A few weeks ago I was lucky enough to receive two gorgeous dresses courtesy of up-and-coming London based designer Siobhan McKenzie. Siobhan and I had been corresponding for a while and discussing in great detail which dresses would suit my style best. Her website, siobhanmckenzie.co.uk, has some gorgeous designs; everything from gorgeous vintage shirt dresses to floral batwing dresses, girly tutu dresses and sexy evening dresses.
Siobhan gets her inspiration from the fabrics themselves; the feel of the material and draping them in different ways. She lists Herve Leger as one of her biggest inspirations, along with Anna Sui, Markus Lupfer and Emilio Pucci. Her dresses are all manufactured in the UK and she is a big supporter of ethical fashion.
Vintage Shirt Dress
Sionhan wears her own designs on a daily basis, and admits that about half of her wardrobe is made up from her own designs as she prefers fabric shopping to clothes shopping. Her fantastic way to avoid impulse buying is called “the test”- she asks herself “would I buy it if it were twice the price?” and if the answer is no, she moves on. This is a refreshing antidote to our current trends of disposable, throwaway and cheap fashion.
Cara Batwing Dress
Siobhan’s favourite piece in her collection for the evening is her Cara Batwing dress, and for day the Boho Mini Dress. I loved her collection and simply couldn’t decide which pieces I wanted to try, so to really play dress up I allowed Siobhan to choose the pieces for me based on a list of a few of my favourites and my blog.
Siobhan chose for me the Lara Ziggy Black Body-Con Mini Dress as an evening dress and the Handpainted Skeleton Mini Dress for a day dress. The next part was the most exciting; as part of Siobhan’s promise, everything you order is tailored to order so your dress will actually be the perfect fit. This service is free of charge and just requires a few measurements. I also asked to have my dresses made a little longer, but it turns out I’m just quite a bit shorter than Siobhan!!
The dresses arrived just a few days later and the first thing that struck me was how gorgeous the material was. The Ziggy dress in particular is made of such lovely, thick material and doesn’t feel cheap the way much high street clothing does these days. The lining was also absolutely gorgeous and such a lovely touch.
I wore the Skeleton dress in the day time with a leather jacket and boots, but it would be just as nice for evening with heels. As the dresses were tailor-made the fit is absolutely fantastic and I think this additional service is absolutely superb, especially as it is free of charge.
Siobhan’s prices are no more than you would expect on the high street but you get so much more than that for your money. Where can you get a custom-tailored dress on the high street which no-one else will have?
The Ziggy dress was a little more difficult- the dress was so beautiful in itself that I didn’t want to over-accessorize it, so I just kept it simple. I wish I’d had somewhere to go in this gorgeous dress!!
Siobhan hopes to remain a small independent label but over the years expand to a few small boutiques. Not bad for a 21 year old student whose inspiration for starting a clothing range was boredom during her gap-year desk job and desperation to do something more creative.
Siobhan Mckenzie is offering a voucher for all Student Fashion Blog readers on her online store: STUDENTFASHION5 for £5 off your first order, or STUDENTFASHION10 for £10 off your first order over £40
