The Pre-Fall 2015 collection from Valentino is one of those collections that I loved from the moment I first saw it and has always stayed in some corner of my memory.

(If you get a chance I would really recommend having a scroll through it – you can find it on the Vogue Runway app. You’ll probably recognise of the looks as it massively influenced a lot of high street fashion in the years following.)

Anyway, some of my favourite looks from it used a gorgeous mini floral print. I found a replica a while ago in Dalston (after I’d missed out on it from a few indie stores) and knew this was my chance to make something inspired by that collection.

N.B. I believe there’s an Art Gallery print that’s also really similar to this if you’re looking for it!

I took this outfit as inspiration for my dress.

I decided to make something a little more practical that a fabulous maxi dress though.

I wanted something comfy and easy to wear so I picked out the Mira dress from Fibre Mood – it helped that I already had the pattern…

The Mira dress is a simple loose fit dress with a dartless cropped bodice and a two tiered gathered skirt. I figured it would be easy enough to add black trim where I needed in order to emulate the original dress!

Now getting the trim was the tricky thing. I couldn’t find what I wanted at all! In the end I found some white cotton entredeux trim off eBay which I planned to dye black.

To add the trim onto the bodice I cut out a bodice sized piece of fabric and sewed the trim into the centre and in parallel line a few inches on either side. I then put in a horizontal line as well.

From there I cut the front bodice as a single layer making sure to the keep the lines of trim as centred and symmetrical as possible.

I added another row of trim in the waist seam and another in the middle of the bottom skirt tier. (I had initially wanted one between the two tiers but realised it went right over my crotch. Probably not the best place to add a see through stripe…)

I made a straight size 42 with a one-inch big bicep adjustment. The sleeve was shortened to elbow length and I added pockets of course!

It turned out exactly as I’d hoped!

It’s swishy and flows and is just so much fun to wear. I think I’ll be wearing this one all the time!

(And yes, I’m wearing this this wellies – I’m planning on taking it to Glastonbury next week!)