Virginia Dare Dress Company

I have a different kind of post today – it’s about a beautiful dress and dress company that I bought recently locally here in Virginia. I don’t buy ready to wear clothes that often anymore, like most of us sewists who are trying to build a handmade wardrobe, but sometimes you come across something you can’t pass up! I wanted to share with all of you too because there’s nothing more I love than supporting a small woman owned business and sharing it with all of you. Without further ado, here’s all about the Virginia Dare Dress Company!

The Story

I stumbled upon the Virginia Dare Dress Company when it was on Kickstarter and Indiegogo a couple years ago. I think that this was in my pre-sewing or early sewing days, and I was basically always online shopping for clothes (now it’s fabric, oh how times have changed!). I loved the concept of the Virginia Dare Dress Company:

We design high quality, classic dresses that bring timeless femininity to everyday life. Our pieces are inspired by grand adventures, and we believe life gets more beautiful when you dress up for it.

On their website, they also describe the “Virginia Dare Woman” and I have to share this too because what a beautiful description of their ideal customer:

You look for adventure wherever you go; you know that there’s strength in kindness, and you have a gift for finding beauty in the everyday. You are a do-er and often a dreamer; you believe elegance is timeless, that quality deserves the effort, and that a beautiful life is always worth the making.

Just beautiful – so I’ve been following along from the beginning and loving everything that they do! I bought the Emma Dress during the Indiegogo campaign and was so wowed by it’s construction, quality and femininity!

Since their launch, they’ve launched a second collection just this past month and guys, it’s so beautiful!

Pop-Up Shop

Rebekah, the founder and designer behind the Virginia Dare Dress Company, has been having pop up shops in Northern Virginia and I was so excited that I could make one last week and that she only lives about 15 minutes from our new townhouse! I can’t even tell you how beautiful her studio is – to see all the dresses in person along with all of her other merchandise and gorgeous styling it was such a treat!

I loved being there and seeing so many woman come in and try on her dresses and touch and feel all the amazing fabrics. I was immediately wowed by the Alice Dress in chambray and her Sara Blouse in black. I tried both on in a size medium and was sold!

What was amazing was the packaging and the care and love Rebekah has put into this brand. I don’t even know how she managed to make my package as customized and beautiful as it was while I was standing right there! I mean look at how cute!

The Alice Dress

Can we talk about how amazing this dress is?? I saw a couple different women try it on while I was there and it is such a flattering dress. It is a wrap dress with a full skirt and of course, pockets! I love the soft ruffle across the wrap front and the big bow.

The quality of the fabric is really top notch too – it’s also a breeze to steam out the wrinkles. I’m hoping they make this dress in a couple more colors/fabrics because it’s just perfect for everyday or a fun dinner out in the summer. I am wearing mine this weekend to a rehearsal dinner and love how breezy, easy and perfect it was for the event.

Although I am short, and I don’t love dresses below my knees, this dress because of how it’s constructed hits me perfectly right below the knee. I thought I’d want to hem it, but nope! It’s perfect the way it is.

You can check out the Alice Dress here and all of their other gorgeous dresses and tops here!

Thanks to Rebekah and the Virginia Dare Dress Company for hosting a beautiful pop up shop and sharing these dresses and your vision with the world!

I hope you enjoyed hearing about a garment I love and want to share that I didn’t make (and totally not sponsored)! I talk about this on Instagram sometimes, but sometimes ready to wear is exactly what we need. I love supporting women’s owned small business and sharing all about them – I’d love to hear your favorite small business clothing and accessory companies so I can check them out too!