 |
| closest photo to actual color |
 |
| best shot of collar/shoulder |
 |
| without belt |
 |
| with belt tied |
Found this in a J.Crew I visited this week, and it followed me home. It's a trench-dress, in silk, no. 49974, doesn't seem to be on the website yet. I love the color, love the collar and the unfussy shoulder. Once the dress and I got home, however, disillusion set in. It is very generously sized, in fact it could be a peignoir and would look wonderful over floppy striped silk pajamas. The sleeves, too, are very long. I would think that this is because it's a size or two too large, only the shoulder line is perfect and the collar sets off my neck the way I wish more collars would. The silk is nice but not great, the dress is completely unlined, requires at least a half-slip, and wrinkles easily. There are something like 11 places on a dress or jacket that have to be just so to give a perfect fit. I never remember them all, but here are a few: shoulder line, place where elbow bends, sleeve length (relation to wrist bone), spacing of front buttons, underarm styling (can you raise your arms? I have had annoyed sales ladies tell me to get a job where I don't have to lift my arms!), waist seam (if no seam, check how waist and dress/jacket relate), etc. etc. Most garments fall at the first fence, that is, the placement of the shoulder seam, because resetting a shoulder is about the most expensive alteration there is, so if it's not right, it's not for you. Since the trench-dress is priced at $395, it's probably not for me.... sigh, I wanted this to work. Oh, yes, the color is a wonderful deep emerald green. Wonderful. Not at all olive-ish, as some of the photos seem to show.
Found this in a J.Crew I visited this week, and it followed me home. It's a trench-dress, in silk, no. 49974, doesn't seem to be on the website yet. I love the color, love the collar and the unfussy shoulder. Once the dress and I got home, however, disillusion set in. It is very generously sized, in fact it could be a peignoir and would look wonderful over floppy striped silk pajamas. The sleeves, too, are very long. I would think that this is because it's a size or two too large, only the shoulder line is perfect and the collar sets off my neck the way I wish more collars would. The silk is nice but not great, the dress is completely unlined, requires at least a half-slip, and wrinkles easily. There are something like 11 places on a dress or jacket that have to be just so to give a perfect fit. I never remember them all, but here are a few: shoulder line, place where elbow bends, sleeve length (relation to wrist bone), spacing of front buttons, underarm styling (can you raise your arms? I have had annoyed sales ladies tell me to get a job where I don't have to lift my arms!), waist seam (if no seam, check how waist and dress/jacket relate), etc. etc. Most garments fall at the first fence, that is, the placement of the shoulder seam, because resetting a shoulder is about the most expensive alteration there is, so if it's not right, it's not for you. Since the trench-dress is priced at $395, it's probably not for me.... sigh, I wanted this to work. Oh, yes, the color is a wonderful deep emerald green. Wonderful. Not at all olive-ish, as some of the photos seem to show.
Love the concept of a coat dress, but if the execution isn't up to your standards - not worth it. At $395 my expectation is that it fits perfectly. I'm sure something else will come along that will meet your needs and your expectations.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Julie, I'm adding this to my "hunt" list!
ReplyDelete