The Best Dress List, with Allium B

We love it here at TWR when we find women who are doing it for themselves, to badly quote the Eurythmics.

Allium B is a Brighton based design studio set up by sisters Clare and Mary Burgess, which has specialised in making great dresses for grown up women everywhere. And as we all know by now, everyone needs a good dress or four in their wardrobe. Both Clare and Mary have worked for many a decade within the fashion industry as designers and buyers, so know their way around a good style, great manufacturing and quality fabric.

They decided to set up Allium B (named after their favourite flower) because they couldn’t find the type of well made, simple dresses they liked to wear themselves. Everything was either too expensive or badly designed and they felt there was a gap in the market that they knew how to fill. So armed with experience, great contacts and a lot of courage, they went about making a small selection of dresses they felt confident would sell. And they have done a good job.

As well as having a very dedicated fan base they are beginning to getting wider attention, one of their Liberty print sun dresses made it onto the Guardian’s Best Summer Dress list this year and You magazine have covered the girls as Designers To Watch recently. Not bad for a young company. So what of the dresses? I had a touch-and-feel session with Mary to see what they were like close up and they didn’t disappoint. The dresses are well made, in natural fabrics or a lovely drape-y viscose and there are generous pockets on every style.

Mary explained that they are able to persuade their factories -who they’ve worked with for years- to tackle vintage-inspired embroidery and other complex detailing because they are experienced in knowing what will work and what wont when it comes to dress styles. They’ve worked so well with the Liberty print department that next season they are being allowed to do their own recoloured archive print with a special Allium B name.

My favourite dress style from the winter range is the Luella and Juliet (same dress, different Liberty prints) which is a simple silk shift, well cut which can be worn with or without the belt. The best news, womenfolk, is that The Women’s Room is being given a special 20% discount rate on all dresses bought using this code -WOMEN. Just tap it into the Discount Code section on the purchasing bit of Allium B website  You are very welcome!

Hopefully you will find a dress to love, perhaps the flattering neckline of the (above) Catherine or the neat chiffon sleeved Ingrid (further above). The embroidered sleeved Olivia (top) has been a best seller this summer. If you snap up a dress or two, do let us know what you think too. Happy shopping!