It continues to be pleasantly warm in NYC. While the weather is delaying the transition over to fall clothing I find myself still tempted by warm-weather items. I guess the All Trades Dress ($98) by Fei has been out for awhile but this is the first time I noticed it.
They had red and black in-store so I chose the red. This is my true size 6. The “red” looked quite orange to me in the dressing room light but in some of my photos it reads red, so the color lands somewhere between in my opinion. I am delighted to see they have it in green as well on the website. My favorite part about this dress is the pocket placement. Not too high — perfect for casually pocketing my hands on my walk to work.
The waist is sitting much higher than I’d like. It’s the other trend I’m moping over this year — you can see on the dressform shot above the waistband is sitting about two inches above the natural waist. On anyone above a B cup it ends up looking like a deformed empire. Can’t wait for this fad to pass us by. Despite the waist placement, which I could minimize with a different bra, I rather like the dress. It’s nothing spectacular but I’d get a lot of miles out of it this fall and into next spring and summer. The question is which color to get it in.
Above is a Plenty by Tracy Reese design called the Crop Patterns Dress ($188). This is a size 6. I saw this dress in the window of the 16th St/5th Ave Anthropologie and thought it was gorgeous. I just love the front. The cut and length get the thumbs up. The fabric is light and silky and it passes the twirl test.
But what in the world is going on in the back? I am quite interested to see Anthropologie’s product description and whether it addresses this. Is it a flag or something? I am all for taking design risks but this really dissuades me from buying the dress. It looks like a mistake, or like I bought a dress too small and added in extra panels of mismatched fabric for the heck of it.
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Above is Lil’s Button Duo Dress ($168). The retro look of it was intriguing. The pintucking around the waist (both front and back) is an interesting visual detail and the flying nunlike arms were calling to me.
This dress runs large. My true size 6 was baggy. I was surprised how different the dress looks on me versus the model shot on the product page. I found no extra fabric to pouf above the waistband. I like it better streamlined. The color is a rich, saturated blue. I was digging the classic vibe to be sure but with my pearls on this dress took on a bit of a matronly tone. If I buy it I’d want to go with a chunkier necklace to hold up against all the fabric in the dress.
This would be a great work dress. I was really pleased with the dress selection at Anthro this week, though I did not see any of the requests currently sitting in my inbox. Hopefully next week.
Note: This post was updated on 10/1/2009 to add the name of the Crop Patterns Dress.
I cannot believe the All Trades isn't on sale yet. I was going to buy it in June, but thought $98 seemed like a lot for it, especially since i would have bought a belt to go with the dress (that, and really how long would I be able to wear it before it didn't fit? Regardless, my favorite color was the orangy-red. It seems to be a good color on you too, good with your dark hair. I don't think you look too rack-y in it either. I like the Button Duo Dress, it looks special, must be the shape and the color. It is different than other dresses I have seen lately. And lastly, to end my diatribe, thanks for all the product reviews. I really appreciate all the time you put into them.
Oh no! I am very disappointed about the second dress (Tracy Reese brown dress). I was waiting to buy it online, but since I saw the back, I changed my mind. What it the idea to add this piece of multicolored fabric at the back of this already beautiful gown? It looks so wrong! I am frustrated about this one: I really liked the front 🙁
The All Trades dress is really nice, but I agree, *so* easy to overlook. It has stealth fabulousness 🙂 But I'm with Georgine in the disbelief that its *still* not on sale. Grumble, grumble.The Tracy Reese dress is pretty on you but omg, you're so right about the back. It looks like some sort of fabric tail! So bizarre that it was designed that way.You already know how I feel about that Button Duo dress -awesome! You look very nice in it 🙂
My favorite is the blue on you! Awesome!
I love the 2nd & 3rd dresses. That's weird about the material on #2. Maybe it's different on each dress?Did I miss your post on the giveaway results?
Thanks ladies! Crossing my fingers for the All Trades Dress to go on sale soon. Gigi, the contest results post is here.
Like Georgine, I've been waiting for the All Trades dress to go on sale since June. I "found" it when first starting to shop at Anthro, and all the salesgirls wanted to buy it too. However, I found it to run a little large; normally a 6-10 in dresses, I had to size down to 2. My waist hits higher, so the band is perfect for me & I'm a 34C. But, I didn't get it, because it seemed too pricey for a simple cotton dress. The Button Duo looks amazing! Wow. It's like they made it for you – the fit from your IRL pics looks better than the catalog. I love the button & seam details. What a great find. The cut kind of reminds me of the Fall Foilage dress.
Button Duo Dress looks fab on you.I thought, yesterday, I saw a green dress that looked exactly liks this 'Button Duo Dress', except that the soft, silky material had the 'crumpled' look at my local store in the 'new arrivals' section! Does anyone the one I am talking about. It also had the buttons on shoulder, the same cut, etc.
Anon, was it the C'est Bon Dress?
That Duo Button dress looked awesome on you! Was the size six so baggy that you needed a four? ThanksSarah
Sarah – I think I would have stuck with a 6 to buy it. 🙂