Do these types of dresses work on hourglass shapes?

[Piccolomaforte]

I keep looking at this style of dress, which I think looks really comfortable, but not sure if they would work on my body shape. I only ever see them (including toast dresses) modelled by smaller-chested women.
I’m 5’2 and hourglass 10-12, about 34D and concerned about looking ‘matronly’. What do you think? www.marksandspencer.com/cotton-rich-notch-neck-midi-waisted-dress/p/clp23086665?color=RED

Speaking from experience, if you are large of nork or narrow of shoulders, this dress shape resembles a spinnaker. Otherwise, you are good to go!

If you are hourglass, then you need a dress that comes in at the waist. That will just look frumpy

What am I reading? 34D isn't a "larger bust" FFS and neither is 10/12 a "fuller figure". It'll be fine, they are meant to be worn lose. But not sure if the length will drown you. It's nowhere near as baggy as those awful Toast dresses. Just go a size down if it's too loose.

I wish people would stop posting this absolute nonsense about bra sizes. I'm a 34DD, 5'7" and a size 10/12 and my bras and clothes fit absolutely bloody great, thank you. I could wear a 32 band if I didn't value breathing or if I wanted a thick red mark from my bra digging in.

It’s not nonsense though, there’s a lot of women wearing the wrong bra size due to poor fitting and out dated measuring. You might be wearing a 34 DD but that doesn’t mean a smaller band and larger cups won’t fit better. If someone’s rib cage measure 30” with a tape measure pulled tight then an elasticated 30” band bra will fit providing the cup size is right. If the band fits but feels tight and leaves red marks it’s far more likely that the cups are too small and breast tissue is being pushed into the band stealing the space.

There’s basic checks to do to see if your bra fits properly. Put it on backwards without putting your arms in the straps making sure it sits right up where it should. Pull it out, if you can pull more than an inch or so your band is too big. The support comes from the band not the straps. If the band is right then you check the cups, swooping and scooping from as far back under your arm as you can. If all your breast tissue fits in the cup then great, if you have overspill the cup is too small. If the band feels too tight on the right way, the cups are too small. There are a few exceptions for example swimmers with broader backs, but for the majority of the population bra bands will be dress size plus no more than 20” which also assumes the bra you are trying is true to size.

If you have tried all that above and your bras fit properly the great, you are the exception to the “rule” most of us fit. If women are comfortable in their bra size whether it fits “properly” or not then that’s also fine but there are so many people who do not know that they are still being sold bras inches too big with cups too small.

We have been conditioned to think adding 4” to a modern bra band is right, it’s not. We are conditioned to think anything above a D cup is huge, its’s not. A D cup means your boobs stick out 4” above your rib cage measurement, that’s tiny and if people are saying they think that’s big then I would put money on them being able to get a better fitting bra and needing a bigger cup size.

If the band fits but feels tight and leaves red marks it’s far more likely that the cups are too small and breast tissue is being pushed into the band stealing the space.

This is often not the case. If the cups are too small, red flags include spilling at the top. If the wearer has extended the shoulder straps as far as they can go, this is also a red flag. If none of those red flags are present and the band hurts, the band may simply be too small.

If the band is overstretched, it can fasten but will hurt within a couple of hours and be unwearably painful before end of workday. I've had to take a bra off in the loos at lunchtime and go braless at work, which was not fun.

Spilling at the top absolutely too small but the band too tight if it fits without the cups in use is definitely a too small cup too. If the cups are too small where does the breast tissue go? It’s pushed down into the band which makes it tighter.

I struggle with bras as a 32 JJ/K it’s a size you can’t just pick up in a shop like M&S. I’ve had 32” bras that do up on the backwards test perfectly but are impossible to do up the right way because the cups are too small. Same bra up a cup size or 2 and the band is not too tight. If you follow the Boob or Bust page on Facebook that’s a really common finding.

I think the dress is nice and hopefully not too high in the waist itms.

Hattie Jacques lol

it was the dresses that were so unflattering weren’t they, she was pretty

I'm an hourglass and would wear that dress for eg pottering in the garden with a trug- quite like the slight shapelessness for that and it's a great colour. I wouldn't wear it for anything where I wanted to show my figure at its best.

I love the Hush dress but where are the pockets? How can they not bother on such a casual style? I haven't bought Hush for a while and was nearly tempted there!

Totally agree. Boob or Bust is worth at least giving a go. I'm 5'8 and a 10 in tops and went from a 32E/34D to a 28F.

At first they felt too tight and I did get some red marks, but once I found the right fit and cup style the red marks went away, and I got used to the tightness, which didn't actually restrict me at all, just felt odd at first. I really like that my shoulder straps aren't trying to hold up my boobs anymore, and digging into my shoulders - it's all in the band.

Anyway, OP - I don't think that dress would look flattering on anyone but a waif-like hippie with a flatter chest, but it does look comfortable!

If you like the look of toast dresses but find that they don’t fit it might be your waist to neck length, I tried one on in JL a few years ago and was bemoaning that it didn’t look good on me. The assistant immediately said why, I had never considered individual measurements within a size but it was a useful lesson. I am a pear/hourglass but with a short upper body so anything with a very defined waist just doesn’t work. Sleeveless dress are okay because I can lift them at the shoulder.

I've tried on most of Seasalt's styles and the one I go to is the Pier/skater style. I have both of these in differtent patterns

https://www.marksandspencer.com/cotton-rich-polka-dot-knee-length-skater-dress/p/clp23059547#intid=pidpg1pip48g4r6c4%7CprodflagOnline%20Only

https://www.marksandspencer.com/jersey-floral-midi-skater-dress/p/clp23086549#intid=pidpg1pip48g4r3c4%7CprodflagOnline%20Only

I too would check you are in the right bra though I'm a Size 12 and 5ft 3. Large on top but with a nipped in waist and I am a 32 E in a bra. I used to be a 30E/32DD when I was a 10/12 but I've put a little bit of weight on.

Haha, I am both of those!

I've been to Rigby and Peller twice in my 52 years and goodness they are a cut above. I normally go to Bravissimo but I can honestly say the R&P bras I have had have fitted to perfection. Budget alone prevents me from going there ll the time.

The issue is that the sleeves are a single cut which just gives you one big block of fabric on the top from the shoulder to shoulder (which in a lot of people is the widest point of your body) which big boobs then fill in. If you have a bigger bust then set in sleeves are more flattering as it breaks up that one continuous boob from arm to arm look. (I have wide shoulders and big boobs, tailored tops and wide legged trousers or a-line skirts ftw)

No bra fitters I’ve been to have ever measured me. That includes Rigby and Peller and Bravissimo. They always get it right! M&S never get it right and don’t make the size or shape bra I need. They make me feel like a freak!

This doesn't preclude the possibility of the band simply being too tight. Bravissimo in particular are nightmarish for putting me into bands that fasten but hurt quickly. The band can fasten backwards and forwards and still be too tight.

Signs of this are your nipples pointing slughtly sideways instead of straight forwards, your arms catching the sides of your breasts when you swing them forwards, and underwires extending into your armpits. All these signs indicate that the band is so tight that the cups are being distorted: pulled sideways as the band overstretches.

The test I use for strap fit is to put the bra on using the bend and scoop method, adjust straps, then wriggle and stretch and jump up and down. If the strap stays level all the way around, it's not too big.

I’m the same and went up to 32. I find though some of my bra straps slip down however the 30 was too tight and I sometimes had the gore of bra digging in

Fair enough.

I go to a small independent lingerie shop. The lady does look but also always uses a tape measure and she always gets it right. She has had the shop for ten years and business is booming, so I suppose she knows what she's doing.

The first time I went, I was using a 38 strap and a C cup. She could tell by looking that I needed a smaller strap and a larger cup. She then measured and brought me a variety of bras, by different makers, to try on.

I accept what pp are saying about no tape measure being needed but, for me, I like the reassurance of one.

Try bras with the straps closer-set at the back, or failing that, you can buy anti-slipping devices that stop the straps from sliding down.

It would work for a Handmaid’s Tale fancy dress outfit!

Thanks

I’m a Seasalt 12. Tall hour glass and I wear a 30G. I’m sure you’re in the wrong bra size. Go to a good independent or Bravissimo. You’ll look so much better in the right bra.
Back to this dress. A big no from me. Sorry.