I really liked the second one... why did it get nixed?

Because of the pleats under the high waist, I think.

did that make it too warm? or you thought it was unflattering...
I vote go back and get it.

Are the pleats sewn flat under the waist of the second dress? I'm with Queenie it looks awfully pretty on you and the pattern and colours are beautiful.

Julie the pleats arent' sewn flat. My reservations with this one are a bit hard to work out. I think I felt that it boofed to much under the waist (which because I am longwaisted.

I like the look of the left hand picture in this blog post
http://youlookfab.com/2008/06/.....day-dress/

and possibly a voluminous look like this http://www.ezibuy.com.au//Wome.....42918.shtm (but not that price or colour scheme)
or this
http://www.ezibuy.com.au/Women...../53385.htm

Anne- I have no idea if Old Navy ships internationally, but I recentl;y saw these on their site and thought they would be perfect summer dresses:

http://oldnavy.gap.com/browse/.....=696767022

http://oldnavy.gap.com/browse/.....=696763012

http://oldnavy.gap.com/browse/.....=661646002

I like these kind of sack dresses because you can belt them or layer them if you want, but on a really hot day they are comfy alone.

Anne, I just want to chime in to say that you look GREAT in the second dress you posted! Very flattering. Of course if you don't feel comfortable in it then it's not a good option.

Going with a voluminous dress like the ones you posted could also be good.

Anne! I like ALL the frocks. The last one needs to be hemmed shorter but they all look terrific from what I can see from the pics. Well done :0)

I really like number two and I agree that number three would be cute if hemmed a bit shorter. Sorry no Aussie advice though!

Thanks everyone.
I headed for my local Country target this morning ( the dresses in the picture were from a city Target) as they had a sale and lo and behold they had none of the black dresses at all and none of the one everyone liked in my size or even close to it.

However since I keep rejecting things that actually end up having YLF approval I have bought 2 further dresses, and some black pinstripe shorts and will await your comments when I manage to upload the pics. Since I bought them locally I will be able to return those. I think I will just have to start buying things and returning them (as discussed in Angie's blog).

Shopping with my 21 mo daughter was a disaster. She wiggles several times under the door of the changing rooms and I had to dash after her once into the passageway in my bra and knickers! Then she ran off halfway across the ship while I was at the cash register. No more shopping with DD3!!

Anne, I keep coming back to look at this one: http://i297.photobucket.com/al.....ns/033.jpg
I just love the shape on you. Do you think that if the pleats were tacked down a little more around the midsection it would bother you less? I was seriously surprised that these dresses were on your rejected list!

Hi Kari - I went back to try that one and they were out of my size - will keep an eye out for it. Thanks!

Anne, French Connection has a $79 dress that might fit the bill:

http://www.frenchconnection.co.....5384_.html

Also comes in a navy blue. The quality is usually pretty good. They've got some other nice dresses, over $100 so not in your budget, but the website has sale items that often drop to half price, so is worth keeping an eye on.

Down to $60, for example
http://www.frenchconnection.co.....2270_.html

Hmm, I saw that dress in person today (the pinky-peach one) and it's pretty short compared to the ones you posted - more of a sun-dress suitable for the beach than anything else. Might not be such a good match after all.

Hi Anne, another Australian here. Clothes are so expensive here, and hardly anyone ships internationally (including Old Navy,chewyspaghetti, unfortunately).

I agree with everyone, I like the second and third dresses particularly. I've seen a few nice ones at Jigsaw but they're VERY expensive.

Stringy and Lex, thanks for adding some Aussie experience to this past! I didn't end up getting any of these dresses.
Stringy thanks for letting me know about the French Connection website - there aren't that many Australian fashion websites around, so good to know of another one.

You are right that I am trying to find dresses that are long enough to be worn on their own (no leggings) and not just to the beach.

I know what you mean about lack of good websites! I wonder if we should start an Aussie sites thread so we can pool our resources?

Good idea! How about you start one!