YummoMummo meets Sonnet James 'Playdresses' x

I recently met up with the Founder of Sonnet James www.sonnetjames.com, Whitney Lundeen. And my oh my, what a beautiful soul she is. Its was clear to me that the most important things to her are her two boys and the importance of getting down with her kids to play and be present. But, it's so much easier to do, and so much more stylishly done,  if you are wearing a super cute, versatile, play dress that just screams comfort. When she came up with the idea of Sonnet James her thoughts were "I wanted a dress to feel like I was in yoga pants, and to even be able to do yoga in it. I wanted to bring youthlfullness back into my life and to feel beautiful". So well said and how so many of us feel when it comes to comfortable and stylish fashion.

She has two collections that come out a year, the Spring Collection is available on pre-order now and will start shipping March 16th. The dress I am wearing for this blogpost  is "The Marni" and costs $98 plus tax. The style will be available in the upcoming collection. I know you can't feel the dress I am wearing for yourself, but the stretchy cotton fabric of this dress is the epitome of fantastically fabulous quality. It is thick but breathable, robust but so tangible. I love it!

The Marni Dress. I am wearing a Medium.

A lovely handwritten note, such a nice touch!

Here is our discussion so you can hear the words right out of Whitney's mouth. I honestly could of spent the whole morning talking to her. She also couldn't help but win my affection when she told me that Australian Vogue, and Australians in general, are the most fashionable, in her opinion.

Tell me about the birth of Sonnet James?

There are only so many years that our kids want to stay and play on the ground, and that they want to engage and play with us in pure fun. I wanted to design a dress that could help me achieve this without compromising on comfort, style and practicality. I'm totally self taught, I taught myself to sew and to design (Side note from YummoMummo - isn't that truly amazing and inspirational?)

Where do you get your design inspiration?

I love reading Vogue and I found my basic silhouette inspiration there. I want to keep the dresses very simple as I want to keep costs low. The fabric is made in New York and then manufactured in  San Francisco. The price point is higher because the dresses are made here in the USA and it's 4 x more expensive to make in the USA than offshore. The more seams, the more expensive. I look at street style and  fashion shows to also get inspiration.  When design time comes, I pull together all my inspirations throughout the year. 

What is your best piece of style advice?

Comfort is very important. I am very sensory so I need soft fabrics. If you are comfortable, that will shine from the inside out.

Tell me three fun facts about yourself?

1.  I am a firecracker, I really like to debate & discuss.  I love to talk to lots of different people, have challenging conversations. My brother says I am a force to be reckoned with and I believe you have to be stubborn to be true to yourself, so it works well for me to be this way.

2. I am an introvert and would stay indoors all day if I could.

3. I LOVE TV, something I am trying to stop in 2015. I love The Mindy Project as it makes me laugh the hardest, Law and Order, Seinfeld, The Office, The Americans, Homeland & Heart of Dixie.

Do you have any plans to cater to larger than a 14? 

The hard thing in business is that you have to make sizes that sell. I find the XL is what is always left in inventory. Since we are still a start up in the  early stage, will be able to grow and expand.

The Florence dress says Breastfeeding friendly? 

We are working hard to be breastfeeding friendly. I don't usually like the design of breastfeeding friendly dresses and it's complex to add buttons etc so with Sonnet James dresses, the fabric is such good quality and so stretchy that the Mum can just pull it down to feed.


So check out Sonnet James' Playdresses for yourself, they have so many gorgeous colors and styles that can be pre-ordered now for Spring. www.sonnetjames.com

Got a comment? You know where it goes, down below! Keep on Styling!

*Disclosure: I am not a trained photographer nor trained in how to pose for photos, I am just a Mum trying to share some insights and inspiration with you. In being truly authentic to my cause, I have used my own clothes and used myself in the photos whole-heartily. Enjoy!