So far on my list of style staples I just can't live without I've talked about the the humble high top and the simple white tee. Next is a short but sweet post on an equally short but sweet dress, the smock! Now I absolutely adore this style of dress but I completely appreciate this is sometimes a shape a lot of lovely ladies shy away from and I understand their reservations. The smock as a bad reputation for being unflattering but I honestly believe this doesn't have to the case. In fact I think this is a style which covers a lot of bases, for a variety of body types and for a number of occasions. This is a style I pull out all year round and I have no plans of growing tired of it anytime soon. So let's talk about my love for the smock.

The smock started life in one of my all time favourite decades for style, The Sixties! It was originally super loose fitting, A-line in shape and with an empire line that started above the chest. Now I've got to hold my hands up on this one and admit that even I- lifetime member of The Itty Bitty Titty Committee- find this original shape a tough one to pull off off. I've road tested it time and time again but have yet to feel 100% great in it. I would definitely advise to wear this style with the upmost caution and prepare yourself for questions along the lines of when is your due date and/or is it a boy or a girl. Soul destroying! That said the smock has come along way since then and has since been reworked to include tiered detailing, empire lines below the chest (just where we like them) and even a waist line! Transforming this once uncompromising style into a dress for all shapes and sizes. 

What I particularly adore about the smock dress is how seasonless it really it. It can be worn pretty much all years round! In winter with tights and boots to brave and bare legged in summer. My personal top time to pull out a smock is definitely summer with simply a basket bag in tow and my Saltwater Sandals on my feet. It's just one of those styles I will forever feel ready for anything in and super confident. In fact one of my all time favourite dresses is a smock I bought- oh I don't know- about six or seven years go from the Reclaimed Vintage range by ASOS. It's in a black jersey fabric with a teeny weeny white ditsy print, a flared cuff and it's been worn within an inch of it's life! I still pull it out year after year because there's just something about this little black (well more greyish charcoal now) dress I just can't get enough of. It's like my safety blanket and I'm forever on the hunt for (dare I say it) it's replacement.

The smock is definitely a style for those of you that like to dress down and keep things low key. I particularly love this style because oddly enough there's something a little cheeky, a tiny bit scruffy and completely boisterous about an otherwise girlish style of dress! It's totally care free for those "I don't care" kind of days and allows you to wear your bruised knees or grass stained plimsoles with pride. It's all about wearing it with "undone" style, unbrushed hair and a freckled nose so if you prefer a more pristine look than this probably isn't the dress of you. But if like me, you love the Lolita-esque styling than a smock has got your back and in case your wondering, yes this is dress a which was made for any and every festival ever!

Now as this is one of my ultimate style staples, I do tend to wear smock dresses a heck of a lot which means I've received enough comment on it to know that quite a few of you find it unflattering. But frustratingly a lot of you dreamy ladies seem to feel like you love it but it's just not for your body type. I completely get exactly where you're coming from! The idea of a theoretically shapeless dress seems a little daunting but the stigma behind it in my humble opinion just isn't true. The great thing about smock dresses is more often than not is will have an empire line which help to compliment and celebrate a multitude of shapes (note- we only ever celebrate and never hide our bodies please). Whether you're curvaceous or pear shaped, big busted or like me, completely flat as a pancake the smock will lay loose on your figure and instead allow you to show of those lovely pins of yours! Wit-woo! That said if you still feel like it's a complete no go, why not try easing in gently with this sneaky dress I discovered from And Other Stories, its drawstring waist means you can wear it as loose and laid back as you like or cinched in and shaped. Either way you'll still achieve that smock-like look but with just a little extra body. Compromise is key.

The smock is never going to be the dress which helps you to flaunt your figure but it does allow you to be effortless and carefree on those days when you just don't want to give a damn. It's about dressing for anything and keeping it simple because who cares? You're comfy as hell!

Rock your look. Or should I say smock your look.

Sophia x

Photography by Rosie Butcher