Recently I was contacted by the UK based, retro influenced clothing company Dolly and Dotty to see if I was interested in test driving one of their items for review. For the most part Dolly and Dotty’s website is full of the classic retro staples, with fitted dresses, swing dresses, pencil skirts and striped tops, and also features its fair share of polka-dots and cherries. In flipping through their pages, I spied a navy pencil skirt (one of many shades I am lacking) and I instantly opted for it.

When the skirt arrived I was impressed by the smoothness of the fabric, and that it had great body to it, but didn’t feel bulky. The garment is made of 95% cotton (yay!) and 5% spandex, which is to be expected from almost any modern garment. The skirt is fully lined in a super soft fabric, that feels like a thin, old, cotton t-shirt (in the best way, you know the one you’ve had for ages and feels fabulous). All of the visible fabric edges are surged, and I believe the lining hem is surged prior to being folded over and hemmed, as there is a bit of extra surging thread peeking out at the hem. Speaking of hems, like most contemporary garments, this skirt features a regularly stitched hem.

The skirt features an eight and a half inch invisible zipper and hook and eye along the back. Also note the skirt features a Hollywood Waist (no separate waistband), and I have become really fond of the style. The skirt’s care tag is located along the left side lining, and recommends it gets hand washed, which I will likely do. The tag also reads that this skirt was made in China. A bit of a bummer. The skirt is 25 inches in length and you can see in the next few pictures, it hits me right below my knee cap, and I stand 5′ 6″.

At a 27 inch waist and 38 inch hip, I opted for a UK size 10 by using their size chart. And the skirt fits like a gem. It hugs just right, and feels great because of that soft lining. Patrick and I had to run a few errands today so wore the skirt for its trial run.

I will say that because it is cotton, it does wrinkle fairly easily. The visible wrinkles are from me adjusting my top when getting dressed and from our car ride. But I will also so I really do like this skirt, as it was incredibly comfortable, and the wee bit of stretch and the seven inch slit in the back made walking easy. Those familiar with older pencils will know some skirts don’t allow for a good stride. And I’m a girl with a fairly long stride. I also got a handful of compliments as we popped in and out of shops. So, I’m pretty happy!

Outfit
Two-Tone Fringe Leather Jacket & Tooled Leather Purse: Found by my dad!
Blouse: Buffalo Exchange
Skirt: Courtesy of Dolly & Dotty. Thank you!
Nude Fishnets: Oroblu
Shoes: Olvera Street, Los Angeles, California
Turquoise Bracelet: Christmas present from my mother
Turquoise Rings: One came from Expo I think…the other…not sure…

Disclaimer: I received this skirt free of charge from Dolly and Dotty in exchange for an honest review of their garment.