Fashion and Style

I definitely bought this dress secondhand, but it may have been from a dress agency rather than from a charity shop. If it was from a dress agency, it was definitely from The Anerley Frock Exchange, a shop that I only managed to visit one time before it closed, on a day when I decided I was going to do All The Charity Shops.

Better photo, with me actually wearing it, down below!

I started by Beckenham Junction station, then went through all the many charity shops, and one dress agency, of Beckenham. RIP Frock Follies, and a) is it a law for dress agencies to have ‘Frock’ in the name and b) why are they all closed, oh wait, I know – eBay. Then I got the bus up the road to Penge and Anerley and finally Crystal Palace.

I believe that dress agencies are extremely underrated – like charity shops, they sell clothes much more cheaply than they were new, but unlike charity shops, they’re more curated. You’re unlikely to find Primark in a dress agency – they will only stock higher-end high street and designer. And unlike eBay, you can actually try things on, which is a must if you’re in anyway awkwardly proportioned.

This dress, for example, was originally from Zara, something that endlessly surprises me because to be honest I find most of Zara’s stuff to be a bit crap.

But it’s made of linen, fully lined, full-skirted, and has-

-OH YES-

-pockets.

It’s not perfect. I love the rolled halterneck but it sits just a little too close to the neck to hide bra straps. I go back on forth on the colour – it’s probably destined to be dyed either a darker shade of blue or purple. It’s a little too close to denim blue, a colour I do not do, for my liking. Being linen, it creases so easily I can’t be bothered to even try ironing it.

Here is a picture of me posing in front of my newly tidied bookcase in this dress, so you can see exactly how creased it gets!

But all in all, it was a good purchase, and one I can wear in summer, with sandals and a cardigan, or in winter, with a long sleeved top underneath and very thick tights.

Have you ever shopped at a dress agency?

I’m going to begin this post with an apology for the fact that I had to turn up the brightness in some of these images so you could see the dress properly. It’s black. It happens.

This dress has appeared on this blog before, when I referred to it as my ‘goth nurse’ dress. If you go read that post, from five years ago, you’ll note that I complained that it doesn’t entirely fit. At the time, I didn’t have very many clothes, so this didn’t bother me all that much. I was just excited to have another dress! Please excuse the terrible watermarking in this reposted image:

My expression is kind of doubtful. Maybe I was in two minds then, I just didn’t record it?

Now my wardrobe is well-stocked and I’m wondering if I should hang on to this. It’s too short to actually wear as a dress, I have to wear it with jeggings. I don’t like the pockets on the front. Compared to the clothes I wear most often, it’s boring. And yet…

It’s really comfortable, and it does have big side pockets. Also, I hate giving things to uncertain homes – I wonder, would anyone want this oddly-fitting, quite dull black dress? Maybe I should try altering it. Do something to jazz it up. Take off the boob pockets, perhaps.

Don’t know why I said ‘perhaps’, I think those pockets are entirely useless and ugly. They’ve got to go.

I’m giving it six months, readers. Hold me to this. If I don’t love it by then – if I haven’t made it loveable by then – it’s going. In a world with catdresses and drunk pixie creations, there’s no point holding on to something that doesn’t make me feel good.