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Midi dresses - paying for my education

Bijou

Veteran

I loved Cindy Smith's post about her hair - and how she had to pay for her education. Cindy - the forum is not the same without you.

This got me thinking about how many times I "pay for my education"... and it has been LOTS! Sometimes, it takes a while before I learn the lesson too. OMG - fashion lessons, seem to be hard for me to learn (heels over 7cm high....).

Midi dresses are one example of where I have been paying for my education recently. Sorry this is rather long, but I am glad that now I have worked out how to get these to work for me.

I am 5 foot 5 - midi dresses can as LisaP once most diplomatically said "be a whole lot of dress" on me.

I found the EXTREME midi dress to totally overwhelm me. Cute print and a little bit retro and whimsical (tick, tick, tick), My colours (tick), Boden - free Aus shipping and I know my size, consistent quality and fab reviews (tick, tick, tick), 15% discount (tick)! Such a no brainer, or so I thought and then it arrived. It was horrendous.

I did a comparison with my favourite midi dress of a similar length and I thought would be a similar fit and look. Why did that dress of a similar length and style make me feel fab - and the Boden Dress make me feel like a toilet roll holder dolly? The model looked so good and I look Super Frumptastic.

Lessons:

For me to look good in a midi - I need a slither of skin somewhere to be on show.
Massive circle skirts are not my friend - my hips look wider than ever.
Cute prints are all well and good, but are better in small doses because they can be overwhelming.
Midi's for me are more challenging than other dresses and I need to get the proportions right and be mindful of these lessons cause otherwise I will pay!

With this in mind - I had my dress altered and now I am happy that I am wearing the dress and not the other way around!

Photos 1 & 2 - the good long midi - no excess material over the tummy and skin on show in v-neck - makes this feel fab and not frumptastic
Photo 3 - the altered Boden dress with classic pumps (worn to work)
Photo 4 - the altered dress for the weekend
Photo 5- close up of cute print
Photo 6 - comparison of the volume of material in the skirt
Photo 7 - before alteration

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Dressing

30 replies

Latest reply was from Roxanna

Anonymous

This post made me smile. Thank you for sharing the lessons learned. They are invaluable to me. The altered dress looks fabulous on you. The final picture made me laugh out loud. Best wishes.

Vildy

Veteran

Great save! I have flat hips and a figure 8 high hip and when I get tempted by any full skirt with gathers from the waist I always say I look like those dancing hippos from Fantasia. But your toilet paper roll dolly would equally represent me. I'll keep it top of mind.

Karie

(website)

Veteran

You look fantastic in the altered midi! Great save!

kkards

Veteran

Yes some lessons are expensive and unfortunately not learned the 1st time. Glad that with some “extra credit” you were able to take this dress from fail to a passing grade.

Jane

Veteran

(Super frumptastic!! a great phrase)

The blue and the Boden dresses are beautiful on you. The Boden print is clever because the white background makes it quite a tidy print. I like the way you can use it for both home and work.

Katerina

Veteran

What a great post, thank you Bijou. I can relate about buying something where everything is a tick and in reality, it does not work. It happens to me often when I order multiples in a different colour - the colour could be “my colour” as well as the original one, but yet the item does not work.

The blue dress is indeed fantastic on you and the altered Boden is also beautiful. Great save!
I actually love no 7 (lol).

cindysmith

Veteran

I think you are a freaking riot! That 7th pic is KILLING ME

ROTFLMAO
My grandmother made those toilet paper doll dress things and they kind of creeped me out

I love that turquoise dress on you, and the red shoes with it are, to quote Angie, killer to the power of killer!

The Boden dress is super cute, and I really like how you have taken it and made it your own

kellygirl

Veteran

Way to make lemonade from lemons! I should really think about this--I tend to be like an ostrich when it comes to fashion mistakes or I just get rid of them so they're out of sight. Your dresses are fantastic--you look fab in both!!

Bijou

Veteran

Sterling - those toilet roll dolls were all the rage when I was a kid, not that I wanted to grow up and be one.

Vildy - circle long skirts are not good on me either.

Karie - I am glad you like the altered dress - once given the chop it had to be a keeper.

kkards - Yes, some lessons can be expensive! I think I will stay away from midid dresses for now and just wear and enjoy the ones I have.

Jane - yes shortening up the Boden dress has made it more casual and therefore more useful for me. Boden uses such lovely fabrics and the dress was beautifully made which is why I wanted to have it altered so that it would work.

Katerina - well Barbie looks better in the dress than me! It was a similar overwhelming effect.

CindySmith - thanks for your post, you really got me thinking about all the expensive lessons I have had to learn the hard way. Those dolls were weird just sitting on top of the toilet. My Nana had a pink doll in her bathroom. So glad you like the updated dresses, I love the turquoise the best.

Kelly - I could have returned it, but I did take it to my dress maker and have it pinned to see if there was the possibility of changing it up to be something that would work for me. The reason that I kept the dress was because I loved the fabric and the dress was so beautifully made.

Angie

(website)

Fashion Stylist

You crack me up......"toilet roll holder dolly"

And are SOOO ADORABLE.

The lessons learned here are invaluable Bijou, and WELL DONE for following through on them. Both dresses are KILLER, and you've styled them perfectly - like you always do! The red with the turquoise is mega yummy!

Trust me, I've paid for my fashion & style education over the years. I have to learn the hard way apparently. But I DO learn, and don't make many mistakes anymore.

JAileen

Veteran

Both dresses look wonderful on you. The length of skirt you took off is amazing. The extra width doesn’t seem that much more, but I guess it was just enough to go from fine to too much. How smart you are to figure this out!

Anonymous

I smiled all the way through this post . I tried on a long pleated midi skirt the other and felt the same way . I’m your height ( although likely twice your size) but our height makes getting these types of dresses and skirts very tricky.

nemosmom

Veteran

Hilarious post! Thank you for sharing! I love how you were able to save the print dress with a good hack. I struggle to wear prints - I feel like I'm wearing a tablecloth.

Anonymous

Ha!! The ubiquitous TP Dolly! Trust, you look nothing like that. Ever!
The dresses look amazing on you. Both are beautiful. I think #4 is just the best. Looks super fun/fresh styled that way.

I completely understand the midi trickiness. I am a lot rounder than you and only 5’4”!
Although I still go for high round pleats or gathers sometimes because these hips aren’t gonna look small either way, lol!

These are great lessons you’ve learned. I am taking heed.

Anonymous

-not implying you’re round!
Just emphasizing I am.

Cardiff girl

Veteran

Tee hee ,l ve had this experience in a Boden dress as well so you are not alone.Looks great now that you have had it altered and the blue dress is gorgeous on you.

rachylou

Veteran

Lol... now I have a vision of you standing on the toilet tank... hello family!

CocoLion

(website)

Veteran

Picture 1 is so beautiful. The dress is beautifully retro and the red pumps are unexpected and so perfect!

Your writing is funny. I live in such a country bumpkin town that at our annual craft fair, I still see crotched toilet paper holders for sale.

Sal

Veteran

Your blue dress is perfect and gorgeous on you. The second dress is great with the alterations and I can see how the adjustments have made it work. You look super in a midi but I guess it is a finer line than maybe with other items between a success and (maybe not a toilet roll doll but not a success).

Anonymous

I had to look again. You really do wear the midi so, so well.

I am in love with that pale turquoise color, it’s just been incorporated into a new painting. Thx!

Joy

Veteran

That was an excellent save of your midi dress. Both look lovely on you.
Your and Cindy’s posts about fashion education were great. My expensive education was paying money to have my colors done. What a waste. If one pays attention, they can do a much more accurate job just noting what different shades do to your complexion and eyes. How do they make you feel? Alive and full of energy or dreary and dragging? The ones in between take more time.

Jenni NZ

Veteran

Well you are very funny today! I agree about missing Cindy when she is away from the forum, she just has a fabulous way of writing that is not quite the same as anyone else. I miss Suntiger too if she doesn’t write for a few days because I love her *carries off* comments, like baby Suntiger does.
This is why I prefer B&M shopping. I know there is more choice online, but I am lucky to live in our largest city with a lot of retail brands. I just can’t tell what something will be like online very well, except for shoes sometimes and even then the colour may be slightly different. How the garment will look on my 5 foot 1&1/2 inch body is going to be so different to how it is pictured on a usually tall model. May partly explain why the only 2 casual maxi dresses I have bought in the past decade were both made in Indonesia, where the ladies are all short like me. I bought one in Cairns and the other in Bali.
I think you have learned a good lesson about what kind of midi suits you from this effort. I am pretty much avoiding them because I think on a short person it is hard to make them work without heels. And I only want to wear very low heels now, which I am slightly sad about. I was never a really high heels person but did like moderately high ones which helped a bit with my shortness as well
The altered dress looks great on you but wow, you cut off a lot of fabric!
And the Barbie in the yellow is just the cutest.

Kathie

Veteran

I’m so glad I clicked on this thread. Picture #7 is the best:). The alteration on the Boden dress makes it perfect for you!

Jaime

(website)

Veteran

Thank you for the laughs! You do look divine in both dresses in their current state and your summary of why is very helpful. Yes paying for our education is a very catchy concept, isn't it?

Brooklyn

Veteran

I’ve had a similar experience with a Peruvian Connection dress. Too long, too voluminous in the skirt. I had it taken up and in but it’s still not quite right. I think it’s also too short in the waist. I probably should not have kept it. Sigh! But I will work something out. Maybe it will end up a skirt.

Your dress turned out great. Persistence paid off! And the blue dress is fabulous on you too.

Bijou

Veteran

Angie - the comparison between the two dresses really helped me understand why two superficially similar dresses looked so different on. Nemosmom makes a great point about prints too. It is so good to reflect on WHY things don't work to help not make the same mistakes over again.

JAileen - the width was bigger all through the skirt and the extra material made it so overwhelming. It is interesting that smaller details like this make all the difference.

LisaP - We don't want to get me started on my issues with pleated skirts. The pleating from the waist, my lack of height and wide hips - make for a difficult situation to get those skirts to work on me. At least you have lovely slim legs and hips. There is absolutely no point in buying something that we don't feel fab in.

Nemosmom - such a good insight about prints. That is probably why the aqua dress is great (a soft colour and no print) and get the busy print and bold stripe details made the other dress way too much for me.

Opaline - so glad you like the aqua colour and styling of the altered TP dolly dress for the weekend.

Cardiff Girl - I think I will avoid this Boden dress style in the future. Glad I am not the only one that had this problem.

Rachy - I fee a bit sorry for those dolls, all dressed up and left in the toilet!

Cocolion - that is so fun that you can still buy one of these and that people make them for craft fairs.

Sal - you make a good point about midi dresses being trickier than other styles. If I can get a shift dress to fit, then it is usually such an easy option.

Joy - I have never had my colours done and wondered if I should. Thanks for sharing your experience.

Jenni - yes midis are a challenge on those of us who are shorter. You do look wonderful in your Bali dress - I bet that will be wonderful for your trip to Vietnam.

Kathie - glad you think I don't look like the doll!

Shevia - yes paying for our education is a great concept and a good way to look at how we do have to learn lessons in life.

Brooklyn - a shame about the PC dress, but at least now you know why it is not working for you and can avoid the situation in the future. I bet you will convert that dress into something even more lovely and the bonus is that it will be unique to you.

Column

Veteran

Thanks for giving us a master class for free, Bijou! In addition to the v-neck in the (enviably beautiful) first dress, I note that it also has 3/4 length sleeves, which expose your wrists. Showing more leg in the second dress accomplishes the goal of removing excess fabric AND showcasing more skin both at once.

I have to be careful with volume on the bottom, too, or at least trick it with a longer leg line, skin exposure, a bias cut that collapses back on the body, etc. That seems so counter-intuitive to an hourglass/pear shape, but it is true. Skinny bottoms can (gulp) be my friend!

It took me a while to understand why skin = structure. Structure is a narrow point, a part of the garment that fits perfectly to the body. What fits more perfectly to the body or is more narrow than the body itself? This gets trickier as we age, since we likely will want to show less skin. But I have learned that ankles and wrists still count. Well done; you always look beautiful!

Theodora

Brilliant save! Nothing better than making a lemon into lemonade. But I totally want that yellow dress !

Bijou

Veteran

Column - thank you for your analysis. Structure is my best friend and so it makes sense that removing excess fabric and showing skin is going to improve the structure on the midi dress.

Theodora - Barbie is cute in her yellow dress - I fear that on me it would not look so good!

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