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Imagine my delight, considering my current preoccupation with dark, moody floral prints, when womenswear brand Me + Em sent over this georgette maxi-dress! It combines a new favourite thing (dark florals) with an all-time favourite thing (side-stripes) to create a dress that is so right for me it’s as though I daydream-designed it myself.

I don’t think that many people have ever successfully turned a tracksuit into a sheer-sleeved georgette maxi-dress but Me + Em have managed it with aplomb; the go-faster side-stripes, the drawstring waist, the zip that runs through the neck and down the chest…

I particularly like the zipped top, actually, because when it’s done up there’s something almost Victorian Matron about the high, smocked neck but when it’s undone it suddenly looks more like a (very luxe, floral) track top with a funnel neck. Very clever, very cool.

And the very first time I put this magnificent maxi on, I experienced an instant sense of drama; I felt like Lady Macbeth, gliding evilly around her castle, the train of her dress sliding over the floor behind her. Obviously the term “athleisure” didn’t exist in the time Macbeth was fictionally knocking about, but had go-faster stripes been all the rage then I’m pretty sure Lady M would have been wearing them. The racy minx.

So yes, I was Lady Macbeth, and I was also (at the same time, because my overactive imagination knows no limits) the star of Wuthering Heights 2018, The Movie, the pretty georgette of my skirts fluttering in the breeze as I ran over the moors. Running fast, obviously, because – as we’ve established – the dress is the most delicious blend of low-key ballgown and weekend tracksuit. Which also means that it’s incredibly versatile, lending itself as much to the “white trainers and chunky cardi” look as to the “dressed up to the nines” look.

The dipped hemline helps with this versatility; a little flesh (or boot, as is the case here) peeking out at the front stops the dress from looking too heavy and cumbersome and creates an elegant shape that’s more than appropriate for an evening event or party.

Can you tell I love this dress? Here I’m wearing it with some old Belstaff boots and a confident stride. (These are high-heeled boots from years and years ago, but they still make the Trialmaster with lower heels which, I have to say, are comfier than these ones. I’ve had my black Trialmaster boots for thirteen years and they are still going strong – I also have them in white, but rarely find an occasion to wear them! You can find the Trialmaster boots at Belstaff here*.)

And here I’ve put on the Lady Macbeth with trainers, just to show you how easy it would be to throw on for daytime. (The trainers are from Hush here*.) Price-wise it’s pretty special, so it’s not the sort of dress you’d literally just throw on to walk the dog or unclog the drain outside the back door or whatever, but you know what I mean. For smart-casual occasions, or daytime meetings and events that require a little more effort, dressing it down with trainers is a very good call.

I’m all for wearing snazzy stuff in the daytime – it brings down the cost-per-wear on expensive purchases and stops your precious investments from pointlessly gathering dust at the back of the wardrobe. So if wearing Lady Macbeth’s Athleisure Dress with comfy trainers during the day gets the dress out and about and well-worn then that is what I shall do!

Once I’ve stopped flouncing up and down the stairs in it, that is. And once I’ve grown bored of standing at the sink for minutes on end, scrubbing my hands, muttering “out, damned spot”.

The Floral Sheer Sleeve Georgette Dress is from Me + Em here* – it’s £299.

My “R” gold necklace was a very kind gift from Edge of Ember – you can find all of the letters online here. They have some gorgeous rings and earrings too, really pretty gold pieces that are so fine they almost disappear against your skin. Great for those who like to keep their jewellery simple and understated…

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Read about my Floral Noir obsession…