Behind the Design: The Emery Dress
This season we introduced a new style to our Special Occasion Collection - The Smocked Emery Dress. This simple yet elegant style features a peter pan collar, cap sleeves, and beautiful, deep smocking in three color options - light blue, light pink, and white.
We sat down with Chelsea, COO of our sister brand BISBY, to discuss the inspiration behind this style as her flower girl's dress at her wedding!
"When planning my wedding, I knew I wanted my bridesmaids and flower girl to be my “something blue.” I asked my bridesmaids to chose their own blue floral dresses and with the ceremony being held in my mother's garden, I thought that a classic, cotton dress for my flower girl, a niece with strong opinions, would be seasonally appropriate for my outdoor July wedding.
As I struggled to find the style I had in mind amongst the selection of more formal, silk dresses in the market, I turned to Shannon, the Founder and CEO of Little English and Dunn, the COO.
The dress was inspired by a dress of my mother’s that her grandparents bought for her while on vacation in Jamaica in the 60s. It has a gorgeous geometric smocking pattern and the sweetest peter pan collar with a delicate whipstitch detail. I also wore it as a girl, and I love how it’s inspired by “something old.” I asked Shannon and Dunn if they thought they could recreate it with blue and thankfully they could! Thinking other brides might find themselves looking for the same style, we added variations in light pink and white, too.
A few things I love about the modern day version are the deep hem that you don’t see on high-end smocked dresses as frequently anymore, the simple white sash, and of course - the woman it’s named for - my mother!
I had originally planned for my niece to wear this with a pair of light blue La Coqueta Mary Janes, but she decided she’d rather be barefoot - which ultimately fit the relaxed garden feel of the wedding. Almost all guests (myself included) ended up dancing barefoot in the tent later that night, so it was the perfect start to the wedding."
Shop the Special Occasion Collection for your upcoming milestones. Don't see a style that you love? Email us at customerservice@littleenglish.com and let us know what you're looking for!