I want to first of all say how I wanted to come up with something witty for the title of this blog post this morning, but alas I failed. This is a post I’ve wanted to write for a while now, but I’ve just recently realised what I wanted to say and how I wanted to say it.
Let me just warn readers, this won’t be an amazing review. It’ll be one of those honest reviews that have a mixture of positive and negative thrown in there. If it wasn’t for my recently order, I probably won’t have written this post just yet. BUT whilst I’m fresh and ready to write about this, I NEED to get it down.
I can’t remember exactly when I heard about Joanie Clothing for this first time, but I have a feeling it was around Christmas just gone and it was through someone on Instagram talking about some of their dresses and jumpers.
Recently I decided I wanted to order myself some new dresses for work and in general. I took ages researching about the company and looking at all their clothes on the website before decided on a couple of pieces.
I want to first of all explain my understanding of Joanie. NOW to my knowledge, Joanie create vintage inspired pieces for all sizes. I’ll post a part from the about us section on their website below.
From an idea first sparked in December 2015, Joanie was born out of a desire to create vintage-inspired style for the modern wardrobe, with fun, flirtation and femininity at its heart. Our brand is inspired by our Designer’s Great Aunt, Joanie; a glamorous woman who tapped and twirled her way through the fifties and sixties. She was always well-turned out with perfectly coiffed red hair and to this day, Joanie enjoys nothing more than an afternoon of tea dancing, indulging in high tea with friends, and an ice cold glass of ginger beer.
We’re passionate about making beautiful clothes, lovingly fashioned with a pinch of playfulness, a splash of quirkiness and a healthy dose of nostalgia. Whatever the occasion, our girl exudes an undeniable, effortlessly cool aesthetic and stands out from the crowd without making noise. The quintessential Joanie gal is quietly confident, witty and full of wonder – with an infectious fervour for life’s little pleasures. She wears her heart on her sleeve, is loyal to the end and prides herself on being a great friend. Believing that our look is for every body, Joanie’s pieces are always available in sizes 8-22. We are inclusive, not exclusive and celebrate individuals who know their own style; bringing them together as a united community where everyone is welcome. As a brand, we’re inspired by decades past and life’s surprising details; whether it be an intricate print on a china tea set, pretty embroidery on a collar or the pastel washed houses lining sea front villages on the Italian Riviera.
Joanie delivers the perfect antidote to run-of-the-mill fashion with a fun, youthful take on the vintage look, underpinned by timeless feminine silhouettes. With ranges of stand-out dresses, printed tops, cute skirts, novelty knits and unique accessories dropping regularly online, there’s always something new to be captivated by and covet. As Great Aunt Joanie would say, “that’s champion!”
I love what Joanie is about, I really do but as you’ll read in my review. Meh… You’ll see.
I decided to order two dresses from Joanie after much research via Google searches, Instagram posts and even asking a couple of bloggers on Twitter.
One of dresses was the Zooey Floral Collar Dress and the Calista Geometric Bee Print Dress.
The Zooey dress I grabbed in their sale and the Calista dress I got 10% off due to this being my first order from Joanie. I was chuffed by my discounts and savings and couldn’t wait for both the dresses to arrive! I had read on a blog post how the Zooey dresses can pull and gape a little across the bust, which was annoying to read but I hoped for the best!
When the dresses finally arrived I was so excited to get them out of the bag and try them on! The parcel arrived quite quickly and I saved money off of my postage due to ordering over £60, otherwise it’s £4.00 postage.
Dane came upstairs to look at the dresses as I tried them on and I am so glad he was there as a second pair of eyes. When I ordered the dresses he helped me decide. He loved the red Zooey dress I ordered, but hated the Calista Bee one. I loved them both, of course.
Image taken from Joanie Clothing
Image taken from Joanie Clothing
I tried the red Zooey dress on first, which I ordered a size up of as they didn’t have my own size left. I was incredibly disappointed by this dress for various reasons, which I also stated on my review of this dress on their website. I was sad to learn that what bloggers has been complaining about online, happened to be true. Due to it being a size too big I had no issues putting the dress on, but when it came to moving about in it, it was just a no no. The bust area of the dress is closed by buttons and I only moved a fraction and ALL the buttons popped open at the same time. I tried this over and over again to make sure it wasn’t just the once, it happened all 3-5 times I tested this out. My bust isn’t the smallest, but it also isn’t the biggest either so the fact the dress was a size up and this was occurring, I was really disappointed. Not only this, the dress made me look MASSIVE. It sat on my hips and it made me look like I was 3 sizes bigger than I actually am. It really did knock my confidence. Thankfully I had Dane there to encourage me and make me feel better.
Sadly this dress was sent back for a refund, which Joanie were really quick to sort out. You just get a receipt when you take the parcel to the Post Office to keep as proof of you sending it back. Joanie don’t offer exchanges, only refunds but this doesn’t stop you from just re ordering another size, or even a totally different dress.
Then it was time to try on the Calista Bee dress. This was gorgeous and I fell in love with it as soon as I put it on. This dress scream 70’s to me, which is a style I absolutely adore. The fit of this dress is comfortable and yet glamorous. The length is perfect and goes right to the knee and depending on your height, even past it. I did worry about the buttons on the bust due to the issue I had with the red Zooey dress, but I didn’t have any issues… At first, but I’ll go into that in a while. This dress is a perfect cross between a mini and a maxi dress and is perfect for spring, summer and autumn!
Since buying that dress however, I have encountered some issues! The first time I wore it was during a shift at work. I got nothing but compliments on it and I loved it so much! Later that day I wore it out for a shopping evening with one of my friends and sadly that is when I encountered some issues. The buttons started to pop open, but thankfully I had my coat on over the top so no one would have known apart from myself. I got home and find all the buttons undone, which I knew was the case anyway.
I went to wear this dress again for mine and Dane’s date night last week when we went to see Deadpool 2 and sadly I couldn’t even get out of the house in this dress without all the buttons popping undone with any sudden movements I made. I was so angry and flustered. What the fuck had happened in such a short space of time?!
I’ve now bought some safety pins to use to keep the buttons closed and sadly I haven’t given this a go yet, but I’m pissed off that I HAVE to do this. I could send the dress back, but I kind of love it too much to do that to it. I’ll make it work, but my point is I shouldn’t have to.
Image taken from Joanie Clothing
Image taken from Joanie Clothing
This didn’t put me off however and about a month later I found myself making another order from Joanie for a dress I’d had my eye on since my first order! I had a 20% discount code so I decided to use this. I ended up ordering the Gogo Blue Floral Dress which reminded me of the 70’s yet again. It looked a perfect summer dress and I thought how lovely it would look for a wedding I’m going to at the start of July. Again, like the previous order I’d made I was SUPER excited for the dress to arrive.
The first thing I did when I got home from work was open the package and get the dress out to try. I was a bit taken back when I took it out of the packaging and held it in my hands and felt how thick and heavy the dress was. Considering it’s meant to be a summer dress, it didn’t exactly feel like it. Oh man, I had so many issues with this dress and I knew straight away it was going to be sent back.
As you’ll see from the image, this is a long sleeved dress, which I knew I was buying but come on Joanie, a thick material for a summer dress with long sleeves? Really?!
Like the red Zooey dress, this dress made me look bigger than I actually am, as it hung on my hips and made me look really wide. It just made me feel horrible to wear due to the thick material too. Due to how warm it has been lately when I tried this on I felt like I couldn’t breathe due to how hot I was, I couldn’t wait to get it off due to that alone.
Now I didn’t realise that this was a wrap around style dress, I thought it was a V neck style. Oh how wrong I was. I didn’t think it would be a problem though when I put it on, but in actual fact it was awful! My chest was constantly on show and if it wasn’t that, the dress was folding over itself and instead of showing off the gorgeous floral pattern, it was showing the white material that’s obviously inside the dress. Not good.
Due to the band bit where the tie at the back of the dress is, the zip struggled to do up and undo and I was worried this was due to me not fitting into the dress, but when I asked Dane for help, he confirmed that it was the dress itself as he could see that the dress fit me fine. If I had of been on my own I wouldn’t have been able to do or undo the dress.
This dress was just such a disappointment and I had such high expectations for it. I’m quite gutted and this is the dress that has put me off ordering from Joanie Clothing anytime soon, if ever again. This was send back the next day.
I cannot tell you how incredibly disappointed I am about the two dresses I’ve had issues with. I haven’t been feeling too confident about my body and my weight recently, so of course you order a dress or two to cheer yourself up. You know, retail therapy and all that shit. So when they turn up and make you feel WORSE than you already did. It sucks. I know this isn’t Joanie’s fault by the way. Their dress styles are gorgeous and something different that I fell in love with, BUT they aren’t designing with larger busted women in mind and I think that’s pretty shit. I also think the pockets that they include into some of their dress styles cause the issues of dresses hanging funny on hips and making people look bigger than they actually are. I assume this much because my Bee dress doesn’t have pockets and I haven’t found this issue. Plus the buttons they use on some of their dresses are complete shite, yes I said shite and I don’t care. You’re paying almost £40 for a dress, I expect the buttons to at least stay done up all day!
I’ve read on the website on reviews for certain dresses that it isn’t just me who has had issues with the style and cut of Joanie’s dresses, others have had similar if not exactly the same problems.
I’m not meaning to bash Joanie Clothing in this post, but merely highlight the good and the bad things about the clothing. I like to think I’m “real” on my blog and talk about both good and bad things I’ve used/worn from lipstick, clothing and even customer service!
I really hope you enjoyed my post today however. I’m sure I’ll give Joanie Clothing another go in the future, but I doubt it’ll be dresses.
Have you shopped with Joanie Clothing before? If so, how were their dresses for you? Make sure to let me know in the comments!
Until next time, take care all and I hope you’re having an awesome bank holiday weekend!
There Might Be Coffee 