Would you wear this dress if you were me ?

[whitefluffybear]

I'm an hourglass 14/16. I recently bought a beautiful black velvet v neck midi dress in Zara .It's beautiful on except my wide flabby belly sticks out even with skims. It's an x l and stated that it's a small fit but there is no xxl. I'd love to wear it but would possibly be self conscious even though the velvet is forgiving.
What could I do to hide my belly ? I'd hate to return it. It's perfect in every other way .
Thanks

Silk scarf in a festive colour worn hanging down? With matching lippy!

100% wear the dress! Don't cover yourself up or over accessorise a lovely dress that's perfect in every other way!

I had similar worries in a velvet dress. Every single person told me how great it looked and they loved my dress - no one person said anything about my stomach. People never notice the parts of you that you worry about, genuinely 😊

It sounds like you'll be self conscious and therefore uncomfortable. It's a nearly perfect dress, but only nearly, so it's imperfect. Keep looking for a dress that you feel comfortable in!

I think it just comes down to you and how comfortable you feel. Even with a scarf, if you’re conscious of your stomach it will stop you enjoying the dress. It’s the sort of thing that nobody will notice in the same way you will, so only you know whether the dress will hang in your wardrobe unworn or whether you will think “fuck it” and wear it anyway. I’d vote for “fuck it” but that’s easy for someone else to say.

Or what @TTPDTS said!

Is it too tight or just you're not happy with how it looks? Can we see a link? (Sounds lovely)

If it’s actually too small can you not have it altered? Your local alterations service should be able to add some extra fabric so it skims rather than clings.

Can you wear shapewear under it ?

belly sticks out even with skims

The OP has already tried shapewear!

https://thefast800.com/how-to-lose-belly-fat/?gadsource=1&gbraid=0AAAAAC46XkTrVf11sG4bBRUux9DO9se0q&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIwpXkhLT8iQMV35NQBh13mQ1dEAAYAiAAEgJTePDBwE

Please don’t wear a scarf and matching lipstick, that’s so dated, and will look rather ludicrous with a velvet dress.

id advocate wearing it, no one will be staring at your tummy,

It you don't feel comfortable send it back and look for another. There's nothing worse than feeling self conscious and you want to be able to eat drink and be merry in your dress. You'll find something you love as much x

Double up on the shape wear?

If you’re uncomfortable because it’s unflattering, I would return it. Not every dress is flattering for every body type, unfortunately.

Do you have a friend or relative you can trust to be totally honest?

It might look better then you think and you are just super aware of your tummy.

Send it back. Loads of similar dresses on Silk Fred that you won’t be self conscious in

This is why I gave up on dressing for my body shape. I was starting to feel negative about perfectly unremarkable body parts that nobody but me even noticed.

I'm struggling to get it completely out of my system though - to this day I insist on wearing sleeves. So I acknowledge that 'Fuck it and wear it' is very much a case of 'Do what I say, not what I'd do.' I hope you do though.

If shapewear doesn't make a difference there's not really anything you can do.
Either wear it with confidence or send it back, pretty much your only two options. Wearing an accessory that covers up enough of your body (like a giant scarf) means the majority of the dress will also be covered up thus defeats the purpose.

Was there no XXL at all, or just not one in stock? If there was one made try vinted or something. Or you can google image the dress and it shows you other ones in the same style for sale. There will be loads of black velvet dresses available at this time of year, one in a different style cut will be more flattering.

tbf I had to read that bit again to check, I assumed that was what was meant from the context but I've never heard 'skims' to mean shapewear before

Skims is a brand, @another1bitestheduck. (Not some cryptic slang!). Here:

https://skims.com/en-gb

You can't spot reduce. The only thing is it's bloat avoid the foods that caused it.

Your figure sounds like mine, put some eye-catching jewellery around your neck. I've realised, much too late, that people don't spend time looking at what you perceive as body flaws.

You need the next level of shape wear and it needs to have boning, ie a waspie waist cincher. I like What Katy Did.

Can you post a picture ?

No one is going to be looking at your belly. It's normal to have a stomach that sticks out a bit and it's not something anyone else will perceive. So in principle I say wear it

However with these sort of things I always say fuck it and end up feeling self conscious all evening. Only you know if you feel confident in it or not

Honestly life's too short to give a fig about what others think. But if you don't feel great try something else.