About BABEYOND

BABEYOND makes 1920s-inspired clothing and accessories — the flapper dresses, headpieces and beaded bags that a Gatsby night, a themed party or a vintage wedding calls for.

What they make

Dresses are the centre of it: fringed flapper styles, sequinned and beaded evening gowns, Charleston dresses, and quieter day and wedding pieces in the same period language. Around them sits everything the look needs — feather and rhinestone headbands, chain headpieces and fascinators, long gloves, shawls, pearl ropes, cigarette holders, feather fans, small beaded handbags and finger waves in wig form. Materials run to sequins, glass beads, fringe, velvet, feathers and imitation pearl.

Dressing the period properly

The twenties silhouette is straight rather than fitted — the dresses drop from the shoulder and skim the waist, which is why sizing here often works differently to modern eveningwear and why a dress that looks shapeless on the hanger falls correctly on. Fringe hangs from the seam and swings, so length is measured to the fabric, not to the end of the fringe. If you are assembling a whole look, the headpiece does more work than anything else: a plain dress with the right beaded band reads as period, and an elaborate dress with modern hair does not.

Practical points

Beaded and sequinned garments are heavy and are not machine washable — spot clean, or dry clean where the label allows, and hang them on a padded hanger rather than folded, since crushed sequins do not recover. Try the dress on with the shoes and underwear you intend to wear, because a straight cut shows every line. Loose beadwork happens on heavily embellished pieces; keeping a needle and thread in the bag on the night is worth more than it sounds. Delivery comes from overseas, so order well before the event rather than the week of it, and check the returns window against the date you need it.

Using a BABEYOND discount code

Assemble the outfit, enter the code in the discount field in the cart, and check the reduced total before you pay.