My New Favourite Maxi

Dress from ASOS, vintage handbag

In a 1970s-style maxi dress you can look glamorous even when you’re bloated with furry legs and swollen ankles, which is great news if you’re pregnant, or just lazy and greedy with poor circulation like me.

My favourite style is cap-sleeved, V-necked and tied at the back with a wide ribbon belt, just like the one I’m modelling here. This shape accentuates your waist while skimming over your tummy and covers up your legs while letting you secretly extend them via the power of wedges.

It’s sexy in a buxom milkmaid way, which I really like because I have always wanted to play saucy wenches who make bawdy jokes while squeezing udders in rural period dramas.

The Collectif Fairy Summer Bouquet Doll Dress

Dress from Collectif, cardigan from Krisp, wedges from Amazon, vintage handbag and earrings, sunglasses from Accessorise

Hello sunshine!

I love this dress because it’s so easy to wear and I’m very lazy. You get all the girly appeal of a 1950s frock without the pesky boning digging into your ribs. It’s a great holiday dress because it’s completely faff-free. In fact it’s so low-maintenance you don’t even have to do up a zip. The shirred back panel and adjustable spaghetti straps ensure a perfect fit. I’d definitely recommend sizing down for a neat, vintage look. Then just pull it on and skip off into the sun.

In case you get addicted or have an aversion to cheerful yellow roses, it’s also available in these charming prints.

Navy and candy coloured both from Collectif

The ASOS Floral Wiggle Dress

Dress from ASOS, belt from Vivien of Holloway, shoes from Dotty P, vintage handbag and earrings

Florals are notoriously popular among grannies and toddlers but they can also look really hot. (And for the record, my granny always looks smoking.)

Dolce & Gabbana are the stars of my catwalk dreams and the masters of the foxy floral.

How do they make florals so sexy? They tend to use brighter, more exotic prints on a neutral background. They also know the power of a defined waist and a wenchlike cleavage.

My new ASOS wiggle dress has the hallmarks of a Dolce but doesn’t cost a month’s salary. The forgiving fabric and flattering length mean it’s the perfect way to turn a fat day into a va-va-voom day, something I often need to do. I’m wearing a size 12 and it’s a bit too big round my waist, but it’s nothing that can’t be fixed with a coordinating cinch belt.

Finding vintage-inspired bargains on the virtual high street is my favourite kind of cheap thrill and ASOS has plenty of other fifties-style frocks right now. Here’s my wishlist of their best, girliest dresses.

Hitchcock, Jacquard, Prom, Peplum