Product Reviews

A model, not eaten by me.

Quite a long time ago I was sent this lovely dress from Nancy at Shabby Apple. It's called 'Cider', which is very appropriate because once upon a time I used to drink cider. Not any more, I wear it instead. (And occasionally if I drink wine, I end up wearing that too but shhh.) It was too chilly to wear the dress over winter, but now the sun is shining in Manchester, I thought I'd put it to the test with some real life activities. By the size of my cheeks in the picture below, I'll forgive you for thinking I ate the model in the photograph.

Q Can you wear this dress to a curry house? 

Yes indeed you can, I dropped chicken tikka down my front and it washed out brilliantly.

Q: It looks a bit frilly around the neck, is it a bugger to iron?

I'm the world's worst ironer (hence it being a special occasion occupation) and I could iron this dress. Easy. 

Q: I never get to go anywhere, all I ever do is the chores, how does this dress perform under stress?

This is where the dress excels. I'm a believer in wearing a dress just because you want to - not because you need to. You should definitely wear a dress, even if all you are doing is peeling potatoes, because a dress is comfortable, and with a bit of lipstick you can look like you made some effort.

Here are my ratings so far:

Unblocking the sink 5*: plenty of room around the arms, dries out quickly, enough room in the skirt to get your leg on the counter.

Mopping the floor 5*:  light and easy to wear, lots of space for swishing movements, perfect for bending over in.

Picking flowers 5*: this dress looks super gorgeous at the park.

At a 50th party 5*: a happy, jolly, comfortable dress, easy enough to play table tennis with kids, dance, and have seconds at the buffet. Don't wear it with a black belt and a silver necklace as sported here; it looks crap. Instead get some proper accessories from here .

Internet dating 5*+: I posted a picture of myself on an Internet dating site wearing this dress, and the messages flooded in, result! Men loved the dress! (A sort of 'result', if I actually wanted to date any of them, which unfortunately I don't.)

The dress was shipped to me from the US in December, it took a fair while to arrive because of the snow, and then through no fault of its own it got stuck in customs until mid-February because I lost the collection slip. When the dress finally arrived I was pretty delighted. The packaging was divine and the dress is quite simply beautifully made. A credit to the owners Emily and CK, who set up Shabby Apple after years of not being able to find dresses that covered enough skin to make you really feel comfortable (without wearing a tank top, cardigan or long slip), and showed enough to kick in the desirable.

Visit the website to see other gorgeous women's dresses, like this one - the dresses online are the kind of dresses you dream of being able to buy in a 'women's dress shop', a concept which barely exists anymore.

There's a happy vibe to the business too: Shabby Apple is also involved in charitable work with women throughout Asia and Africa, where the dress sales assist in lifestyle changes for women and children.

Follow them on Facebook.

Single Mother on the Verge's photostream on Flickr.