Quest for a Dress - Second Round

Recap: I have two events in May, an evening wedding and "celebration" (dinner & dancing at a golf club). I currently own zero dresses. I am 44 and 5' 10". Here's the original thread: http://youlookfab.com/welookfa.....i-even-try

I went to the Macy's by our house today (which is a small one) and tried on a lot of dresses. Angie suggested I try Jones NY dresses, but this store didn't have any. Here are 3 that I *thought* looked OK in the store. But now that I tried them on at home, took and looked at pics, I'm not so sure. I used jewelry I had and still need to find a shaping slip of some type.

#1 - "Original" Calvin Klein stuffed sausage dress

#2/3 - Evan Picone Sleeveless Floral Ruffled Neckline - trying on dresses put me in a "dress" mood so I thought I could wear this dress for Easter (I would normally wear a skirt and jacket). The print is navy blue and red. Too nautical for Easter? This dress is a regular size 16. Might be too small?

#4/5 - Jessica Howard Lace Bodice Dress - This is an 18W (they didn't have an 16W), it has a lot of extra room in the waist and kind of seems to hang like a sack when viewed from the side. I would be comfortable wearing a black dress to the dinner/dance but would prefer to not wear solid black for the wedding.

#6/7/8 - London Times Tiered Sleeveless Dress - This is an 18W also, the 16W fit also but I was worried about a tight, short and sleeveless dress being too young for 44. I'm really not comfortable with all the skin showing on this dress so I tried it with a tank under it which I felt a lot better about. But then when I looked at the photo I thought it might be getting a little S&M looking, yikes!

Any and all opinions welcome!

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15 years ago

kitty400

Active Member

Of the 3 my fav on you is #2

Kari

Veteran

I really, really like the idea of the dress in #2-3 and think that sizing up might be a good idea. It actually looks *great* through the hips, but there is a lot of open skin around the side of the bustline & around the armholes, and sizing up would give you more room in the bust so that the dress wouldn't cause you to spill out. (Don't worry about sizing up to something that is bigger than your normal size - I'm a fellow busty woman and it's just a fact of life that our racks sometimes require a size up.) That being said, the general shape of the dress is my favorite of the 4. The drape is gorgeous, particularly from the side!

My 2nd favorite is the dress shown in #4 and 5. This must be a cousin to the longer version that KristenKP wore recently (see the photo on her blog.) I really like the coverage and flattering seaming at the top. However, I agree that the side view from #3 on the Evan Picone dress is a lot more flattering!

MsMary

I think #2 is very flattering and I think sizing up might make it even better. I give it a big thumbs up! The others are not really speaking to me.

afterism

I think the dress in #2 is the nicest. I think the girls are right about sizing up. Your bust looks a tad squished.

Have you tried it with red heels? I think they would work really well with the red in the centre of the flowers.

cheryle (Dianthus)

(website)

It seems unfair that women who are well endowed have so much trouble with tops and dresses with underbust seems. I gave up on them some time ago since the seem always seems to be at least an inch from sitting where it should.

I really like the look of #2. It is a pretty print and the cut is flattering.

Angie

Fashion Stylist

You are on a roll, Kappy! Well done.

I like #8 best. I also like #2 but it seems too casual for an evening wedding.

sarah

I like #2, but you'll have to listen to Angie on the evening wedding thing, unless it's like the last evening wedding that I went to at a golf club that was *very* casual...

Jenna S.

I agree! #2 is absolutely lovely on you, and the fit makes you look amazing, very flattering.

If you think it's too casual for a wedding, a dress like below has a similar shape, is cut for bustier women, and is in a dressier fabric with a sheen:
http://www.bravissimo.com/pepp.....038;sort=1

I've mentioned this store in another post, but I can't help but reiterate how helpful it is for busty gals to have stuff cut with extra room. Note that the site uses UK sizing.

Jenna, I love the Bravissimo dress you posted.

Unfortunately I think that ordering from a UK site like Bravissimo may be iffy for a May wedding. I think there is some new Department of Homeland Security/customs regulation in the US that is making international shipping a huge headache. My sister ordered a Christmas gift from Boden in November to give to my mom; it arrived in early January. I ordered a bra from Figleaves (a UK lingerie site) and waited a month and a half before the company agreed that the package should have arrived by then and refunded my order. Unfortunately I've decided that ordering from UK companies is now more trouble than it's worth because an item will either take an insanely long time to arrive, or may not arrive at all.

Kappy

Well, #2/3 was my "oops, I got sidetracked" dress. I agree it is too casual for the evening wedding. It might work for the completely separate dinner/dancing birthday/doctorate event (which is a "family friendly" event). But I think I will use it as my Easter dress. I think the "squashiness" under the arms is due to my trying to turn my bra into a racerback by hitching it high on my shoulders and tucking the bodice of the dress around it. If a real racerback bra solves that, I will keep it for Easter.

I will keep looking for dresses. I hope to get to the "real" Macy's and a few Nordstroms tomorrow or Monday.

Kari: That's so strange! And frustrating. I haven't personally had problems ordering from UK sites like Bravissimo, Asos, and the like, but I wonder, has anyone else had similar problems?

thimblelina

Good job! You have these in hand as a fall back... And you are going to some bigger sounding stores to cast a wider net. That's excellent. While you are there be sure to look at shapewear. Having a versatile piece of nude shapewear can be helpful in trying things on, but I understand you might want to wait until you choose a dress. (it's like the chicken and the egg conundrum... I bought a relatively inexpensive shaper slip at kohl's that slips over my own bra & panties. Wearing it to try on dresses gives them their best chance in terms of potential). L

Lisa

I really like the shape of #3 on you and think the print is fine for Easter. The material helps the dress feel spring and casual so I wouldn't worry about the print being overly springlike. I like your layering in #8, it almost looks like a necklace.

morethanbeige

I think #2 will make a great Easter dress, lovely silhouette. When I first saw #8, didn't realize top part was cami. It looks like interesting detail with coverage. I like it!

rute

Love 4!!!! It looks lovely on you!!

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