See, I’m perplexed. Who’s right and who’s wrong? Love it, hate it, dowdy, keep for ever, send it back. Goes to show. I guess if you feel comfortable, you like the colour, and it makes you feel good… but the fact you’re asking shows you aren’t sure.
So I think you’ve done the right thing and returned it. Btw, I tried this dress on, and it’s absolutely enormous. I’m 5’3” and I think you’d need to be 5’6”-plus for this. It absolutely swamped me, and made it look as though I was wearing a bright purple burka.
Also, I love purple, but it’s a very gaudy (on me) purple. Might be great for warm toned people (I’m a cool, suit black etc). I didn’t pick up the gaudiness via the pic.