Another “Classic” That Doesn’t Work For My Shape!

Hey everyone! I didn’t have time to take any pictures for today, so I thought I’d do a re-run from my early blogging days when I had only my mom and sister reading my posts (and even then, I don’t think they were that consistent!). Have a great Memorial Day everyone!

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[This is a post about some of the fashion “rules” that don’t work for all body types. Even though I know the dress does not look good on me I still posed and styled the dress so you could see it objectively. The images are my sacrifice to knowledge.]

So, if you’ve done any research on what is a no-fail, universally perfect dress for any shape or age you’ve discovered the wrap dress. This is a dress that drapes the fabric to one side of your torso so you get the illusion of a smaller waist and it accentuates your bust, alluding to your femininity. Unfortunately, for those of us with a big bust this dress completely backfires. Oh, and you apple shapes? Be prepared to be asked “when are you due?” when wearing this.

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This was the first dress I bought when I was going back to work. I believed the hype. Even though in the dressing room I could see something would have to be done about the dip in the neckline since the fabric was pulled downward and outward revealing a great bit of my bra. But, I bought it, brought it home, tried it on with a black camisole underneath. Now the whole vertical look of the neckline was completely changed. No longer was it a long vertical triangle starting at my neck and moving down. Now it stopped in a horizontal line above my cleavage. It looked like I was overly modest.

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Then I decided I needed to have that v-neck to get the desired look so I stitched up about 5 inches of the neckline and tried it on again. Something still didn’t look right. I put it away for a few months then brought it out again. Maybe I was wearing it wrong? I put it on and my teenager told me it looked “matronly”. Death knell.

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DSC_0295What I realized is the reason this doesn’t look good on a big-busted woman is because it plays up the bust too much. The low v-neck is the focal point and divides the bust into two. Now, you have two gigantic breasts, completely outlined by the dress structure. Then the affect of the ruching creating the waist hits right below the breasts. If I had smaller breasts the ruching would be lower, closer to my natural waist. But, with the uptake of fabric by the bust and the inevitable low-hanging quality of larger breasts, the fabric is gathered almost underneath the breasts further silhouetting every bit of them. The resemblance to a maternity top is too much for me.

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Now, it is helped a lot by the “3rd piece” jacket. It reins in the width of the bust and hides the side silhouette of the waist, but I think the dress still just doesn’t look as good as a dress should look. But, if you’re ever in this situation, keep in mind the power of the jacket to, at least, make it acceptable.

I cringe when I look at these images but I wanted you to know that if you are built like me you will have to take the “rules” lightly and actually try everything on, view it critically and if it doesn’t look right in the dressing room, it is not going to look right at home.

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18 Comments

  1. Trust me to be difficult but I think the dress looks very nice, improved with the jacket perhaps, but I like it. anyway.

  2. OMG, I thought it was just me! I have read over and over that a wrap dress is the best dress for my figure. And I have always felt that it made me look like a pouter pigeon!

    1. I love that description! I know. I felt the same way. Then I started doubting what I was seeing and felt like I must not know what all the “professionals” know. Now, I trust my own instinct and know that apple-shapes are the exception to all of the “rules”!

  3. When I look at our vacation pics from the 80’s and 90’s it is amazing that I went out of the house. Yikes. It is a nice dress and good colors for you. Your descriptions are hilarious but true. Thanks,have a blessed day. K

  4. Thank you!! Thank you for finally saying what I’ve always felt. Your story is exactly the same as mine is. I finally gave the dress to Goodwill so I didn’t have to keep looking at it in my closet. I appreciate you explaining what I couldn’t figure out all along. Happy memorial day weekend!

  5. Your print is wonderful.

    It’s that crossed over bust. Terrible for even us flatter types.

    I have a dress with a regular rounded neck that has that extra piece on the front with the ruched up to one side feature. It’s at least better than the criss-crossed neckline.

  6. I echo Pauline that it still looks nice but I will share that I had the same problem (for the same reasons) and have banished the wrap dresses from my wardrobe as a result! I appreciate the validation. : ) The gathered fabric on mine also seemed to tug the whole dress from the neckline and I was constantly fidgeting it with it (a deal-breaker for me.) Thanks!

  7. I like the dress! I have a special bra that I wear when I am in my wrap dress that is definitely more firm and structure. It puts the girls out more in front and not so “casual” and “minimized” as my usual bras are…Just a thought.

    And I love that haircut on you…the layering is very chic and shorter length, so nice!!

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