dresses Archives - Northern California Style

Well we are officially on summertime here in out house and it feels great. After a crazy last week with all sorts of school events, we are now in our happy place here, with our only requirement is to relax. You can feel the collective sigh of relief!

Last afternoon I worked grad night preview at our high school. Sophomore parents had fun being security while the public is invited to walk through the grad night display before the festivities start.

Chatting with another mom I worked with, we marveled at all the great dresses on the mom’s of graduates who walked through. Truly, I thought, this is the year of the dress, as I cannot remember a time where I have seen more well-dressed ladies. That is not always the case. We attributed it to the return of the dress. There are so many pretty choices out there now, and they are transformative. Slip one on with a feminine flat sandal and a clutch, and you are pulled together, chic and impeccable.

On that note, I have to share my favorite garment I own right now, A Della Dress! It is all those things I want a dress to be, easy, comfortable, light and stylish. I simply throw it on with my favorite sandal and I am off. No thinking is required and I have a polished look. As they skim the body, not grab it, I need no Spanx or any of that nonsense. When I don’t know what to wear to a lunch or dinner or just running errands on a warm day, I can go with it and feel stylish and cool.

If you are a regular reader of this blog you may remember I wrote of A Della Dress before. Andrea the designer, is based in Pacific Palisades and the dresses are all designed and made in California. I love that!! So rare. I like her simple philosophy of just 3 designs.. A shift, a sheath, and a shirtdress. It’s brilliant and who doesn’t look good in one or all of these?

Here’s my newest dress, a sheath, in my garden.

I wore this to my lunch with some lovely blog buddies at Bumble in Los Altos. Love that restaurant and I recently wrote about it. I was nervous about what to wear, lunching these fashionable ladies, Jody, Jennifer and Elizabeth, with me (nice closed eyes), but having my new dress to wear was so great.

They are wonderful kind and fun women. (Don’t they look fabulous?)

I am wearing my Ivanka Trump sandals (on sale now) and an older tote I am crazy about from Banana Republic (similar one here) that goes with everything, especially nice with this dress.

The fabric I picked was from Andrea’s summer 2014 fabric collection.

It’s from her lightweight cotton twill group that is called ‘A Hike in L.A.’ Isn’t that cute?

I choose the Los Lionnes print, and I am loving having yellow in my wardrobe.

It was hard to choose which dress.

I loved this Greek key print too ….

This dress felt very Jackie Kennedy to me. Adored the neutral colors.

Some of the pretty choices.

The cotton ticking stripes were very comfy and soft.

( Testing them out here in my boy’s bath.)

Then there were also the Beach Party fabrics …

These pretties are 100% yarn died linen.

Don’t you love the tags?

The workmanship and details in these made in California dresses are impressive.

The buttons are always unique and striking.

I believe this is a vintage button on the back of my dress.

Look how Andrea added a little hook to hang the dress. She is swims and wanted to be able to take it with her to the gym, hang it and just toss it on after a workout! Brilliant.

Now that is California living!

The buttonholes and beautiful sewing on a shirtdress here.

No annoying tags to stick out.

I ask you, do you own a dress with finished seams inside?

I know how much work this is as my grandmother was a seamstress, and this is a hallmark of a quality dress, but rarely found in today’s world.

In the end I chose chose the sheath with the pockets (crazy for them) and printed twill.

I will be wearing this for many years as it glides over me, I don’t need to stress if I gain a few pounds, or indulge on a holiday.

This is coming with me to Hawaii in a few weeks and will be partaking in as many macadamia nuts and tropical drinks as I am able to!!

Here’s designer and owner, Andrea, visiting me a few weeks ago on one of her jaunts up here in Northern Cal to see some of her retailers.. Adored her coat dress.

If you are interested in purchasing A Della Dress, or knowing more, you can click on my sidebar ad.

Right now if you use the NORCAL code you can get free shipping!

Check out the photos of A Della Dress in Action that customers have sent to her in their dresses when you visit her site. It shows many creative ways of styling these dresses.

Here’s Andrea on a recent trip to Palm Springs in the shirtdress from her summer collection in the Westridge cotton twill. I love how she added the booties with it. She has great style!

I am obsessed with the return of the dress and the ease and simplicity it adds to life!

What about you? Are you a fan of dresses or just rediscovering them again?

Happy June!

Kim

Andrea creator and designer of A Della Dress in one of her shirt dresses.

Now that summer is here I finally have had a few moments to look around and take stock of the home and my wardrobe. One thing I am really noticing lately is that the quality things I have purchased in the last decade or so are still with me, still stylish and give me more joy than ever to wear and use.

The things I fling willy nilly into my home and wardrobe from some mindless shopping are just taking up space. What was so coveted in the dressing room is greatly disappointing me once home and I end up reaching for the older and quality pieces that always look great. I’m rambling a bit here, but it brings me to one sound investment I made this year, A Della Dress.

Last Fall, my friend Bonnie, a mother at our school, invited me to a trunk show at her house. I really had no idea what to expect. Turns out Bonnie has a dear friend Andrea who lives in Pacific Palisades and recently started her own design business.

Bonnie in A Della Dress sheath with sleeves in a gorgeous red at the holidays.

Her friend, Andrea Dyke realized there was a real need for the super flattering A-line dresses of the 1960s that were worn by Jackie Kennedy and so many. She had a vintage Marimekko shift dress that she had worn out and could not replace. Andrea decided there was a niche to be filled and has done it brilliantly, setting up her own atelier and design team in Los Angeles. A Della Dress is based on 3 versatile A-line shapes. They are a shift, a sheath and a shirt-dress. Andrea travels all over doing trunk shows in California, and even up in Canada where she hails from.

Andrea wearing one of her dresses with a jean jacket. Doesn’t she look chic?

I was intrigued that I could have a custom dress that was very affordable and unique. I tried several dresses at Bonnie’s home and finally settled on a shirt dress in a pale blue grey with a light plaid print. I also chose my buttons and decided I’d like tabs on the back too.

How I was wearing my shirtdress on Easter.

When my dress came, I felt like a princess. I had never had a dress made so beautifully, except for the frocks my grandmother made me as a little girl. The quality of my dress, the seams, the shape, all of it were amazing. I have enjoyed wearing this shirt dress a ton and have had so many compliments on it.

I have worn it with boots, a scarf and a coat in Winter and with sandals and chunky necklaces in Spring and Summer. It just hit me this week in my closet purge that I need to order a shift dress. The one I am thinking of will be sleeveless in her Malibu fabric or maybe the Hollywood aqua with on seam pockets.

Now this is something worth spending your hard earned money on! What am I thinking with another mindless trip to the mall? It’s lovely to have something made just for you, that you had a hand in customizing and is made so beautifully. I also love that it’s made right here in California! Check out the photos below to see some of Andrea’s fans in their dresses…

Jenna Bunnell is an event coordinator for Hermes. Here she is at one of the events wearing the sheath dress in boardroom brown, I love her hair and accessories.

One of the shifts on Kathleen in a lovely fabric at the Prado in Spain.

The shirtdress on Holly in navy pique with a belt and she’s holding the shift in Malibu fabric.

Helene, sent Andrea Marimekko fabric from the Manhattan store so she could make a shift dress. Here she wears it after yoga with boots and a leather jacket. You too can send them a fabric you love to be made into a dress.

Deborah is wearing an African Safarai Khaki Shirtdress on her bike!

These ladies, Andee and Pam are wearing shirt dresses with seersucker linings and double wrap belts.

Diane looks fabulous in the sheath in the Hollywood fabric! Below she’s in the same with another fabric.

Some of the printed shifts.

A sheath on Alicia with a wrapping belt.

The fabric of my beloved dress. Isn’t it pretty?

Another customer in the style and fabric I bought. She wears a belt and boots with it.

Some of the fabric choices for Summer.

You can check out Andrea’s great website here. Make sure you click on A Della Dress in Action to see all the lovely ladies who already own her dresses. I have gotten to know Andrea better over email and I just love her. She’s so smart and funny and really a cool lady. If you live near Los Angeles, you can even visit her Atelier, in Pacific Palisades, where she lives. She also does custom made to fit orders.