Label Love: Hell Bunny

Today's installment of the Label Love series is a fun one!  Any girl who is as enamored with retro style as much as I am is most likely familiar with Hell Bunny.  Like many of my favorite brands, Hell Bunny is based out of the UK, and is one of my go-to labels for when I need a rockabilly look on a budget.  In addition to their 1950's style garments, they're also an excellent resource for darker punk looks and cutesy lolita-inspired attire.  Their clothing is very well-priced, especially for the quality.  I've always found their pieces to be really flattering and fun, which are two of the most important qualities in how I dress!

1    //    2

One thing to note about Hell Bunny is that they don't sell their clothes directly through their own website.  However, there are lots of popular retailers who carry their clothes (ModCloth, Hot Topic, Amazon), as well as tons of retro online boutiques (Tiger Milly, JBR Clothing, Beserk, Cats Like Us).  It's also a brand that's readily available on eBay, which can be really great if you're searching for a specific piece.  These three dresses are on my radar right now -- the first is available on a lot of websites, but the second two are much harder to find in my size!  I've loved the sunflower print one for such a long time, and I think the red polka dot bolero dress would be perfect for Disney World!

 Another thing to note about Hell Bunny is in regards to sizing: I've personally found that this brand tends to run a bit big on me.  Their garments don't usually contain stretch (the only exception is the short yellow gingham dress below, which has a shirred back), and normally in those cases, I'd wear a size large.  However, I wear a medium in all of my Hell Bunny dresses (and in the case of the one with the shirred back, I wear the size small!).  According to their size chart, I would fall between the medium and large, but believe me when I say that my size mediums have ample room.  I definitely wouldn't recommend ordering up in this brand, and in some cases, you may even want to size down!  The only garments I have in a large from them are actually the coats, and that's only because I wanted room to layer (and to make sure the buttons don't gape).

3    //    4

5    //    6

Although I love my Hell Bunny dresses, one drawback to the ones I own is that they're made in a lighter weight cotton; it's great for the summer months, but in Upstate New York, they definitely don't last the whole year round.  I sometimes pair them with nude stockings, but in general, I don't think they look quite right with dark or colored tights, so they usually sit in my closet until spring rolls around.  However, I do have one of their coats (shown below), which I absolutely adore.  It's surprisingly warm and fits like a dream.  I love that it's more of a lolita look, but it can still look great with my retro dresses.  I'm actually getting this same coat in pink for my birthday (shh)! 

(See this post here)

 I also recently purchased two of Hell Bunny's pretty petticoats!  I had been warned about the length of their regular-sized petticoats by several people, stating that they were ridiculously long.  I ordered these two on a whim, when they happened to be on sale for $17 at ModCloth.  I was afraid of what they would look like, but I was so pleasantly surprised.  The length is absolutely perfect on me, and they are ideal for my full-skirted dresses.  For reference, I'm 5'7", so they might not work on shorter ladies, but I wore one with one of my PUG Jenny dresses, and the crinoline didn't even peek out under it!  They are super soft and come in a huge variety of colors.  I'm not sure I would want to pay upwards of $60 for them (unless it was for a very special occasion), but they are much higher quality than my other crinolines, and I'm certainly glad I took a gamble!

My feeling is that Hell Bunny pretty much encompasses the ideal retro reproduction brand: they put their own spin on alternative clothing, and you don't have to compromise quality for the cost.  Dresses typically range anywhere from $60-$90 (and depending on where you look, you may be able to find them for less!), and they carry an incredibly wide range of styles, from the demure to the outlandish.  Their clothing is also widely accessible, and is carried both online and in some brick and mortar stores.  Their sizing may vary a bit from one style to the next, but I'll always be more likely to consider purchasing an item if I know it's made by Hell Bunny.

7    //    8

What about you?  Do you own any Hell Bunny dresses?  If so, has your experience with the brand been similar to mine?  And if not, would you be more likely to seek them out now?

Have a great Tuesday!

xox Sammi

All in the golden afternoon

This dress is even prettier than I thought it'd be!  I'd seen it on the ModCloth website for a long time, and I always liked the style, but I think it's even lovelier in person.  Hell Bunny is one of my favorite brands (I may have to make it the subject of my next "Label Love" post), and I'm glad I was able to snatch this dress up at 70% off!  Plus, it perfectly matches my pink BAIT heels!  The print of this dress and this pretty lighting reminded me of the song from Alice in Wonderland that all the flowers sing (hence the post title).

I'm still in New York City right now, and I had such a nice time with Kristina and Midge yesterday in McCarren Park.  We're going to the Brooklyn Botanic Gardens today (and I wish I had brought this dress with me!), which will be fun.  Other than seeing them, I've spent a lot of time with my roommate from college, who was sweet enough to let me stay with her, and I've seen a few other people from school, as well.  As with most things, this trip didn't really go exactly as planned, but I think it was a good idea to challenge myself to be a little more independent and remember that I can handle the things that come my way.  I'm totally undecided in terms of whether I want to move back here (or the general area), but in a lot of ways, it might be something I won't feel 100% about until I try.  I have a lot of time to think about it, so I'm trying not to stress out about not knowing, as hard as that is.

Outfit Details

Dress: ModCloth (similar)

Spectators: ModCloth

Petticoat: eBay

Have a beautiful Sunday!

xox Sammi

High violet

Outfit Details:

Hell Bunny dress: ModCloth (get it here)

Cardigan: Forever 21 (similar here)

White flats: available here

Necklace: ASOS (old)

Petticoat: eBay

It is very weird to see myself without bangs.  I don't exactly hate it, but my forehead looks naked (and definitely felt it, when I took these photos)!  I guess it's nice to have the option, though.  Another nice thing is rediscovering forgotten dresses from last summer and realizing you like them more than you thought you did!  Hell Bunny is one of my favorite brands, but this dress was always a little weird on me.  The back comes down to a low V-shape, and busty gals like I often have trouble with button-down bodices.  I don't know why I had never worn a camisole underneath this dress before, but it eliminated a lot of the issues I had with it (no more gaping!  And I get to wear a supportive bra!  Praise be!).  So now I have a reaffirmed love for this lavender number, and I couldn't be happier about it.

I'm incredibly thankful for the warm weather... and yet, the forecast says it's supposed to be back down in the 30s tomorrow... typical spring weather here in Upstate New York... but still!  Not okay!  If it snows again, I am going to be the grumpiest girl on the planet.  I love seeing the little spring sprouts poking through the ground!  I know they're hearty, but I hate to think of them being covered by snow!

Have a lovely Monday!

xox Sammi

Shamrock shake

Outfit Details:

Dress (by Hell Bunny): ModCloth (similar here)

Spectators: BAIT Footwear (other colors here)

Cropped white cardigan: dELiA*s (similar here)

Vintage milkshake brooch: Good Goody Girls Jewels
Petticoat: eBay

I am not, so far as I know, even a teensy bit Irish.  I am a bit of a mutt, ethnically-speaking (my genetic makeup is primarily Polish Jew, with some German, Swedish, Welsh, French and Scottish thrown in, if you've ever wondered!), but Ireland is one country from which my ancestors did not descend.  I can't really identify with this holiday for that reason, but in addition, I also don't really drink, which sort of negates most aspects of this particular day.  I'd feel like an impostor were I to try to celebrate this holiday in fashion most people do, so my St. Paddy's Day carousing usually consists of consuming a certain seasonal minty fast food treat and leaving it at that.

This Hell Bunny dress is the perfect minty green color.  I kind of dislike the typical four-leaf-clover-green hue that is so representative of this day, and since this color is much closer to that of a Shamrock Shake, I thought it would be a better choice.  I almost decided to wear this minty milkshake dress, since the print is all too fitting for the title of this post, but it's not a great choice for the current weather we're experiencing, and all of the shoes that look good with it would stand a good chance of being ruined between the remaining snow and muddy ground.  Besides, I had much more fun twirling in this!

It is an incredibly strange phenomenon to be perfectly comfortable outdoors sans coat and yet have to wade through 6+ inches of snow!!  I took these pictures two days after a huge blizzard hit our area (we got over a foot of snow -- the most we've had all winter), and it was so odd to have newly-balmy temperatures juxtaposed with the remaining cold snow at my feet.  I can't complain, though!  It was so wonderful to not have perpetual goosebumps and have to rush through taking photos!  Spring, I feel your impending arrival... please make haste!

I can't wait to see new nests popping up!

Whoopsies!

Despite (or maybe because of?) the fact my weekend contained no rabble-rousing, I had a really great past few days.  On Friday evening, I went out for Indian food with my mom and then we went out to Homegoods and Kohl's for a little bit of shopping!  It's been a while since we've done something like that (I've been such a couch potato lately), and we had such a nice time.  I got a few goodies from both stores (a lavender teapot, a purple wastebasket and a retro-inspired kitchen sign from Homegoods, and a lilac-colored zip-up hoodie and adoooorable black and white polka dot Lauren Conrad dress from Kohl's), and I was so thankful to get out of the house and enjoy the non-freezing temperatures with my mom!  I actually had the day off on Saturday, so I made breakfast, worked out on the elliptical and did a little cleaning, and then saw a play that a few friends of mine were in.  The Normal Heart is certainly an incredibly important, emotionally-involved piece, and I'll be interested to see the film version, too.  I had a rehearsal Sunday afternoon (during which the costumer informed me that my Blue Fairy costume is most likely going to consist of a vintage, crinolined dress, a fish-shaped purse, a bouffant hairdo with a hair bow, and cat eye glasses... I almost flipped my lid, because HOW PERFECT IS THAT FOR ME?!), and relaxed for the rest of the evening.  This week is going to be long, as I don't really get a full day off from work at all, so I guess I squeezed in as much fun as I could!

Have a great St. Patrick's Day (if you celebrate), and a very lucky Monday!

xox Sammi