Plus Size Dresses

I’ve been doing a LOT of shopping for plus size dresses online lately.  I have to be honest, I spend a lot of time shopping online for great plus size fashions and I love the heck out it.  It’s pretty close to instant gratification, if only I could find a way to virtually try them on and not have to wait for shipping.

I’ve mentioned it before, I think, but I buy a lot of clothing online and send a lot of it back once I get it.  You have to be organized to make sure you don’t end up with a bunch of clothes you won’t wear, but I think it’s perfectly OK to buy, try, and return if it’s not quite what you had in mind.

Here’s a few of my recent favorites that you have to take a look at.

From our friends over at Igigi, we have these two divine selections:

This is a great number that has a more casual feel to it, but could still be worn to the office or a fun night out to dinner and a show.  It has an empire waist, which I love, but still maintains a tailored bottom and emphasizes your curves and does a real number on your legs as well.  The 3/4 length sleeves give it a slightly more professional, or career look.  Perfect for a big meeting or presentation.

Next, we have this gem, again from Igigi:

This is definitely a more casual, cocktail dress that you’d wear to a party or out on a date with your one-and-only (tell him he’s your one-and-only no matter what..! =] ).  The bateau neckline goes wide but still hands on the shoulders.  It’s the closest thing to strapless that you’ll get that still has sleeves.  Again, it has an empire waist and a flared skirt.  The detail on the sleeves is the icing on the cake.  I love it!

Head on over to Sydney’s Closet to have a look at this number:

Wow!  They claim it’s an A-Line, but I don’t necessarily agree with that.  It’s also listed under plus size bridesmaid dresses which it certainly could be, but it might upstage the actual wedding gown itself so be careful!  It’s strapless, which some gals tend to shy away from (I love them), but it’s clean and cut well enough that this could be a great break-through dress to expand your fashion comfort zone.

In my last article, we looked at designer lingo for plus size dresses Let’s take a look at some of the fashion terms that we can use to describe the waistline on a dress.  And it doesn’t have to be for plus size gals, but that’s what we write about here, so we’ll stay on topic as best we can.

If we start high and go low, we actually will run into dresses with no waistline first.  Also called a princess seam, this is dress with lines that run the entire length, from the shoulder and neck all the way down to the hem.  It is thought to produce a slimming effect, and is sometimes called an A-line as well.  I’m not so sure about the slimming effect of any cut, pattern, or garment, but that’s a subject for another post.

Moving along, we find plus size dresses with the empire waist.  This is a cut that has the waist just below the bust line, and is the highest of patterns that actually have real waistlines included.  It is very popular today, and creates an elegant look that goes well with lots of shapes and sizes.

A raised waistline falls lower than the empire, usually about an inch or so above your natural waistline.  More and more today, I see raised waistlines called empires, but it somewhat varies depending on how the dress fits you as well.  A higher raised waistline could be closer to en empire when worn by a different person.

A natural waistline, of course, is one that falls right on your natural waist.  Neither too high or too low, it is probably the most common, or at least has been unti lthe advent of low-cut everything.

This brings us to the drop waist in the world of plus size dresses.  This is a cut that falls slightly below the natural waist, and is a natural compliment to the raised waistline.  You have to be a little careful here, since this is a cut that doesn’t look good on everyone.  You have to have a specific body type to pull it off, and chances are you know if you can or not.

That sums up the standard cuts for dresses, but there is a bit more.  These descriptions have all been assuming a horizontal, straight line.  but that’s not always the case.  Waistlines can come in V’s, U’s, diagonal, and inverted V’s and U’s.  So if we pair up the line with the level, we can get some 23+ combinations that can be broken down in  these fundamental groups, and easily described.