For those of us who are romantics at heart and love period films with wonderful costumes, the 1992 film “Enchanted April” was a true gem!
The all-star cast included Polly Walker, Miranda Richardson, Josie Lawrence, Alfred Molina, Joan Plowright, Michael Kitchen and Jim Broadbent who were featured in period costumes. I particularly loved the clothing worn by the three younger women, including several cream and apricot-hued creations.
There was a lot of romanticism in fin de ciècle clothing as the Victorians and later the Art Nouveau and the Arts and Crafts movements (think William Morris) were into botany and nature. Thus the clothing of the 1920’s was very much influenced by that not-too-distant romantic period.
Recently, I came across a couple of gorgeous maxi-length dresses in cream and apricot, which remind me of this delightful film Enchanted April, which I’d like to share with you. The material used in these dresses is filmy and shiny like the gossamer wings of an insect.
Also, there are patterns on these dresses that are simply gorgeous. The apricot dress features Arte Nouveau scrolls towards the bottom and the cream dress has a very lovely crosshatch floral pattern going up towards the smocked area that looks more Edwardian.
The dresses also have a ribbon and button fastening system underneath which allows the dresses to be taken up to look poofed. Sot the choice is yours to let them drape loosely or be taken up slightly.
They can be worn strapless or with slim spaghetti straps, with or without a slinky tank top or cap-sleeved top underneath or perhaps a shrug tied around the smock?
Once the smock wears out, I suppose you could turn the dresses into long skirts or calf-length dresses, if the material lasts long enough. To look at them they’re quite wonderful on their own, but there are a few options that make them quite flexible!
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