Ready for another round of Anthropologie dress reviews? I’ve got nine more coming today starting with set of thoughts on frocks. And plenty more reviews to peruse while you wait for this afternoon’s set.
Note: For sizing reference I am 34-29-38, a size 6/M in dresses. I’m 5’8″.
An imperfect review is better than no review, right? The Rubied Dusk Dress ($298) isn’t available in regular sizes any Anthropologie stores in NYC, but I stumbled across an 8 petite at the Soho store. So while I’m in no way petite I figured a general gist is better than nothing. I hope you agree.
This polyester dress is red, though it’s an orange-y red. The skirt is made of tight pleats with a poly lining underneath. The bodice is a nude-colored tank with “over 300 hand-made French knots” according to Anthropologie’s website. That’s some meticulous knotting! The waistband is made from the same knot style. There is a side zipper.
Petite or no petite, this dress is short-waisted. Just like me! This 8P I tried on is about 56″ long, which translated to hitting me about two inches above the ankle. On the bodice the shoulders are not nearly wide enough for my broader build, and the top is basically an empire on me. Still, I’m sure that my usual size 6 regular would work just fine. So this dress is true to size. The dress seems well made but it’s lacking an expensive feel. When I put it on it feels handmade but not in an exquisite way. I’m sure these dresses were made with love…I can’t quite describe what’s missing.
I like red, and I like orange (even though orange is a truly difficult hue to pull off with fair skin). I’m not quite sure that I can do orange-y red. This dress is just OK to me. Pass.
I adore the Geojacquard Dress‘s ($168) pattern. The jacquard looks like diagonally placed arrows or fish up close. Here’s what’s lame though: the model shot dress is not the same as the production dress. Here’s a closeup of the model version. On the bodice, the arrows/fish are black on a red base while on the skirt they are red on a black base. So cool. Somewhere between model and production Anthropologie decided that all cool things must be made slightly less cool, so the production version is an OK but decidedly disappointing black fish/arrows on a red base. Knowing what we missed out on makes me sad.
The dress is polyester, fully lined and has a longer back than front. The effect is only noticeable when you’re walking towards someone in real life or when you’re standing still facing someone. There are hidden pockets on the side. (So hidden it took me awhile to find them.) The bodice on this dress is extremely tight. In my usual size 6 I could only get it zipped up to my shoulder blades. I’m in the 6 above, with the zipper zipped all the way and my chest feeling really squeezed. It’s also fairly short — the voluminous skirt hides that it’s sitting over 2 inches above my knees.
Also worth noting is that the fabric of this dress is heavy, stiff and a little scratchy against the skin. I agree with the online reviewer who noted that the skirt sits differently on each dress, depending on where the pleats gather to the waistline. So if you can try this on in person I recommend it. Be sure to size up. I think this dress is cute and would pick it up on sale. For now, wishlisted.
Still hunting for a Valentine’s Day date night dress? Consider the Pieced Column Dress (now $60), a Tracy Reese dress that borrows the Bailey 44 name and is hawt. This unholy mix of rayon, polyester, spandex and nylon combines into one stretchy sexy dress that’s showing off every Jessica Rabbit curve I’ve got. Delight! It hits me just above the knee and has a low v-neck that showcases my, ahem, assets to impressive levels. Speaking of assets this dress hugs all curves, and I do mean all curves, including the rear ones. My half-marathons have really been paying off!
I’m in my usual size medium here. It was nearly perfect — too tight across the hips though, creating an indent where my hips end and my curvy thighs begin. I’d size up to a large to buy this dress. The sleeves in the medium were also tight.
My Valentine’s Day date calls for romantic over sexy, but this dress would be a great pickup for a low-lit dinner with no plans after. And so on. Now on second cut it’s a total steal! I plan to pick this dress up in a large in my next online order. Sitting in my cart as we speak.
Above in size 4 on me, a little too tight
Style #: 29622859; black (001)
★★★★☆
The Minuet Dress ($228) is a winter reissue of last spring’s Sophie Dress. The red version never made much of an impression on me. This black version, however, was love at first sight online. I hoped and hoped and hoped that this “online exclusive” would make it into the NYC stores as sometimes happens. But after asking for a few weeks at Chelsea Market, the most likely location, my hopes faded.
Then, a little shopping miracle! My awesome personal shopper contact told me that Chelsea Market had indeed received the dress as a return, so I rushed out to try it on. Inventory was showing they had a 6 and an 8, exactly the sizes I needed to choose between. Unfortunately, it turned out they only had two size 8s. As the reviews and community members told me this dress runs small in the bodice I was expecting the 8 to be perfect.
Scroll on down if you want to see me in the 8. It was huge! Practically hanging off of me, and with a skirt much too big. I thought perhaps it was a sizing error so I tried on both 8s the store had. Alas, both were huge on me. Fail. With some help from the store we located a 4 — at that point 6s were all sold out. So the 4 came. And that’s the dress you see on me above. The 4 was what everyone on Anthro’s site has been reporting: too tight in the bodice. I couldn’t quite zip it up all the way. So if you are the rare bunny built like me with a larger chest, teeny waist and plentiful hips, this dress will likely be true to size. Else, you’re going to want to size up. And this is why online exclusives fucking suck, Anthropologie.
Yesterday a 6 popped back so that’s now on its way to me. I’ll let y’all know how it works out. Dress details: cotton with a rayon-silk mix, the dress is thinner material with no stretch. There are dart details on the bust and over the waist with soft pleats in the circular skirt. The dress hits me across the knees. There’s a low v-neck that shows the top of my decolletage, but nothing too drastic or overtly sexy. This dress is very ballet off-duty to me.
Hopefully the size 6 works out. I have my fingers crossed! I have a feeling Anthropologie will try to sell through this dress at full price. So if you’re waiting my advice is to not wait much longer. I think this dress is going to sell out, with maybe one or two stragglers left out there.
I’ll be back later today with another set of dress reviews! What do you think of the frocks in this set?
