Continuing our story … Virginia Dare Dress Co. has always been about finding the beauty in the everyday.

Beauty was not without its struggles, though. When the company launched, my mom had just been diagnosed with advanced cancer, and then a few years later my dad also had serious cancer and complications.

I also found so many parts of the company difficult to navigate. ⁠Reliable manufacturing has always been the biggest challenge.⁠

We had to part ways from our first factory in Guatemala to a second and then switched to several factories in the US, and then even South Korea and India. But, unfortunately, for different reasons, each factory couldn’t provide what we needed long-term and brought a thousand challenges. ⁠

And when the pandemic hit, the factories I was working with shut down, effectively closing all production. These years were a struggle! (But finally, in 2021, we found a fantastic manufacturing team in Houston, TX, who has been a dream to work with!)

During COVID, people were missing loved ones and were looking for ways to stay connected. So we decided to give people a way to send a “hug in the mail” through heartfelt gift boxes. ⁠

This addition to the business was not what I had expected, but it led to a whole new whirlwind of learning & adventure! ⁠