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!

The recent dress trends just bury me, I am slim, middle aged, and remember the slim fitting tea dresses of the 90's fondly. I don't like the cheap looking modern ones much.

Have you seen the M&S collaboration with Ghost? Quite 90s.

www.marksandspencer.com/MSFindItemsByKeyword?searchTerm=ghost&filter=Categories%3DSC_Level_1_1

Thank you to all the posters who've given advice on legs!

l am 53, tall and slim, recently bought a couple of lovely summer dresses from Pour Moi. l am outdoors alot , toned , and have a light tan so my legs and arms look fine, my dresses are just above the knee, fit well, not baggy.
Cupshe also have some nice boho dresses, got my eye on a couple of those, nice earthy colours which suit me.
l live in dresses this time of the year, l am taking all dresses away with me next month when l go away. l have some nice shorts from Fatface, l usually wear those when out in the garden, l like wearing a dress, makes me feel more feminine.

@trilobiterevival i live rurally. I have a couple of dresses I wear at weekends - Weird Fish ones. I’ve a tea dress style one that I’ve recently started wearing. I think it’s getting the right style for your shape really. I’ve a couple that make me look bigger and I’ll not go for those styles again. I don’t work in an office; I was a tutor and sometimes wore a dress then. I spend most of my time in trousers nowadays and also skirts. Now it’s getting warmer I’ll get my shorts out!

49 and short and love dresses. I find them way more comfortable and flattering than trousers.

Damn, my Ghost link didn’t work but if you search M&S website for Ghost, you’ll find them.

I'm probably about your age and size and I rarely wear dresses. Only very occasionally for a special occasion like a wedding. I just don't find them comfortable. I live somewhere warm and I live in shorts and t shirts most of the time. If I'm getting dressed up I'll wear smarter trousers or capris with a nice top.

Dresses aren't mandatory!

I'm a recent dress convert - 42, 5ft7 & size 20-22. Usually wear leggings & tunics or jeans & tops, but have ventured into dresses from FatFace & TU mostly - agree that bigger busts need a v-neck, scoop, wrap etc. I also use belts to pull in the waist & give it some shape on the more floaty dresses but have it under my bust rather than on my waist.
I wear leggings, tights or bare legs depending on dress/weather - shoes will be boots, sandals, canvas shoes (Keds/Converse) or trainers.

I live semi-rurally & wfh pt. I wear dresses probably 60% of the time. I wouldn't wear one to go out stomping across the fields with a dog - maybe a tunic & leggings or jeans for that. But around the house, shopping, school run yes to dresses. Wore a maxi dress yesterday for a picnic at a local NT place.

I got this from Sainsbury's Tu just before Easter. I also seem to struggle with the floaty summer dresses. Maxi and tiered dresses swamp me and too much fussy stuff looks too much.
But this one sits nicely on me. I don't see in online at the moment.

I also love my Uniqglo one from last year, which is basically a long tube!

I really like dresses but as I'm mid 50s with a generous hour glass figure the current style of dresses don't suit me at all. I look utterly ridiculous in frills and puffed sleeves.

Im I’m my 59’s and a10/12, with shoulders and boobs that are out of proportion with my slimmer waist, hips and flat “boy” bum
I find separates flatter my figure more, but also hate those boxy tops!

i have a long sleeveless shirt dress in cream viscose / silk that fits and skims all the bits nicely. Wear that on very hot days. I’ve had it at least 20 years as it’s not so hot that often !

im not averse to a dress and have a couple of cord ones I wear in winter with biker boots or flat shoes. I wish more clothes would come round that were tailored though.

yes oversized things drive me mad too. I love these blazers as they are simple but have a slight bit of shaping to waist. Come in loads of different colours too.
gb.benetton.com/waisted-blazer-in-100-linen-military-green-2AGH522Z4_2H2.html

Anything that hangs from the boobs or is high or square cut look better on people with small busts and narrow shoulders. Bigger busted/wide shoulders need something v neck, wrap or scoop seck with a band or tie either directly under bust if you are apple shaped or on the waist if pear or hourglass shaped I was coming on to say exactly this. Also the bigger you are, the smaller the print - big prints will make you look bigger. The fact is, they may all look quite similar hanging on the rail, but you really need to try them on to find a style you love and that works for you. Not all long, flouncy dresses are the same. @Jacopo - long dresses are the answer to your prayers. Slap on a bit of fake tan if you must, but really a maxi dress hides a multitude of sins in the leg department. Worn with trainers you don't even need to worry about a pedicure.

I’m 60 and I wear dresses but always wear black leggings with them.

I have really been into skirts/dresses lately. I am on the sturdy size but definitely have a waist. I am quite short and find above the knee dresses/skirts are the most flattering.

I can't stand dresses. They look nice on other people, but make me look like a sack of potatoes.

Jeans and shorts all the way for me, and the occasional pair of black trousers with a blouse if I need a more formal look.

I’m 37, a size 16/18 and I’m trying to embrace dresses after too many hot summers days thinking how nice it would be to be wearing a dress and not overheating. I got a work dress from Hobbs recently at a John Lewis stylist appointment which has kicked started it for me. It a shirt dress which skims me rather than clings, and still has shape from a tie waist. I wore it for work with bare legs (and chub rub shorts) and it was liberatingly comfortable! I’ve ordered a couple of casual ones from Hush and Sugar Hill Brighton (both new to me!) to try.

Dresses with black leggings underneath? I'm finding that hard to picture on a grown woman.

I love wearing dresses and skirts, and live in them (I'm mid forties!)
Unless I have to wear trousers to work, I never wear them.
So YABU.
Embrace the dress!

I do the same, it means my dresses are all season, I wear them with black leggings and Ugg boots in the colder months. Oh, and I’m 55!

@cofingalthetime I'm like you. I'm currently a size 16 but even when I was size 12 I would get a sweat rash at the top of the thighs unless I wore tights in the summer.

Last year I invested in a couple of dresses as I was getting so hot in trousers. So I got these from Amazon. I did all 'nude' colour ones as I didn't want them to show up through flimsy fabric. They were marvellous - very comfortable. I went for a size 18 as I didn't want them to cut in or roll down. They stayed in place (belly and mid thigh) all day even when I was working with kids in school.

www.amazon.co.uk/wirarpa-Invisible-Seamless-Underwear-Multicolor/dp/B07S9W4S46?ref_=ast_sto_dp&th=1&psc=1

And, I ended up wearing them under trousers later in the year as I got a bit of chaffing from cold winds in the winter.

They do the normal colours as well as pastel colours if you go to their shop. And you can wear them as shorts as they're aren't flimsy and see through.

I've never seen anyone over the age of about 5 wearing leggings under a dress!

Chucks it down in Wales, but a dress dries far more quickly than a pair of jeans. Wet denim leg is horrid.

Current trends say that everyone now shops online, and with loose shapes/styles we are less likely to need to return items at a cost to the retailer. Also that looking good in photos matters so, brights and prints instead of neutral block colours.