We started our New Year in Florida on a family holiday, with 15 of us in total! We ate out, we shopped as many malls as we could fit in, we had our days at Disney.
How we miss those days –the travelling but also large family gatherings and time spent together.
Here’s to brighter days in 2021! ❤️
We opened Spring 2020 with a bang – with gorgeous colours and prints, both casual wear and occasion wear, all ready for the amazing Summer we thought was ahead…
We welcomed Clare to our team, who has now become such a valuable part of The Dresser, and known and loved by many of you!
We also celebrated the life of someone taken from us too soon 💔
The date we’ll never forgot. 23rd March 2020.
The Coronavirus reaches the UK, and along with it our worst fears realised. The UK announces we will go into full lockdown and we are heartbroken to have to close the doors of our boutique. So unsure and scared for not only the future of our business and our fellow business owners, but also the safety of our loved ones and communities.
There is such a sense of togetherness we take comfort that we will get through this together!
We walked for an hour a day, then we walked some more. Then a little more.
We watched Netflix. We watched ALL of it.
We clapped.
We home schooled.
We Tik-Toked.
We did lessons on Zoom.
We ran out of Zoom quizzes.
We tried on our jeans every so often to see if they still fit.
I spent time with my son, gaining a maternity leave I missed out on when he was born – time I will cherish forever.
But we also worked. Hard.
We were determined to survive and worked hard on our online presence and on growing our social media. And through the amazing support of you all we would re-open our doors after 12 weeks even stronger than when we closed! 💪
In May we celebrated our 2nd Birthday. It wasn't the celebration we should have had to mark such an occasion but with some help from a few blogger friends, we celebrated Instagram-style.
We also celebrated our sons 1st birthday with a small socially distanced garden gathering and a zoom party. Again, not the celebration he deserved, just like many other birthdays that came and went without a party this year, but we remember the bigger picture and we will celebrate twice as hard next year!
We were finally able to move into our new home, that we had hoped and planned for so long. We were getting ready to move just when lockdown hit so this felt like an even bigger celebration by now!
And 5 days later, a Covid-19-adapted version of The Dresser re-opens and we welcomed you all back with socially-distanced open arms!
We could meet each other again but we had to still be careful. We couldn’t enjoy the social lives we once knew, but we could at least once again enjoy a diner and a drink, and get some well missed beauty treatments.
I had a day out shopping and eating in Belfast and an overnight stay in The Fitzwilliam. A wonderful sense of normality for 24hrs.
And repeat the above. Which basically sums up 2020, right?
We enter a new Autumn/Winter season of beautiful knitwear. Masks also became a key part of our wardrobes. Never would we have imagined they would become an essential accessory!
In what feels like the longest year since time began, we continue to wait for a sign things will start to improve. This doesn’t stop us shopping though, and The Dresser has its BIGGEST EVER MONTH OF SALES to-date!
Is retail therapy officially listed as a medial cure for all ailments yet?!
Looking back at some of our favourite pieces this season
We start to prepare for Christmas, just as we always do at this time. You bought gift sets, and vouchers, and some treats for yourselves! We all put our trees up a little early, just because of, well 2020 🤷♀️.
Coming towards the end of a year always gives us a chance to reflect on the year we’ve had. And we will never forget 2020 – for the difficulties yes, but also for the positives.
The skills we’ve learnt that we would never have made the time to do.
The time we spent at home, glad that we were forced to.
The togetherness and camaraderie.
But also Tiger King.
For almost half of December The Dresser, along with all non-essential retailers, found ourselves closed once again. At what would normally be our busiest time of the year. For the first time, our shops weren’t full to the brim of shoppers at Christmas. Our streets were quieter, with many choosing to shop online instead.
But we continued to work hard online, and we re-opened with a bang. We are proud that we had our BEST CHRISTMAS and that is all because of you! Your continued support kept us here in 2020, and will lead us into 2021!
Many of us had a hard, and sad, Christmas. Many of us enjoyed the slower pace and the time at home. No matter which category we are in, we can all look forward to what will hopefully be a much happier year ahead. And the hard times this year have taught us what is really important in our lives.
The Dresser has massive plans for 2021 so stick with us to be a part of the excitement. And THANK YOU for being such an important part of our 2020
