Summer Dresses-Guardian Fashion pages in Public Service Surprise

The Guardian yesterday carried a really rather terrific article about the joys of summer dresses.
This surprised me in a couple of ways. The piece was written by Alexandra Shulman, editor of British Vogue which nowadays carries precious little advice for anyone who does not have a personal account at a select number of Notting Hill boutiques and it directly addressed (ahem) both the sensual joys of wearing a summer frock and some of the practicalities that you might want to consider when shopping for one, such as covering key body parts like upper arms and not remortgaging your house in order to afford one.
Even better accompanying it was a gallery of no fewer than 23 examples of desirable and wearable dresses including this fresh, linen wrap dress from my beloved Betty Jackson Black range.

Betty Jackson Black

I've not really written much about the Betty Jackson Black range from Debenhams which is strange since it really provides the backbone of my Wardrobe. Over the last couple of years I've gotten a great black full-skirted shirtwaister dress (my own Mad Men office outfit) a couple of pairs of well cut trousers which are as kind as any garment can be to my size 20 proportions and this week I treated myself to a blush pink cardi with a lace placket, wearing it today for the first time I got a couple of complements and felt pretty and feminine wearing it.

On the Debenhams website there are some examples of why I think the range offers some of the best choice on the High Street at the moment. The Dress on the left is priced £50; I think it is about as flattering a garment as would be wearable for larger sizes while still being lovely in its own terms.
One of the ranges other great strengths is knitwear. Again I love to wear pretty cardigans and the embellishment and level of detail here are a step above the Marks & Spencer functional stuff.
Debenhams is not always the most pleasant place to shop, especially the crowded, strip lit department store in Glasgow, and some of the designers ranges they sell veer towards the tacky. But I'm pretty sure I would buy this stuff without the lure of the Jackson name. Almost all the range goes to a size 20 and prices are reasonable for the quality of the finish.

Suit Shopping

As mentioned above I spent today shopping for a new trouser suit. Never a pleasant task when you are wide of hip and short of leg. Nonetheless I'm happy with my final purchase from the very reliable Betty Jackson Black range from Debenhams. I got a very plain black jacket with a Peter Pan collar and matching trousers in hallelujah! Shorter leg length. The range goes up to a generously cut size 20. The Quality and finish of this range for the price (£120 for the suit) is exceptional) Its a healthy sign that there is hardly ever anything from this range on sale. I think it fills a real gap in the market for women looking for a design led range that is not too flimsy and wearable for formal occassions.
Other places searched included Marks & Spencer where there were a few choices in somewhat garish looking stripes. There seemed to be a more promising Autograph Essentials range but not in any larger sizes in the branch I was in.
Then there is Next. I'll probably have a full rant in a future post on the size range there but suffice to say today there were plenty of good looking suits but not available on the racks in size 20-22.