Last week, on the heels of some exciting vacation plans in the Fab household, I immediately started thinking about summer dresses. Lucky for me, J.Crew was running off a 20% off dresses sale, and there was a stackable 20% off coupon code available. Surprisingly enough, the initial purpose of my order was a suit vest for DH, but I decided that (of course) I needed something for myself (how often do you get stackable coupon codes? I rest my case). I’m still collecting my thoughts when it comes to travel attire, but the J.Crew Silk-trim maxidress caught my eye while perusing the dresses and I figured I’d give it a try. It looked like a comfortable dress that could be casual or dressed up. And it wasn’t $300+ like a few other “Collection” dresses I was lusting after (Collection Noelle dress I’m looking at you). At any rate, I decided to go with navy since the other colors didn’t seem very summer-y. I suppose that might have to do with the whole “dress it up” factor, but a coral or mint might have been pretty. Just sayin’. Here’s the website stock photos.
I also was slightly concerned because the model is way thinner than I am and whoa, it gives her an INSTANT hourglass shape. Yeah, I don’t need help in that department. So, my hopes were low. Sometimes, these things work out for me and other times they’re a total disaster. But the power of the Crewlade is strong, so of course I keep coming back for more. And occasionally it does work out in my favor. Anyway, after a record shipping time of three days…here we go. First off…the tag details (FUN).
This is the underside hem of the dress. There’s a few inches of the same silk from the straps and waistband sewn in the inside hem.
I tried my best to get good photos of the dress, but the dark color made it hard to photograph. I’d say it’s a dark navy and the dress itself is very lightweight. Definitely moreso than the Amie maxi-dress (which I think is cotton, so I guess would make sense that it’s heavier). Even though it’s lightweight, it isn’t see through, but that’s probably another reason for utilizing a darker color palette in this dress. After some failed self-photo attempts in the full size mirror, I enlisted DH to take some photos of me in the dress. Cue the late afternoon sun and our Northwestern facing apartment. I lack the Photoshop skills needed to tone down the washing out of my already extremely pale skin, but you get the idea. The dress zips up the back which helps secure me in to the dress, and another bonus is that I’m just wearing a regular bra with this dress. No need for a strapless bra, hooray! The silk trim around the waist and on the straps is very subdued, not enough to make it formal, but it makes it nicer than your regular jersey maxi dress.
Like I said, I don’t need any help in the hourglass category. I took my regular J.Crew dress size (12) in this dress. I found it to be very flattering in the mid-section and as far as cleavage goes, usually I’m falling out of low-cut J.Crew dresses in every which way so it was nice that I only had modest cleavage in this dress. I’m 5’8″ and the dress worked perfectly with flip flops but I also tried it on with low sandal heels and it still looked ok. I wouldn’t rock any tall 3+” heels with it or it would look odd, but I’m happy with this as a flat/low heel dress. I took a lot of pics of me in this dress and in some I think it’s a bit too figure enhancing, but really, at the end of the day I embrace my curves and I love how comfortable it is. It’s probably a keeper and will very likely make it in to my suitcase for our summer vacation.
So, what do you think? Do you have this dress? Love it or not so much? I would love to hear what you think and thanks for visiting!
