Sewing, styling and clothing alterations people, your advice please

[tectonicplates]

I bought a dress where the neckline is a bit too low and revealing, especially if I lean forward. I didn't realise at first as I just tried it on standing up in front of the mirror. Basically the dress is fine for weekends but maybe a bit risky for office wear. It's partly caused by the fact that I had to size up in order for the waist to fit (I originally tried a size smaller but the waist was far too tight).

Is there some kind of simple alteration I could make to raise the neckline, like folding a couple of darts or something, that doesn't involve me having to take it up at the shoulders? The reason being that taking something up at the shoulders is beyond my capability and I'd end up ruining the dress.

Alternatively, if I was to suck it up and pay someone to take it up at the shoulders, can this actually be done without ruining the sleeves? It has proper long sleeves, not just little cap sleeves. Is there something that can be done without making the sleeves tighter?

I don't want to just sew extra fabric around the neckline because it's a patterned fabric so it would be really obvious and ruin the design.

I also don't want to wear a vest top underneath as I hate layering and I'm sweaty enough during that time of the month as it is.

The other option would be to just leave it as it is and not wear it to work, but that would be a shame as I love the dress and could envisage myself wearing it a lot. I work in smart-casual offices.

We need a photo of said dress

Take it to the type of dry cleaner that does alterations and ask the opinion of whoever does the sewing. It's difficult for us to know what you mean without seeing the dress.

What type of neckline is it? If it's a scoop neckline that gapes a bit as you bend forward, you might get away with a few gathers at the curve, and with a V neck you can sometimes take in some extra fabric at the point if you don't mind a little bit of seam there. But if it's a wrap style then that's far more difficult to alter without taking apart. I had to send one of these to the charity pile a few months ago because it was far too loose at the neckline and cut for someone with a bigger cup size.

Yes it's a scoop neck.