Wow, thanks for all the links!
Angie, I am the ruffle queen! I actually went way overboard on the ruffle thing, and most of my clothes looked very juvenile (and then I wondered why people thought I was in high school). So I got rid of almost all of it (except a great J. Crew ruffle shirt I wear for layering). I'm trying to be much more discerning now, but I still have a weakness for anything romantic and ruffly. I was thinking I like the look of the Newport News dress better than the tunic I found a couple weeks ago to wear with my yellow bootcut jeans. I would definitely have it shortened if I decided to do this, since I'm not interested in wearing it as a regular dress (that would be too frilly for me). I think the tunic length over jeans would keep it from being babyish.
Tanya, thanks for finding the VS link for me. I really want that dress! You say that they really run big, eh? Okay, then I will order the 6, even though I'm usually an 8 everywhere else. My arms and shoulders are kind of big, so if I go any smaller, I may not be able to fit my arms in the sleeves since you said they were tight.
Maya, thanks for the Bebe links. Alas, all with sleeves too puffy. It's too bad, because I really liked the shape of some of most of those.
Inge, love the BR and L&T Safari shirt dresses. I wish they came in another color, though. I'm blonde and fair skinned, so that light tan really just washes me out.
By the way, I went to NY & Co and bought the brown button tunic shirt Tanya posted. Here's the lowdown on those: I tried on the white and the brown. They are made from very thin, loosely woven material that is slightly shiny. This is good for summer and also in the early fall with a cami. The white is extremely sheer because of this though, you would have to wear some sort of cami with it. I think it could look cute on the right person, but I opted against it, because I just thought it looked like a nurse's uniform on me. Again, I think that's just my personal taste. I'm picky about white dress shirts--I like my white shirts to be *crisp* and this one is not. Also, the material seems to wrinkle fairly easily. It reminds me of very light weight linen.
As far as sizing, I bought a medium, because that fit my shoulders, but I will have to have it taken in around the waist (this is rather normal for me), otherwise it is kind of baggy, and even belted there's too much extra fabric for my taste. It hits me mid thigh (5'3", all height in my torso). Maya, you will probably want to order an XS. I'm not sure if it will be very fitted on you, though. The medium is not very fitted on me, and this is my normal size. I say try it and see.
Edit: Maya, I just read the other post where you said you were a 32DD. When I sized down to a Small to see if that fit better, it was too tight across the bust for me. This might be an issue with you as well, unless you plan on always wearing it open with a cami. I thought about doing that, but it was still just a smidge too tight across the shoulders, so I went with the medium and decided to have it altered. That way it will be perfect, right? The pockets were not an issue, they blend right into the shirt and don't stick out at all. I didn't even really notice them.
