Divine Boutique, Leicester

Divine Boutique has moved from Silver Arcade to Silver Street, in a convenient change of address and it was my pleasure to be invited to their re-launch. If you are looking to find a dress for that special occasion where you can feel like a million dollars without spending it, this is the boutique for you.

Already generating interest when I arrived!

As a dedicated sewing enthusiast, naturally I spent most of my time pawing at seams and thumbing hems and I can confirm that the quality of the workmanship and the materials is as good as it looks from the pictures.

Some of the ballgowns are absolutely decadent. Wonderful soft chiffon finishes sit atop beautiful satin linings with pristine rolled hems. This is testament to the hard work of the team at Divine – they buy some dresses in and then customise them, adding detailed embellishments and a little bit of extra zing and they also create their own designs from scratch. So whatever you buy, it will always be unique to you – never have the embarrassment at the Christmas ball when you up in the same outfit as a colleague again!

They also have a select range of accessories to match the outfits – I particularly loved the snakes head bangles, but there were also some sparkly shoes, extremely bling clutch bags and more. There was also an absolutely gorgeous grey feather wrap which was so delightfully soft, it must be like wearing air when you have it on.

If anyone is looking to buy me a Christmas present… 🙂

At the launch we were treated to bubbles, my first mince pie of the season and of course, gorgeous truffles from Divine Boutique’s near neighbours, the ever delightful Cocoa Amore. And this gives you a sense of the atmosphere that Divine are working hard to create – one of understated elegance and class.

That’s not to say that their dresses are not showstoppers – if you want to look like a princess and turn heads then they have some real jaw droppers for you – but all of this is done in an atmosphere of quiet refinement and confidence in their tailoring.

This tailoring prowess continues to the first floor, to the bridal boutique where there really are some of the loveliest bridesmaids dresses I’ve ever seen. And I’ve done the whole wedding thing. These more muted colours absolutely suited my taste down to the ground and were a little more understated than some of the gowns I had seen downstairs. However, across the shop there is something for any colour scheme.

In fact, I was absolutely amazed to discover that not only are the ticket prices on the dresses extremely reasonable, but they also include alterations as standard – and this includes bridesmaids dresses. So you can buy your dream and have it fitted to you perfectly. I just cannot believe this sort of service where the prices I saw ranged between about £100-£600 for truly beautiful pieces. And if you’ve got a group of bridesmaids to cater for, then you’ll really save on the hidden expense of getting items altered to fit properly.

This understanding that we all come in different shapes and sizes feeds through to the sizes of the clothes available in store – they’re not all 6-8, there are plenty for those of us of the larger hip persuasion, dresses to suit the bigger-in-booty and so forth. So whatever your size you will surely find something that makes you look divine.