Review: ‘Angelie’ Blouse by Joanie

When I first saw Joanie clothing appear on my Instagram feed, I instantly fell in love. As someone who loves vintage-inspired clothing – because finding actual vintage clothing that fits when you’re above a UK size 10 can be rather tricky – I was drawn to their cute designs and also their tag line, “pretty clothes for nostalgic souls.” The fact that the launch collection had a whole load of dresses and separates which I loved, that Joanie’s pieces are available in sizes 8-22, and that some of my favourite bloggers have been wearing their stuff all meant that Joanie made it on to my wish list pretty fast.

It took a while for me to narrow it down from their first collection to a short list of things I’d buy when I got the money, or stuff to put on my Christmas list, but eventually I decided on three must-haves – the Audrina lace dress in tap shoe black with its amazing neckline, the Binky bow detail jumper and the Angelie lips print blouse. So, when they announced a weekend discount of 25% off all separates, I jumped at the chance to buy the already pretty affordable blouse at a bargain price!

The parcel arrived quickly in a cute Joanie branded bag, and I was pleased to discover that the blouse is made from a soft fabric that hangs beautifully. It needed a bit of a steam to get the packaging creases out of it and the pussy bow took a bit of practice to tie properly but I wore it to work last week and, like Bethany, got loads of compliments as it is just the best print.

My only issue was with the buttons. The button holes are very snug so the damn thing takes ages to fasten, and the cuffs are gigantic so I had to move the buttons in order to make them tighter, as having short arms means that the sleeves would just hang over my hands otherwise. Still, that issue is now solved and I’m sure the button holes will loosen up over time, so it’s not a massive problem. The fit was good – as loose as you would expect from this style, so true to size – and it goes well with so many skirts in my wardrobe as I do already own a lot of red and black!

I’m really looking forward to snapping up a Joanie dress next, but they have added lots of fantastic Christmas stuff to their site recently so making a decision just got harder. From Instagram stories, I can see that a couple of other bloggers I love have been sent Joanie items recently to review, so I look forward to seeing which items they’ve chosen and what they have to say about the quality and the fit. If anyone needs me, I’ll be staring at the sequins.