dress sizing woes - YouLookFab Forum

I was so impressed with crwilson's Stop Staring dress that I looked up the company online. I love retro, so lot of their stuff appeals to me, plus I really want a great black sheath dress and they have a few that I really like. HOWEVER, I took a look at their sizing chart, and it goes like this:

small: bust 34", waist 26", hips 36"
medium: bust 36", waist 28", hips 38"
large: bust 38", waist 30", hips 40"

Here's my problem. I'm short and my measurements are 34-28-34 -- I'm shaped a bit like a 12-year-old boy. It sounds bad, but actually I look OK in most clothes if they're separates, or in dresses that have an empire or undefined waist. (I was so happy when they started selling bikini tops and bottoms separately!). Anyway, to get the waist of a Stop Staring dress to fit, I would have to order a medium, and then I'd be positively swimming in the rest of it. This ALWAYS happens, and it drives me nuts. This is why I put out a post a while ago about having a dress made from scratch.

So, my question is, would it be worth ordering a medium and then having it tailored in? It's a big difference in the shoulders and hips, so fairly major alterations. And what if it still doesn't work? gaaah.

13 years ago

biscuitsmom

Veteran

I would buy a medium, take it to a tailor and ask them if the alterations can be done (before you take the price tag off) you should be able to- 2 inches isnt much in the bust, and you would need a little room there and in the hips...you have a lovely hourglass figure- no 12 yr old boy has measurements like those! lol. Good luck....

rae

(website)

Didn't the review say that the fabric is stretchy? You might well get away with the small, IMO.

Aziraphale

biscuitsmom -- hahaha! No, I'm not hourglass at all, but thanks for the compliment. Stuff that looks good on typical hourglass figures always looks dreadful on me...I think I must be a rectangle, or perhaps inverted triangle, since my outer shoulders are wider than my hips.

That's a good suggestion btw. I'm very apprehensive about ordering a dress online (I've never done it before) but maybe it's worth a try...

catgirl

Elizabeth, have you posted a photo here for an assessment of your body type? It would really help. I'm an IT/rectangle and can now eliminate millions of styles that will not work for me in dresses.

I know, I totally should. But I'm such a technopeasant. I don't even know how to get the pictures off the camera and onto the computer. I just take the memory card into the photo store when I want pictures developed.

At some point I'll get my honey to show me how to do it, but he's working 80 hour weeks at the moment.

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