Problems with summer dresses in the shops right now

[Clotheswoe]

I've been trying to find some nice summer dresses to buy. I'm a size 12, mid/late 30s.

I'm struggling find any that suit me and that I'm comfortable wearing.

Main issues are:

• Many are wrap dresses and don't feel secure, especially when it's windy

• I would like a waist line where my waist actually is - and I can't find dresses like this

• Dresses seem to either cling in all the wrong places, or the opposite and they drown me.

Anyone else having issues with summer dresses?

@Flossieskeeper agree. Most clothes sold are for tall women. Gigantic long legs on jeans, skirts that need a huge chunk chopped off the bottom. But I'm not petite either.

I love Sugarhill. Great fabrics and cuts for reasonable prices. I'm a 16 and find their stuff always fits and flatters me.

Also a size 12 and your age but I’m taller I found some lovely dresses in river island last week and shein had some lovely dresses I’m awaiting but there are a lot of shapeless dresses everywhere else that don’t accentuate a woman’s curves. I definitely noticed it’s easier for taller women to find nice summer dresses

I recommend the Kensington dress from Hush. I have 2, one of them bought years ago and still going strong. They do different prints every year.

https://www.hush-uk.com/kensington-shirt-dress-star-geo-blue/005627-4298.html

This is one I got from river island the belt allows you too create the waist line you want and the buttons you can decide how much cleavage you want it looks amazing on

I saw some nice dresses in Sainsbury’s today, but can’t see any of them on their website. The sleeves were quite reasonable and they were fitted on the bust and not too baggy elsewhere. My size was sold out in all of them, but it might be worth a trip to look if you are near a branch.

I've bought this shirt dress from H&M in a few colours over the last couple of years. It's very easy to wear and works for summer and winter. At one point four people in my office had the same style though 😬

H&M shirt dress

Fine in your twenties, size 10-12, with slim legs and toned arms, but not for the average woman, I think!

@SydneyCarton this dress looks fabulous and very flattering. Love the different designs too. Thanks for the recommendation.

I’m not sure which size to get, xxxxxxxxxxl by the look of them. I’ve heard so much about Shein, good and bad. I don’t want to be returning stuff all the time!

Well that’s your opinion I was actually responding to the original post they are a size 12, but I think it’s unfair to limit more curvaceous body shapes, celebrate your curves and wear what you want Ladies!!

I love tiered, smock dresses,

Never wear anything else, I've been buying a few on Vinted, not finding a lot of the tiered smock style this year.

They do a plus size range too just google shien plus plus (they are on the small size . order a size up. Check the material details too

Sorry ...but Shein are dreadful. Their clothes maybe cheap and what you are looking for but is it really worth it. Every time someone mentions 'Shein' on here, my heart sinks.
https://time.com/6247732/shein-climate-change-labor-fashion/

I'm 5'9".me too. Belts round your ribcage, anyone?

@Lentilweaver

I love all the things you say you hate, frills, tiers, yokes, bows, embroidery, and anything boho or folksy.

I don't mean to be offensive but that dress you've linked to is hideous in my eyes. Each to their own though!

https://www.poetryfashion.co.uk/category-POEDS/dresses-skirts.htm
I like this Poetry summer dress
£££ I know but if you want well made natural fibres it’s going to cost more than fast fashion .

I just don't suit the current fashions so haven't bought a new dress in ages.

Just waiting for the fashion wheel to spin round to shorter more fitted styles.

I’ve seen some lovely dresses in the shops, but as soon as I try them on I discover they’re cut to show extra flesh. Like a lovely ankle length maxi with a slit up to the thigh, turns it from a wearable dress for work and church etc into something you can only wear at a nightclub. Or a lovely dress with slices cut out of the waist to show some skin. Apart from anything else, you want to be covered to prevent sunburn! The last thing I want is two crescent shaped red patches on my sides!

I gave up years ago and started making my own.

I've a wardrobe full of me-made of clothes made to fit me exactly in mostly natural fabrics. Bust darts and pockets galore!

I can't remember the last time I went clothes shopping or bought something from a shop but every now and then I pick something up that's caught my eye and become horrified about how cheap and nasty it feels and how badly put together it is and put it back again.

I just don't want tiers. Enough already with the tiers! It would be nice if polyester and viscose could naff off too.

Also, I'd like a dress without a fitted waist, because they are always in the wrong place.

I really resent the fact that the puff/elasticated sleeves, tiered designs and shirred panels are a way of cutting costs, yet they are everywhere.
I've just bought some linen mix fabric, and I'm going to be making a dress for the first time in twenty years. I used to sew a lot when I was in my teens and twenties, and I know how to adjust patterns, so I thought I'd give it a go. At least this way I can put darts in!

Ha! No offence taken. Is it the colour you hate? Because it comes in black too. 😁

The issue with viscose - it's made from wood pulp and basically when it gets wet at any temperature it shrinks.

It is actually a lovely drapey cool fabric to wear, it takes colour well, is easy to produce and hangs well on a hanger. When it is blended with more stable fabrics like linen or or cotton it can actually wash really well.

Viscose on its own though is quite often dry clean only but because its widely used produce people buying clothes made with it are buying it at a price point where they wouldn't expect to have to dry clean it. The clothes manufacturers don't care if it shrinks after you wash it because that just means you need to buy more clothes!

I've a few jumpsuits I've made with really good viscose blends and they are lovely to wear and wash well.