Yes, rayon crepe!

RL yes! LA no!!! However, when my Parents renovate our home when I was in high school, my Mom chose LA bed linens for my room. Oh how I loved them, all white background with dainty pink flowers.

Oh, you remind me. I had beautiful LA and RL linens. I particularly remember a deep green and periwinkle blue floral LA comforter.

Ummm... I'm not sure if I've missed the point of this discussion, but it seems there's criticism of Laura Ashley that I find quite disappointing. Simply googling the Laura Ashley winter 2016 range has shown what I'd consider a stunning modern range. If this apparent ground swell of negative comments is in response to the fabrics and pin tucks that to this day 'date' a 1980s Laura Ashley dress, well, of course! It was the 80's and there's been an evolution obviously. As there has been with any fashion. Laura Ashley as a company I believe has been around since the 1950s, and in today's retail/economic that's no small feat. And dare I suggest, that's because many people continue to buy her stuff.

Hi Janome! We've been talking about doing reduxes of past fashion eras on the forum here. The fad for retro, that is. The question is, are you into the idea of doing 1980s Laura Ashley again?

Hi Rachylou
Ok, now I get it. Apologies for jumping in waving my Laura Ashley flag. Well I googled Laura Ashley 1980s fashion, and it was interesting. Some a definite no. They looked too costume like. Some I nostalgically liked. But there were some examples that were more pared back and I'd definitely still wear eg, knits, a line skirts, simple sundresses.

That's just it, Rachylou. I think my mom made me one or two Gunne Sax or Laura Ashley style dresses, but that was it, and I don't want to wear that look again. Looking back on it, I didn't carry off the look as well as I thought I did. Oh the joys of being a teenager wearing whatever is in style, right? Now that I have a much better idea of what suits me, I know that Laura Ashley is not for me. Some things are simply better left in the past.

It's funny. I'm a contrarian. The more I think about my old Laura Ashley dresses, about how really off they'd look now, the more I want to try and make them work again. Sadly, I think I've given them all away, including my precious blue cabbage rose with matching hat. But what could make such a dress look less like a tv show costume for Little House On The Prairie? I wonder if slip on sneakers would do it?

You know googling images, I think it's the print that is the barrier. That kind of floral (colors, scale, the kind of stylized linework) just hasn't yet come back in again since the 80's, which means it's probably due to, lol. If a dress was bleached white or dyed black it might have a chance of being prairie but capable of being styled in an edgy or boho way.

The last time I wore that kind of print was red roses on black cotton in strappy fit and flare sundress, which of course I wore with black stompy boots in the 90's.

Rachy, no, not slip on sneakers!

Lol, Deb! No?

I feel I could do the florals... In short sleeve or sleeveless... I do!