Here at The Lady we are huge fans of fabulous frocks. And, personally, there is nothing that delights me more than finding clothes that are made to fit an actual person rather than a mannequin (that doesn’t bend, or drink or eat, or dance...)

Young Ladies About Town Katy Pearson (left) and Melonie Clarke in Tara Starlet pencil skirts and blouses

So last night at Tara Starlet’s #StarletXmas night I was in dress heaven.

Having been made over by Pretty Me Vintage – with sixties-style eyeliner flicks, a dash of siren-red lippy and a gravity-defying victory roll – I was let loose on Tara Starlet’s designs.

With a Martini Royale cocktail in one hand, and my Nelly heels on my feet, I worked my way through what is now my entire Christmas wish list.

And strike a pose!

I wear a lot of pencil skirts. And I mean A LOT. But I have never found any that fit quite as perfectly as the two I tried on from Tara Starlet. And it wasn’t just me. Fellow Young Lady About Towner Melonie Clarke agreed.

Tara Starlet is a family business, born out of a mother and daughter’s shared passion for the glory days of the 1940s and ‘50s. With designs inspired by the original Pin-up paintings and silver screen starlets like Audrey Hepburn and Marilyn Monroe – the collection takes you back in time to the days long-gone where clothes were cherished until the elbows were worn and the buttons were lost.

More Tara Starlet delights

And that’s precisely how long I will be keeping my Tara Starlet clothes. Having wiggled my way into the skirts (and the dresses, and the blouses, and...) my figure could not have been more flattered.

And as the party season descends upon us, it’s worth noting that Tara Starlet uses end of roll fabrics. This puts to good use what would otherwise be wasted, but (even more crucially in my eyes) this also means that the designs are often made in a selection of different fabrics with a limited amount of garments in each, so you won’t find hundreds of other women wearing the same thing!

The fabulous Tara and some of her creations

So having worked my way through almost Tara Starlet’s entire range (I honestly believe there are few things more fun in life than dressing up in gorgeous garments while drinking cocktails) my Christmas wish list is now totally sorted. I think my husband’s credit card and Tara Starlet are going to be very good friends in 2013...

Words by Katy Pearson