember a trainee squealing "Pockets!! " at me wearing one of mine.

I've still got mine but apart from a silk lined wool Audrey dress, they've been downgraded to at home wear.

Frontiers also used to stock Edina Ronay and Camilla and have the same green lace dress from around 2017. Edina Ronay also was reasonable and then rocketed.

I'm indifferent to the Royal family although countries which have them. Norway, Sweden, Denmark and the Netherlands are all countries you'd want to live in - is there a correlation?

So far as Me + Em the connection with Angela Raynor puts me right off (they're also a bit too safe for me now)

This one is cotton check. Also Toast on Vinted. A different vibe to the crisp 50s full-skirted styles, or the elongated men's shirt styles.

https://www.vinted.co.uk/items/7237603527-toast-cotton-blue-black-chequered-dress-size-14-vintage-style-soft-cotton-feel

An interesting theory about European royal families ...!! Though you forgot Spain, & its embezzling, fornicating, elephant-shooting royals! I'd happily live there though, as well as the others you mentioned ...

I only have a few of the cotton voile summer dresses & tops (the less tiered/ruffled versions). I'm not that keen on their prints, & their brights are too bright for me. But I like a lot of their simpler tailoring etc - I just don't wear tailoring anymore.

There are very few if any labels that I like wholesale & in their entirety. Even with the much-maligned (on MN) brands like Hobbs or Phase 8 or Seasalt, I could find something in if I looked hard enough. And sometimes I'm surprised by something I really like!

Angela Raynor I rather like - but more for her feistiness in the political world of over-privileged & under-performing men than her dress sense!!

When I googled that first Toast dress on Vinted, a few other shirt dress options came up that might suit some people's taste/requirements.

This one by Banana Republic is sold out on Gap but might be sold elsewhere. Cotton poplin in navy or pink.

https://share.google/oI5ztdm9qlqrntPqb

This one too, though I don't know the brand.

https://share.google/oI5ztdm9qlqrntPqb

And much cheaper than any of those, at £36, is this 100% cotton one from Next!

https://share.google/uNKiehpODu8gaLvuu

Boob pockets with this Laura Ashley one, but also 100% cotton.

https://share.google/uNKiehpODu8gaLvuu

This cotton Zara one I like a lot - including the puffy sleeves! They're cuffed though, which I think makes them much neater.

https://www.zara.com/gb/en/puff-sleeve-poplin-midi-dress-p02583337.html?v1=513935152&utm_campaign=productShare&utm_medium=mobile_sharing_iOS&utm_source=red_social_movil

@EleanorMc67 yes, and I found, within a minute or two, the exact one I had seen on the website that had caught my eye. It’s exactly my budget (£125) and I think it’s probably my size. I’m trying to figure out if it’s a sign… although like I said before it isn’t plain, but it’s also not floral or any of the other things that don’t suit me, it would probably be perfect.

I find it a bit difficult to figure out the sizing sometimes on Vinted as it’s never by actual size it’s S or M etc and so I put M (12-14) and then I have to look through loads that are actually labelled 14.

The label says UK10, but the seller has obviously listed as an M - so they must think it would fit bigger? I might have to message…