I never wear dresses but want one for a do and nothing seems to suit my shape - help!

[SvetlanaKirilenko]

Celebrating MIL's birthday with a bit of a do in a few weeks and want to get a nice dress to wear. It's an evening meal in a hotel (not too posh) and I know a few other people will be wearing nice dresses, and I would like to as well as I have been looking rubbish for ages and would like to look decent for a change. Something reasonably casual so I could wear it again.

Problem is I never wear dresses, or even skirts. I have tried lots of styles on and loads seem to not suit my body shape at all, so not sure what I am doing wrong

I am 5'6" size 8-10, shortish legs, good waist, medium boobs, wide shoulders. Oh and I need to keep my upper arms covered (so sleeveless is out) due to scarring.

Wrap styles really do not suit me at all, and anything without a defined waist makes me look loads bigger than I am. I am flummoxed - I think the problem could be the pesky shoulders.

Any ideas what styles might suit? Budget anything up to £100.

Thank you - if you have read all this and manage to find anything half decent I salute you

I am going to order the one in the op my brother is on location in brazil with them ATM filming thevworld trade fair!

Love the mango one...and you're not too old for it I'm 45 and my fingers are itching to order it

I will report back next week when I have tried them all on.

Glad I am not the only one who does not suit a wrap dress - not a freak after all! And sorry but I don't do heels - can not will not walk in them

And thank you Frugal for the link I will have a look at that and see where I am going wrong!

Please don't wear them with ankle socks & brogues though!

I won't, but I might wear some wedges!

And Frugal thank you again for the inverted triangle link - it explains why I just never look good in skinny jeans, and why bizarrely tiered skirts really suit me! And I've always wanted a leather biker jacket and just look awful in them - it's the shoulder/upper body details again. Ho hum.

OK have tried on all the dresses and they all went back

The Mango one made me look like a giant rectangle, the People Tree one was waaay too short (bizarre that it looks so much longer on ASOS), and I could not get the NW3 one on - neither up over hips or down over shoulders

So back to square one - will venture into some real shops next week and have another go...