Dresses dresses dresses everywhere!!!!

[cofingalthetime]

So I was shopping at the weekend. For one thing, OMG I had forgotten how exhausting it is traipsing from shop to shop with teenage daughter, and trying on things, and sweating, and and and....
Anyway, SO many dresses lol!!!! Have you embraced the dress??? Being fat and fifty I think I have to be so careful not to look like I'm wearing my grandmother's nightdress... I ended up getting the usual 'black trousers' but did try on loads of dresses. I just think they are not as flattering as trousers but maybe I'm just not used to seeing myself in a dress. I definitely steered away from things I wore as a child in the 1980's - like big round collars and stuff like that. So are you all wearing dresses - talking to the more "mature" ladies - my dd looked incredible in most of them, she couldn't choose in the end!

I love dresses, mid 50's size 10. I have loads,
t-shirt dresses especially are brilliant for holidays, I usually take 3 for a week and wear them day and evening.

I wore them for the novelty value after so many years of them being cut from the market. I longed to see a midi dress again like we wore in the 90's as teens.

So when they returned i was delighted! i bought a few and wore them with docs, struggled with the right coat in winter, and just really enjoyed them.

Until I got bored

I also noticed a few weeks ago, when i quickly pulled on some sweaty betty super sculpt leggings and my arcteryx zip up jacket, that I looked really lovely as could see my shape (im slim). I also felt like I could jump over fences, do cartwheels and jump on a horse all at the same time, lol.

Those big dresses are a temporary salve for hating one's figure, for feeling a bit free in the leg dept. But you can get really sick of patterns and low quality fabric (most dont have linings even though they added pockets). I am so tired of the same old styles and patterns now that they make me shiver a bit. And every damn shop sells almost the same, exact design.
If I need to cool off in summer im thinking of just getting a couple of tshirt dresses with cycling shorts underneath.

They're all starting to cut corners with dresses, making them cheaper, longer and just lurid designs. I need a rest from them.

Size 14 apple shape here and in my 60s. I wear skirts and dresses 99% of the time as they are more comfortable and flattering than trousers. Trousers only for hiking and gardening. The Laura Ashley look doesn't suit me but I have plainer less frilly styles. Peruvian Connection is my go-to shopping place--expensive but the clothes last for ages, are made of good substantial fabrics, and wash well.

As someone with a fat stomach I have to say I love a dress, because you don't have to think about your waist. I wear nothing but in summer.

I get most from everything5pounds.com

Usually order about 10, which comes to £60. On average I keep 7 and give 3 to charity but still works out very bargainous and I like to try them on at home with various bits I already have

Same dress can look completely different with sliders and a denim jacket or heeled boots and a belt/jewelry

I'm 49, size 14 I think, and love dresses - maxi in summer and midies with thights in winter, as my legs are not my best feature. Since I can't buy chub rub shorts here and bicycle shorts look too hot, I cut nude tights about knee lenght and wear that. They roll a bit but not too much

Chub rub shorts from Snag tights are great for this. They keep you cooler too. Or liquid talc from asda (absorbs and stops chaffing) if you prefer no shorts.

Also think they have become popular here in the north because we have had sod all rain since 2019.
They are tricky as fuck in rainy weather. If you don't do everything in a car.
Ok for sauntering to a cafe in town on a warm afternoon, but almost useless for most of life.

I know many people say it rains a lot where they are, but I've lived between shropshire and manchester for the past 4 years and there's been a weird lack of rain. Maybe when it returns we will start to prevaricate about fashionable umbrellas!

I don't wear dresses, age 70 and size 12/14. . I live in jeans. Feel silly in dresses, though I've got a couple in the cupboard for emergencies.

You should try a pair of men's cotton boxers, the snug type. Would be more comfy than tights.

Agree with PP you need to try loads of styles and find what flatters you. I have big boobs and anything that drapes straight from them and hides my waist makes me look huge and matronly.

46, fat 18-20 more on the latter side & 5’2. I tend to live out of jeans but have got myself a few nice dresses which I’ve had loads of compliments wearing, I also feel some dresses are more flattering than trousers on fat chics like us. I tend to like a-line and fit and flare styles best.

I'm 54, tall and a size 20 and I wear dresses all the time - not the shirred/tiered ones that are fashionable now though, I'm sticking with my current collection plus the stunning one I picked up from a charity shop recently.

I do get chub rub, haven't yet invested in cycle shorts but probably will.

I love dresses, but I'm an apple shape so god alone knows what I'd look like in one. I do have a couple I can wear at home when the weather is sweltering, but I probably wouldn't go out in them.

I'm a size 26 sphere. I've also got circular feet. I wear trousers. I have always looked terrible in a dress, even when younger and slimmer. Like an unmade bed.

Recently I got back into sewing. I'm having a lovely time making tops and trousers in pure cotton. Much more comfortable than sweaty man-made fibres.

Maybe i’m too picky but I went shopping the other week to try and get some summer stuff for the office and something for an upcoming holiday (as well as scouring online stores) and I felt like all that was on offer dresses wise was

1. Looks like a little girl would wear it, all frilly and puff sleeves or flowery etc.
2. So tight and short might as well go naked and have done with it
3. Plainer fabric design but looks like puritan smock with no shape

Just hated everything I saw!! Nothing looked nice on and I am a size 12. 😢

i brought a dress recently - had pockets wasn’t overly floaty…:then I wore it out so excited and realised once I’d eaten a lovely meal …. I looked pregnant…..why oh why do dresses have that ability. Doesn’t help that I seem to carry my weight on my stomach :( skinny legs and arms (though as I get older I noticed the top of my arms stretching)

Im tall size 12/14 but me and dresses I either just look huge in them or pregnant .

@PriestessofPing yes yes yes!!!!!!! I was getting all excited trying on some of the flowery dresses, but no, matronly is the only word for how I looked. And the plain stuff is like something a nun would wear - no offence to nuns. Like the square tops I bought and am taking back. Simple, but zero shape.

Yeah I know what you mean about dresses hanging from your boobs then I feel like I'm wearing a bag and have zero shape. At least in trousers I have legs. I think dresses can suit tall people. Oh I dunno, I was losing the will to live yesterday. With so many dresses available I kept thinking there must be something!!!!

Dresses are so much more comfortable than trousers and tops, and I've noticed there is often very little difference in the cost of a "top" and a dress.
Dresses are smarter and more feminine, I'm hoping the current trend towards dresses will stop women wearing those deeply unflattering leggings and long teeshirts that very few of us look nice in.

I love midi dresses. And maxi actually. Wearing navy and white stripe maxi dress today with navy jumper and white pumps. Very comfortable and also smart I think. Embrace the dress.

I'm 54. Very rarely wear anything but dresses and I most definitely not skinny. Not all dresses are the same - just like all trousers are the same.

I think being stuck in the "same old black trousers" wardrobe must be very boring and, sorry to say, aging.

Currently embracing the dress.
This is after many years of only ever wearing jeans, more recently shorts and the odd denim skirt in summer.
Literally everything in my wardrobe was denim.
Only actually worn a couple of them so far but felt very comfortable and a lot more dressed up you might say.
Looks like you have made more effort which could not be further from the truth.
Couple of boho styles very loose, a tshirt dress, a linen shirt style with short sleeves and a couple that have scoop necks and cap sleeves.
Did try on a dress with straps and no sleeves and a maxi, not for me, made me feel frumpy and old.
Probably stick to the styles I have already purchased and get one in every colour, that's my usual m o .
Its certainly opened my eyes to shopping again looking for something different.

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I’ll be 69 in a couple of months and I love dresses, especially the unfitted throw on ones in the shops at the moment. They’re all cool and wafty for warm days and I have heavier ones for the winter I wear with a tshirt and leggings under them.

Of course I appreciate that a recommendation from someone my age might tip you right back into black trousers!

I don't possess a dress. 62 and 6 feet tall, size 14. Hate frills, maxis, prints and polyester.

well, theyre comfy until theyre not.

Things that challenge dress wearing in the UK:

Weather.
Winter and the need for weatherproof coats.
rurality and outdoors pursuits.
Usually unlined so have to buy more things to deal with that.

It's the general quality that bothers me. When I switched to wearing only dresses for a few years I really loved the sense of freedom and ease, until the other issues popped up one by one. Also, to find a decent dress in good fabric, with a lining, pockets and that looks great, I am talking more serious money.

The cheapest silk dress I found was Jaeger, with a polyester lining:( And then the one that looked worth it was over £300 at Brora.
I can't believe what a lot of companies are asking for shit, unlined viscose.

I did love wearing them and still do, but ive learned to mix it up and go 50/50. Dresses mostly come out on non windy, summer days.