Q&A about individual items, ensembles, and wardrobe

maxi dress: day dress or formal?

Hi, I am hoping you ladies can share your expert opinions. I bought this gorgeous dress from Nordstroms:
http://shop.nordstrom.com/S/30.....rchresults

I was really surprised to find that this look works for me. I am very tall and short-waisted, so it's hard to find clothes that fit. This dress is actually long enough and it's not too loose nor too tight. Now that I have this great dress, I'm not sure when to wear it. Are maxi dresses for daytime? formal wear? cocktail dresses? My husband said it looks like a beach dress. Any ideas?
Thank you!

The latest reply was from BlondeAmbition . You can follow further contributions to the conversation through the RSS 2.0 feed.


7 Replies

Posted 11 months ago

RMarie

Did you see this blog post Angie wrote?

http://youlookfab.com/2008/12/.....ring-2009/

Posted 11 months ago

RMarie,

I am afraid that the general opinion here on the forum is that maxi dresses are in general unflattering. Of course, this excludes evening gowns, which are a different story.

But, your dress looks more like an evening gown to me, not your typical loose jersey maxi dress. So I'd say definitely wear it in the evening. Or, you could shorten it to the knee length. It is a gorgeous dress though.

Posted 11 months ago

Thank you for the reading suggestion! I'm new to the forum and haven't gotten to all the previous posts yet. I didn't realize how controversial these dresses are! I am just so thrilled to find a real long dress that actually reaches my feet, rather than stopping at my ankles like other 'long' dresses and skirts I've tried before. Also, this one has a small print, is defined at the waste, has good upper body coverage, and isn't bulky - the skirt portion fits quite closely to the body. It seems to be an improved version of the maxi - though I did see a lot of big bulky muu-muu variety.

Posted 11 months ago

Oh, thank you Tanya. That could explain a LOT. I found the dress in the maxi section, but it does seem more like an evening dress - it's made from silk, not jersey fabric.

Posted 11 months ago

I've read Angie's blog about maxi dresses and I have to be honest - I love them! But let me just say that I spend 3 months during the summer in Greece, and everyone wears them. Walking on the boardwalk in the afternoon, sitting at cafes by the beach in the evening, maxi dresses are unbeatable for comfort and elegance without too much fuss. They are very hard to pull off in NYC so do I don't bother with them but as soon as I start seeing fashionistas with beautiful flat sandals wearing them I'll pull them out for their American debut!

Posted 11 months ago

Here in Chicago people love to have summer lake front and rooftop cocktail and dinner parties when it starts to get really hot, maybe this dress will be perfect. Greece sounds amazing! I loved every minute of the time I spent in Santorini and Thessaloniki for vacation a few years ago. I wish I could go back every summer, how wonderful.

Posted 11 months ago

I'm sure it will look beautiful, my eye is accustomed to it since it's been worn in europe for years but luckily for you it is in style now for spring here in the states too. I love the way this looks on Nicole Richie, she wears these maxis to the max!

Posted 11 months ago