Laura Ashley Book

I've only owned one piece of Laura Ashley clothing in my adult life. It was a gorgeous Edwardian style burgundy velvet dress, long and flowy with an empire waist, luxurious velvet covered buttons and an intricately crocheted ivory collar. I found this treasure at my local thrift store, and remember looking around furtively wondering why no one else had already scooped it up. I carried it to the counter, paid the lady my $3.00 and scurried out as quickly as I could, half fearing someone would run me down and say it had all been a mistake and that dress wasn't for sale after all.

Well, I hoarded that dress away in my closet and pulled it out on Christmas Eve. I twirled around in the mirror feeling like a character in a Jane Austen novel (Elizabeth Bennet, of course). And then my husband walked in. "That's a really pretty nightgown," he said. It was 5:00 in the afternoon and we were on our way to Christmas Eve dinner. My bubble was officially burst.

I haven't felt the same about Laura Ashley since then, because although I would never have admitted it at the time, that dress really did look like a very pretty Edwardian nightgown that some romance novel heroine would run around dark, damp castles in. It's the type of thing that looks stunning in the glossy, highly stylized editorial pages of magazines and advertisements, but doesn't translate that well to real life. Or at least my real life.

Still, I saw a blurb about this book in this month's issue of Country Living, and was immediately intrigued. Just look at that cover shot (top photo)! So impractical (seriously who could ride a bike in that dress!), but so beautiful and romantic. And that's what Laura Ashley's vision was all about: not practicality and real life comfort and ease (how boring is that?), but rich textures, soft, romantic ruffles and pleats, and the blurred edges of an ideal bucolic existence.

The story behind the brand is the subject of Martin Wood's new book. Laura Ashley: the woman from Wales who started her fashion empire designing scarves at her kitchen table and grew into an international sensation that would touch every element of style, from her signature blouses and dresses to rustic, romantic home decor. The book features an impressive collection of photographs both from the company archives as well as the family's private collection.