Stylish midi/maxi dress help

[needlesandhaystacks]

In my 30s, size 16, very conscious of my tummy. Peter midi/maxi length, at least short sleeved.

I need a dress for a 30th birthday celebration in a swanky bar in central London for next month.

No idea where to start looking. Budget £100

Any advice where to look? TIA

Sorry just spotted you want sleeves

https://www.cos.com/en_gbp/women/womenswear/dresses/product.draped-asymmetric-midi-dress-black.1229639001.html

I like this but it's the one size thing putting me off.

It's the one size thing I'm not sure on.

Some gorgeous Nobody's Child dresses on here!

I always find that maxi dresses accentuate my c-section pouch... how about something like this: www.roman.co.uk/polka-dot-tiered-frill-midi-dress-14375938

I think the green dress is lovely!

This is so pretty op go with this 😍

Could a friend do a whip-round and make your dress a birthday gift?

If you’re able to at least triple your budget from £100 to £300+ (10 friends pay £20 each) I (or another person who loves to make clothes) could come up with a made-to-measure garment in a style that suits and flatters you, one that you can wear and feel beautiful in for years.

How would you describe your overall torso shape? Triangular, egg, inverted egg, hour-glass (or at least a dent between bust and bottom) , pear, busty?

If you don’t want to go down the made-to-measure route, try a department store with a personal shopping service, ideally, one that does alterations. You will look your best in a style that flatters you, but a good fit is essential.

River Island have some lovely maxi/midi dresses.

https://www.riverisland.com/p/silver-stripe-long-sleeve-midi-dress-763181

https://www.riverisland.com/p/black-pleated-pearl-ruffle-midi-dress-904882

https://www.riverisland.com/p/cream-stripe-tie-waist-midi-shirt-dress-907321

https://www.riverisland.com/p/black-floral-puff-sleeve-shift-midi-dress-908095

https://www.riverisland.com/p/black-satin-animal-print-midi-shirt-dress-760144

I love this but sold out in a 16 https://www.riverisland.com/p/pink-twist-front-floral-maxi-dress-909558

Sorry, just re-read and saw you want sleeves so ignore my second suggestion.

My advice is to avoid anything that has gathers above your natural waist - for me this makes me look even more pregnant than I already do. Flowing, skimming is much better for me, also with a stomach I dislike intensely.

I am a 16 and just ordered this and find it really flattering and can be dressed up or down with accessories. In black not the cream pic shown below. I think it looks much better on than shown in the photo.

https://www.marksandspencer.com/pure-cotton-square-neck-midaxi-dress/p/clp60649895?prevPage=srp#intid=pidpg1pip48g2r2c1

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So rude - crawl back under your rock! Or change the ‘G’ in your username to a C, that would be more apt.

It could also look more like Louby-Lou has escaped from the Andy Pandy film set.

It's all about taste, dahling, is it not?

Your rudeness to another poster indicates you consider not only your taste to be superior but your entitlement to mock others is well-honed.

HTH

I quite like https://muthahoodgoods.com/collections/dresses and https://scampanddude.com/collections/dresses but I have no idea if they are stylish...

FWIW I have a couple of the Starlight dresses by Nobody's Child and find them very flattering but they might be a bit blowsy for some people's taste. The Debenham's dress is gorgeous but the sleeves look tight to me. The Roman polkadot dress is lovely and looks much more expensive than it is.
I am into orange at the moment so would wear this! £79. It's long though. Now tempted to order one for myself 😂
https://www.warehousefashion.com/product/coast-angel-sleeve-v-neck-fil-coupe-midaxi-dressbcc08258?colour=orange

Navy Nova Midi Smock Dress | Nobody's Child (nobodyschild.com)

Black Jersey Maine Midi Dress | Nobody's Child (nobodyschild.com)

Blak Short Sleeve Finn Midi Dress | Nobody's Child (nobodyschild.com)

https://www.nobodyschild.com/black-bardot-amanda-midi-dress.html

They have pockets and I think can be dressed up or down. Also 20% off Nobody's Child at the moment. I have the second and third and they skim the stomach area - and the two I own also have pockets!

She is going to a swank bar, not a wedding! Some of these suggestions are wayyyy too frumpy. I'd suggest black. Classy, slimming, accessorise with some nice jewellery and handbag

This says cocktails to me:

green chevron dress

Agree! Also total nonsense. Stylish is not the same as fashionable. The dress is great.

I love this "muthahoodgoods" website! Never seen or heard of it before but will be ordering, thanks.

https://hopeandivy.co.uk/products/the-julia

I've just ordered this, out of stock on the website but ordered from another stockist x

scamp and dude do great midi/maxi dresses with sleeves. The cuts are generally very flattering for a c-section (from experience). I find their sizing reasonably generous so size down if you are between sizes unless you are very busty (not my issue unfortunately)