Some dresses arrive fully formed. Others are stitched together from memories, stories and little pieces of history passed from one woman to another. The Nightshade Mini was one of those pieces.
One of our favourite stories Pamela ever shared with us was about one of the very first vintage treasures she owned. A beautiful blue velvet maxi dress discovered in a friend’s grandmother’s old chest of clothing. The kind of piece that already feels magical before you even try it on. Heavy velvet, romantic details, the feeling that it had already lived a hundred lives before finding its next owner.
In true Pamela style, she didn’t leave it untouched.
She cut the gown into a daring little mini dress, transforming it completely into something playful and youthful while still keeping its romantic soul. Then she found an old lace bib collar and hand-sewed it onto the neckline, finishing the dress with tiny white flower appliqués scattered across the velvet. It became one of those perfectly imperfect pieces that felt entirely her.
Whenever we think about that story, we always picture those iconic photographs of Pamela standing amongst the greenery, barefoot and dreamy, with flowers in her hair and velvet catching the light. There’s something so timeless about those images. Soft but rebellious at the same time.
When designing the Miss Pamela: In Bloom collection, we knew we wanted to create our own interpretation of that dress, reimagined with a little Hippie Shake magic woven through it.
The result became the Nightshade Mini.
We transformed the original idea into a rich black viscose velvet mini dress with striking cream embroidery across the neckline, inspired by the look of antique lace bib collars. Delicate embroidered floral motifs are scattered across the dress like tiny blooms, while cotton lace trims on the sleeves and cuffs add to its vintage feel.
Originally, we experimented with using an actual lace bib collar, just like Pamela’s original dress. But as we developed the piece across our full size range from UK 6-24, we realised we needed a way to preserve the beauty of the design while ensuring the proportions worked perfectly on every size. We worked closely with our incredible Indian supplier to translate the lace collar into embroidery, allowing us to scale the design beautifully without losing any of its intricate detail.
Honestly, we fell in love with how dramatic the final piece became. The contrast of the soft cream embroidery against the deep black velvet feels bold, romantic and just a little bit gothic in the best way.
It also arrived at the perfect moment. We couldn’t stop thinking about Florence Welch wearing similar contrasting vintage dresses on her recent tour, bringing back that ethereal, whimsical energy we’ll always adore. It feels like the Nightshade Mini was made for our vintage-loving dreamers to wear through spring days, festival nights and everything in between.
Most of all, we love that this dress feels special in the way true vintage does. Like something you keep forever. Something that gathers memories over time.
We already know this is going to become one of those treasured wardrobe pieces that gets passed around, rediscovered years later and loved all over again. Future vintage in the making.
And seeing all of you wear it so far has made us love it even more. We’ve adored watching dreamers style it in completely their own way and we especially love how beautifully it works across all shapes and sizes. Exactly how it should be.
Shop the full Pamela Des Barres Collection
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