Sometimes I feel like a truffle hog, except instead of looking for truffles I’m looking for cool summer blouses, and instead of a hog with a savvy sense of smell, I’m actually a human woman with an Instagram algorithm that knows me all too well. I swear, if there’s a photo of a puffed sleeve floating around, it will be served to my eyeballs in a matter of hours. And I always click.
The most recent example of this phenomenon occurred when I glimpsed a thumbnail of the following post in my Discover feed:
My finger made a beeline for the image immediately, as if the puffed sleeve in question was a high-grade magnet. I clicked on the handle that posted it and found myself on the account page for a brand called Olivia Rose The Label, “an independent womenswear label, handmade to order in Great Britain by Olivia Rose Havelock” (according to the bio at the top).
My first thought was that if you have a name like Olivia Rose Havelock, you are morally obligated to found an eponymous clothing label and/or become an actress, so thank goodness one of those boxes has conceivably been checked. My second thought, after scrolling through every photo, was OH MY GOODNESS THIS BRAND RULES.
I was especially drawn to the tops, which are rendered in delightful shades of white, bubblegum pink, crimson and black, and feature unique details like smocking, dramatic sleeves and ribbon ties. I was also drawn to the pricing, which is quite reasonable considering everything is designed, cut, sewn, packaged and sent by Olivia Rose Havelock herself from her studio in Edinburgh.
The Ella Bandeau Top, for example, is $57.67. Isn’t it fun?????? My favorites are probably the Esmerelda Top and the Greta Top, which clock in at $144.18 and $158.59 respectively, but I also have a soft spot for the Eliza Top, which is $86.51 and has a cool open slit-front design. I would wear it over a colorful one-piece swimsuit, give or take a straw sunhat and a tan.
Beyond being a fan of the aesthetic, I’m particularly jazzed about this label because a) it’s still kind of under the radar (i.e. I haven’t seen many people wearing it) and I have a hunch it’s going to blow up and b) there is a notable lack of unique, trendy, well-made, ethically-produced, affordable clothing on the market right now, so I get happy spine chills whenever I come across examples of it. I credit Maison Cleo, a handmade-to-order label run by a mother and daughter in France, for being one of the first brands to address this need, and I’m thrilled more designers are jumping aboard.
Any recent shopping discoveries on your radar lately? Comment them below.
Photos via Olivia Rose The Label.
