Can I fix this dress that's a bit too big?

[Gwenhwyfar]

I bought this dress from Nobody's Child, but it's a bit big.
Black Cord Long Sleeve Flossie Midi Dress

I know from experience that NC won't do a return from where I live so I'm looking for a solution. Either one of those hacks they show online or possibly getting it taken in if it's worth it. Any advice?

If it doesn't have pockets in the side seam, I think you can take it in a bit on each seam starting from where the armscye meets the under arm side seam. You'll still need a bit of ease though, so measure carefully.

Update: I bought cinch clips from Amazon, but couldn't make it work. I think there's too much material to put in them. I then bought a big black belt, which also didn't look right because it made the area just under the belt look bulky.

So I gave up and bought a size down. When the 10 arrived, and it was definitely a 10 according to the label, it was also too small. Seems they do their clothes oversized. I did find that if I put the belt a bit higher up it didn't look as bad, but it does spoil the shape to some extent.

I'm going to try to measure the dresses to see what the difference between the 12 and the 10 is because I can't see any!

Well, I tried, but I now have two dresses that don't fit!

@Gwenhwyfar , could you wear a scarf as cummerbund with it?
Something like this
scarf belt

I tried that and it doesn't look good.

You didn't try hard enough
Your best bet is to ask a dressmaker who can suggest something and do a bit of pinning it to see what would work.

I'd still try a belt. I have big boobs which mean waists are usually too high. The trick is to get a belt where the true waist is too of the belt rather than in the middle.