A LETTER FROM THE FOUNDER · FLORENCE & MAY

I have dressed Melbourne women for fourteen summers. If I could only keep one dress, it would be Marianne.

On the six things I look for in a summer dress, how Marianne compares with the dresses you have been buying, and why it is $69.95 while we fight to keep our doors open.

Florence · Founder of Florence & May

Melbourne · Spring 2026 · 5 min read

Marianne, in soft indigo. The first thing people notice is the flowers.

Fourteen years ago, my daughter May and I opened Florence & May with one simple idea: a Melbourne boutique where every woman would feel beautiful, elegant and completely herself. I have chosen what goes on our rails ever since.

This year has been the hardest we have had, and something surprised me. The hardest part has not been the thought of closing our doors. It has been the thought of saying goodbye to the women who walked through them.

So we are not going quietly. We have called it our Revival, and it is exactly that. Every piece is chosen with the same care as always, at prices we have never offered before. Of everything in it, there is one dress I wanted to write to you about myself.

Every spring for fourteen years, I have watched women come in looking for a summer dress and find the same two kinds. The first is the sensible kind: a plain shift in navy or beige, cool enough, but so forgettable you could be wearing anything. The second is made for a woman half your age, short, sleeveless and clinging, and it goes back in the bag after one wear.

Comfortable, or worth a second look. I have never believed you should have to pick one.

Marianne is the dress that proves you don’t, and these are the six reasons it earned its place.

1

A garden print that never looks busy.

Large cream flowers drift across a soft, muted indigo, spaced out so the blue has room to breathe between them. From across the room it reads as one calm colour. Up close, it is a garden. And because the blooms are spread the full length of the dress, they move as you walk, so nobody’s eye stops in one place.

★★★★★

“I’ve had more compliments in this dress than in anything I’ve bought in years. The blue and cream is so soft, it goes with everything.”

Pamela R., Frankston

2

Sleeves that cover the tops of your arms.

Three-quarter sleeves, softly gathered at the cuff, that finish just below the elbow. Enough to let you forget about your arms entirely, light enough that you never feel wrapped up on a warm afternoon. And in a city that gives you four seasons in one day, they take the edge off a cool morning when the weather changes its mind.

★★★★★

“At last, sleeves that aren’t tight at the elbow. I push them up when it’s hot and forget about them.”

Glenys H., Warrnambool

3

A V-neck that frames your face.

Not too low, not too high. The soft V opens up the neckline and draws the eye towards your face, and the indigo does the rest: it is one of the kindest colours you can wear close to your face. Modest enough for lunch with the family, open enough to let you breathe when a hot north wind blows in.

★★★★★

“The neckline is perfect. I wore a fine gold chain with it and felt properly dressed up without trying.”

Rhonda S., Toowoomba

4

A relaxed cut that skims, and never clings.

The lightweight weave falls loose and straight, so it skims softly over the tummy and hips without adding bulk. The air moves underneath it on a hot day. It stays comfortable from the morning coffee to the evening walk along the bay.

Worn loose. It skims rather than clings.

★★★★★

“Nothing pulls and nothing clings. I forgot I was wearing a new dress by lunchtime.”

Kaye L., Launceston

5

Deep pockets, set into the side seams.

Deep side pockets for your phone, your keys and your sunnies. On the days I wear Marianne, the handbag stays on the hook by the door. It sounds like a small thing until you own a dress with real pockets, and then you won’t buy one without them.

Sunnies out, phone in. The handbag stays home.

★★★★★

“The pockets are properly deep. My phone doesn’t fall out when I sit down, which is a first.”

Maree C., Bunbury

6

Indigo and cream, from the market to the evening.

Soft indigo sits with almost everything you already own: white, tan, denim, navy and gold. Wear Marianne with flat leather sandals and a woven basket for a Saturday at the market, then add a fine gold chain and a pair of earrings when you are meeting friends for dinner. The midi length works for both: long enough to feel covered, easy enough to walk in all day.

Flat sandals and a woven basket by day. A fine chain by night.

★★★★★

“I wore it to the market in the morning and out to dinner the same night. I only changed my earrings.”

Suzanne W., Kew

See if your size is still here →

Revival price $69.95 · Free delivery with Australia Post · 30-day money-back guarantee

Marianne, against the dresses you have been buying

You can find a summer dress for seventy dollars in any shopping centre. I know, because I have spent fourteen years looking at them. Here is the difference, laid out plainly.

MOST SHOPPING-CENTRE DRESSES

✗ Plain prints that disappear in a crowd

✗ Sleeveless, or sleeves that add warmth

✗ Cut close, clinging to the middle

✗ Fake pockets, or none at all

✗ Sizes that stop at 14 or 16

MARIANNE

✓ A soft floral print people stop you to ask about

✓ Three-quarter sleeves that cover the tops of your arms

✓ A relaxed cut that skims and falls straight

✓ Deep side pockets for your phone and keys

✓ Sizes 8 to 22 (S to 5XL)

“I will not put a dress on our rails that asks a woman to choose between being comfortable and looking like herself.”

Why Marianne is $69.95 now

Marianne was $189.90. For the Revival it is $69.95, and the discount grows when you take more than one: 10% off two pieces, 15% off three, and 20% off four or more. It comes off automatically at checkout, and you can mix Marianne with anything else in the boutique.

I will be honest with you about why. We have never priced anything this way before. We are doing it because every order keeps our doors open another day, and it really is that simple for us this year.

What I cannot promise is how long it lasts. When a size is gone, it is gone. If you can still choose your size, it is still here.

$69.95

Revival price

14

Years in Melbourne

4.8★

17,000+ reviews

30

Day money-back guarantee

★★★★★

“I have been buying from Florence & May for years, and this is one of my favourite things I have ever had from them. Light, easy, and the flowers get a comment every single time I wear it. When I read they were fighting to stay open, I ordered one for my sister in Brisbane.”

Carolyn J., Canberra

Of all the dresses I have chosen in fourteen summers, if I could only keep one, it would be Marianne. I would much rather it went to women who will wear it than sat folded on a rail.

You showed up for us for fourteen years. I am asking you to show up one more time, and to look wonderful while you do it.

With love, and with thanks,

Florence

P.S. Marianne comes in sizes 8 to 22 (S to 5XL), and some sizes are already running low. If you can still choose yours, it is still here.

Marianne | Floral Boho Midi Dress

★★★★★ Rated 4.8 · Excellent · 17,000+ reviews

$189.90 $69.95 · You save $119.95

✓ Large cream flowers on soft, muted indigo

✓ Three-quarter sleeves and a soft V-neck

✓ Relaxed midi cut that skims rather than clings

✓ Deep side pockets

✓ Sizes 8 to 22 (S to 5XL)

✓ Free delivery with Australia Post & 30-day money-back guarantee

Revival bundle: 10% off 2 · 15% off 3 · 20% off 4+

See if your size is still here →

About the writer. Florence opened Florence & May in Melbourne with her daughter May in 2012. Fourteen years on, she still chooses every piece on the rails herself.

See Marianne, $69.95 while sizes last