Are maxi dresses for everyone?

[AvonCallingBarksdale]

Oh, help. I'm 5'5" (just) and currently a 12 - nearer 12-14 rather than 10-12. I'd like some nice summer dresses, and everyone has maxi dresses. But whenever I try them on, they look shit . I have upper arms that are flabby, so I'm already paranoid about them and they're deathly white. Are there some body shapes (ie short and a bit podgy) that should just steer clear? What I see in my mind ain't what was looking back at me in the mirror!!

I'd like to know too!
I'm 5 foot 2 but pretty slim - size 8/10.

I'd really like a black jersey maxi skirt. :)

I've seen a nice purple one in Wallis, but I'm loathe to order in case it also looks crappy. Hopefully someone knowledgeable will be along soon to advise! Maybe I need to hop over to the weight loss board, then come back over here!

some of wallis maxi dresses are actually very long. I've bought 4 dresses from there recently. Which are you looking at?

I think max dresses can be for everyone, it probably depends on the shape.

www.wallis.co.uk/en/wluk/product/dresses-265974/purple-maxi-dress-1946902?bi=1&ps=20

hope that works

I don't 'get' the whole 'maxi dress' thing. Like any other dress type/shape they look absolutely fabulous on a few people, great on a few more, perfectly acceptable on a number and god-fucking-awful on the rest... at 5ft and overweight, I'm definitely in the last category!!

I was tempted to start a thread about them today - my question is - don't women realise they are completely see-through or is it that they just don't care that they are completely see-through??

I have that one! I am 5'11 and it skims my ankles. I'm also a 12-14, I have that in the 14. The 12 would be slightly shorter. TBH I wouldn't buy it at 5'5. It's quite long in the body part too, so I think you prob need long legs to carry it off.

I think you probably need something that drops from directly below the bust, iykwim?

Not for me - these hide my best assets (i.e hips and legs). I would rather expose my legs than my top half when out in the sun so that I get tanned legs.

Some women do look fantastic in these though.

I'm a size 14/16 and 5ft 7.
I tried approximately 11 million maxi dresses on, earlier in the season and they all looked hideous.

I gave up and bought a grey maxi skirt instead.

So far today, I've trapped it in doors, tripped on the stairs and got it tangled up with my flip flops more times than I care to mention.
It'll be a miracle if I've not injured myself by the end of the day.

I think you need to be quite elegant to wear a maxi... I'm obviously not :o

IMO they are for no one over the age of 24 and size 10. They are hideous.

Avon you shape doesn't sound like it would suit a maxi at all. You sound like you have a lovely figure, just not one that is suited to maxis

Ah, thanks, mindosa, and I fear you may be right about not being the right shape. I think they can look lovely, but I also think I'm just trying to fit myself into a shape that I'm not and will never be - ie tall and willowy! Last year I was more of a 10-12 and they still looked odd on me. I have quite a large chest area and they just seem to hang from there, making me look like a sack
Chopstheduck - I bet the Wallis dress looks lovely on you at 5'11"!
Thanks for the advice - I'll look to a different style for a summer dress..

I'd say no one over the age of 30 and/or under 5ft 3 ish.

Rules me out :(

Annianni take care!

Avon, swapsie a few inches off my legs for your boobs? I have the height, but Im terribly flat chested!

As I am 40 and a size 12 I usually wear dresses like this as I find them very appropriate for my advanced years and huge size. Drip dry too as a bonus.

I don't think they suit anyone.

I try one on every summer (how are these bloody things still in fashion anyway?) and every year I am disappointed. They are the most unflattering garments known to man and the feel of all that fabric around my legs is unpleasant.

And I am 6 foot tall and a size 8. So you would think they would suit me but they don't. They make me look all hippy (as in make my hips look bigger than they are, not Haight Ashbury hippy).

plain, racerback jersey ones are comfortable, unfussy and as close to chic as it is going to get. i am not a shorts wearer and i refuse to wear trousers of any kind when it is hot.

i love these. i have a potbelly. i don.t give a shit. i look as good as i am going to look and i can live with that

fwiw i am 38, have had 2 kids, size 12, 5'7 pear shaped hominid.

I said on a previous S&B thread that I thought you need to be 5'10 and slim with good legs to look good in a maxi dress and lots of people disagreed with me! I stand by what I said before - I'm a slim 5'6" and look like I'm being swallowed up by a maxi dress if I try on one

I think shorter women can sometimes look better than tall ones in them. Rule of thumb (for everyone) should be:

Plain colours, no garish geometric/florals/big prints
No bright colours
Slimline but not skin tight, not billowing either
Jersey type material rather than made from the sails of ships
No fat backs bulging out, definitely not if sunburned
Not strapless (please) unless you are very toned but even then probably not (and make sure the damn thing is pulled up)
wear a thin cardigan if you are big up top
Wear with glads or havianas with the ankle strap
Simple hair and jewellery

this is a dress

It hides thunder thighs and dodgy knees and stops when it's work is done. It does not carry on to cause a trip hazard and masses of unnecessary washing, drying and ironing.

(This dress was in the players box, so it seemed an appropriate example as I'm still wearing my tennis name)