10 Ways to design a dress

It's all about loving the dress so much you would like to have one in every print and colour! A dress that you can throw on and feel great in, a dress that makes you do a little dance and swing around.

This is what we were thinking when the design for the Rocco dress was conceived. Our Mombasa Rose design team got together and made a hit list of all the features that would make a perfect dress for every day.

We came up with these ten points

1. A comfortable versatile dress, that looks fab on all shapes and sizes.

2. Deep deep side pockets.

3. Side splits that aren't thigh high.

4. A functional button front.

5. Suitable for young Mums.

6. An easy fit dress with small side tabs that can pull the waist in for a more fitted look or not, for an easy flowing hippie look. 

7. Most of all it must be pretty and cool. 

8. Made in a variety soft rayon prints.

9. Can be worn by different age groups with equal versatility.

10. Must be able to be worn with a jumper or cardigan.

  

We then chose these gorgeous women as inspiration

Model Tahalia (size 8, 178 tall, honey brunette) she can wear the Rocco dress to go to fashion shoots or on her Natural and Abundant Lemon Myrtle farm.

Beautiful young Mum our friend Helen (size 12, 174 cm tall, blonde) from Noosa North Shore who wears it quite differently maybe for cocktails on the jetty (or fishing off the jetty!) or shopping Hastings Street, Noosa. 

Owner of Mombasa Rose website Rose (size 14, 168 cm tall, brunette) who wears it on weekend adventures to her local farmer's market. 

So really whatever your size or colouring is, we have tried to design a dress that just seems to suit so many women.

 

The trick with this dress is to pick the correct size, we have designed it to be worn soft and fairly loose over the bust,  and because there are little gathers at the waist it falls very gently over the hips, so is super flattering. 

Another plus is that it makes a pretty cool Mumma Bubba dress, wide enough to be worn before the birth and with a button front its perfect for afterwards too.

 

The pockets are deep enough to hold your phone and lip stick and a tiny purse, they are hidden in the side seam so don’t give the dress a junior feel.

 

The splits on the sides mean you can move easily without showing more that you intended, at the same time giving the skirt a bit more “flip and flair”. We all agreed that a button down front dress is a feature that is hard to find, so you can leave the top buttons undone, or undone to the waist with a pretty cami underneath.

 

The prints are really cute and lively, especially the red paisley print that has a real autumn dressing boho luxe feel, we styled it with short black boots, a velvet choker necklace and a black felt hat. The red can also work in summer with strappy sandals.

We also adore the vintage style of the retro ditzy print dainty roses, teal is a colour that works as well at a dinner party as at the beach, it’s just all about how you style it.

 

The last point we considered was the sleeves, we know our customer love a sleeve! This one can be rolled up two times then caught up with a button, or if you like it a bit longer then wear it down, the sleeve is also narrow enough to be worn under a jumper on chilly mornings.

 

Finally after careful pattern cutting and grading we had the Rocco dress mad on three lively prints.