Floral fantasy! My review of the Hip Hip Handmade Yani dress featuring Bari J's Painted Desert Night Floral

I am so excited to be reviewing my custom made Yani Dress from Hip Hip Handmade in the breathtaking Bari J and Art Gallery Fabrics exclusive Painted Desert Night Floral.  It is always a privilege to team up with another creative person on a project so this dress is a very special thing to me.  It is one of the most beautiful and personally meaningful pieces of clothing I own.  I have gushed over and over in the past about how much I love floral prints but there is something about this specific print that just makes my heart sing.

My custom made Yani dress from Hip Hip Handmade in Bari J's Painted Desert Night Floral is a dream come true!

 A good chunk of my wardrobe is made up of fanciful floral prints because they bring me so much joy!  I have been enamored with flowers and plants since I can remember.  My mother and grandmother always had tons of houseplants so I grew up with a green thumb.  My grandmother was particularly fond of African Violets, they always delighted me because their velvety purple, pink and violet flowers were always blooming providing beauty even in the middle of winter.  I love all kinds of flowers so when I started making Pinterest boards to plan our home redecoration, I decided I wanted a bold floral rug for our living room, this was when I discovered the inspiring and whimsical floral designs of Bari J and I was immediately smitten!  The pattern that really stood out to me was the Painted Desert Night floral and through a few searches I found that Art Gallery Fabrics had a Bari J collection so I contacted Hip Hip Handmade to bring my vision to life!

POCKETS!!!

I am absolutely in love with my custom Hip Hip Handmade Yani Dress.  The Yani dress is a peasant style with a generous full skirt, pretty cap sleeves that can be worn on or off the shoulder and pockets.  I cannot get enough of this dress, it really is a dream come true.  The fit is like a glove, made to measure so it flatters my body showing off my curves to a tee, Shilyn is very meticulous so her dresses fit me absolutely perfect.  This style is very figure flattering, it creates an hourglass silhouette and the versatile sleeves make it easy to style the dress on or off the shoulder depending on the occasion.  I wore the dress to church with my sleeves on the shoulder for modesty, this also allows me to wear a regular bra with the dress which is much more comfortable for everyday wear or casual events. For a little more sexiness on our date night, I wore my Yani Dress off the shoulder.  For foundation, I am wearing a Cacique strapless longline bra and Spanx higher power shorts underneath.  I looked and felt enchanting as we enjoyed dinner and a stroll through a local orchard together at sunset.  I could not resist frolicking in this glorious field of wildflowers in bloom, the pure white Queen Anne's Lace made the perfect backdrop to compliment all of the deep jewel tones in this floral and the streams of golden light from sunset gave our walk a magical otherworldly feel that made our date night extra special!

I really cannot gush enough about this ethereal Painted Desert Night floral design by Bari J and the material from Art Gallery Fabrics is bold and bright, capturing the spirit of Bari J's work perfectly.  Flowers, leaves and vines in shades of aqua, purple and bright green dance over a background of slate grey.  The colors in this print are some of my favorite shades so it is a pleasure to accessorize this dress as there are many beautiful shades to play with for endless combinations.  I went simple and romantic with my accessories because I wanted the dress to be the star of this outfit and I wanted to be comfortable on our date.  A homemade double purple ranunculus hairpiece, ivory rose topped golden hoop earrings and an ivory bangle gave me the summer garden fairy look that I wanted for my romantic date night.

 My Hip Hip Handmade Yani dress is going to bring me many years of pleasure and wear, it is a special piece of my wardrobe.  I highly recommend working with Hip Hip Handmade, she is incredibly sweet, her work is very high quality and working with a seamstress gives you the ability to create something together that is 100% you!

What dreams may come....

Life's a dream! My review of the Kiyonna Daydream Maxi Dress. Happy 23rd Anniversary to Kiyonna!

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Hello All!  Tonight, I am reviewing the Kiyonna Daydream Maxi Dress.  This boho confection is a romantic date night dream, perfect for a casual day event or a date night out on the town.  I also want to congratulate Kiyonna and celebrate their anniversary!!  Kiyonna is 23 years old this month and as a way to celebrate Kiyonna is giving back to their loyal customers with a big sale!  You can use coupon code 23YEARS to save 30% off your order of $100 or more, PLUS many of Kiyonna's best selling items are on sale for up to 50% off at Kiyonna.com.  Happy Anniversary, Kiyonna!!  Thank you for giving us plus size gals consistently beautiful garments designed to fit our bodies perfectly, thank you for helping us look and feel as glorious as we are!

Happy 23rd Anniversary, Kiyonna!

The Kiyonna Daydream Maxi Dress is a two piece maxi consisting of a solid black under dress and a textured chiffon overdress printed in a bohemian style floral pattern of white, blue and pink.  The bodice is a wrap style bordered in scalloped lace, a stretch lace band at the waistline gives this dress a lovely shape that is very curve enhancing.  The dress also features a pretty tie back, full, flowing sleeves and a long full skirt.  The skirt is gathered at the bottom giving the illusion of being one huge ruffle, this feminine and flowing style feels as dreamy as it looks.  I wore my Daydream Maxi Dress for an evening date, it was a bit different than my normal full pinup 50's style and my husband Kevin was very vocal about how much he loved this more laid back romantic look!

I am wearing my normal Kiyonna size, 2X which is an 18/20.  This dress fits me perfectly with just enough room to flow nicely.  The slip underdress is comfortable and soft providing coverage under the sheer bubble crepe of the top half.  The tie back feature is a pretty, romantic touch that is also practical, it allows you to tie the dress to adjust how the wrap style top fits and keep the dress from falling off your shoulders.  The sleeves are full and flowing providing nice coverage,.  This is a very long dress on me of course but although I am petite, I LOVE maxi dresses.  My second love in fashion next to pinup is bohemian, hippie style clothing so maxi dresses are another passion of mine.  I always wear heels or wedges when we go out because at 5'2' most maxi dresses hit the ground on me but I will confess, in a more casual setting, I love to throw off my shoes and enjoy how the dress feels flowing romantically around my feet.  This Daydream Maxi Dress is ethereal, just like the name says, it feels like a flowing daydream to wear.

The Kiyonna Daydream Maxi Dress has a beautiful bohemian floral pattern with shades of blue, white and pink.  I chose to play up the pink and blue of this pattern with my accessories by wearing a pink hair flower, bold blue floral statement earrings, pink cateye bohi  sunglasses and I finished my outfit with black peep toe wedge sandals.  Kevin and I had a lovely time walking the streets of historic Greenville, Michigan.  They have been working hard on revamping their historic downtown area and they have really made it look inviting.  The pretty blooming flower beds and artwork delighted us as we walked around town, I kicked off my shoes and frolicked barefoot in a cute little pocket park, then we enjoyed a delicious dinner at a local restaurant.  I was date night perfect in my Daydream Maxi Dress, I received a ton of compliments on the dress from my husband and a few other people, what a head turner!

Outfit Details
Dress: Daydream Maxi Dress size 2X C/O Kiyonna
Glasses: Clip On Set #5030 in Pink Tortoiseshell C/O Zenni Optical
Earrings: Walmart
Hair Flower: Daisy Jean Floral
Makeup: Tarte
Lipstick: American Beauty by Besame Cosmetics

Don't forget to pick up the Kiyonna Daydream Maxi Dress and load up on your Kiyonna favorites during their incredible 23rd anniversary sale.  What are you going to pick up first?