Item Review: The Collectif “Ginger” Swing Dress in Strawberry Print

The Ginger is a style that UK brand Collectif has made for a while now, with both swing and wiggle versions available.  Seasonally, new prints become available, meaning there’s a good chance a pattern that you love will show up sooner or later.

Currently on Collectif’s website the Ginger wiggle is available in two prints: black with teal polka dots, and pink and black leopard print flock.  The swing version is currently available in a really nice black and raspberry pink cherry print.  My strawberry and raspberry print swing dress is a last-season print which I have loved for ages and which I picked up cheaply on Collectif’s ebay store.

The key feature of the Ginger is the 1950s-inspired winged bust.  This fabric can be left standing up, or can be folded forward to reveal a contrasting colour backing.

Another great feature of the Ginger is the convertible straps, which can be worn as a halter neck; crossed over at the front; as a v-strap; or removed entirely for a strapless dress.

SONY DSC

SONY DSC

This range of options gives you different looks for different moods and helps focus attention on the winged bust.  The straps attach with large metal bra strap clips.

The Ginger always comes with a colour co-ordinated slide belt.  I’d personally prefer a standard belt with eyelets, as I find slide belts tend to loosen with your movements and require re-tightening throughout the day, but it’s easy enough to swap out the belt for another one in your collection if it bothers you.  The dress also has belt loops, to keep your belt in place.

The back of the dress has shirring to assist with a perfect and comfortable fit, making it a great dress for hot, sweaty summer days.  The dress does up with an invisible zip and hook and eye on the left hand side.

The Ginger is available in UK sizes 6 – 22, which corresponds to AU 4-20.  As with other Collectif items, I find that I have to size up one size (for instance, I usually wear an AU16, but I wear a UK18 in Collectif items).  Because of the shirring in this dress, though, I probably could have fit into the UK16 without any problems.

Manx cat not included

Looking at price, the wiggle Ginger is 55 GB Pounds, and the Swing style is 65 GB Pounds.  At current rates, that is AU$115 and AU$136, respectively.

The Ginger dress is machine washable (woo!) and is made of a stretch cotton for comfort and fit ( 97% Cotton 3% Spandex) – except for the flocked leopard print style, which is a 60% Viscose 33% Nylon 7% Spandex blend.

Overall, the Ginger is an interesting, versatile dress to have in your closet, and the stretch cotton fabric makes it perfect for hot summer days.