I am probably not the only one who immediately liked this dress, mulled over it because a tad expensive ($145) and then, when ready to pull the trigger, wasn't able to buy it because it had disappeared from the website. I tried with the keyword search, but nothing worked (neither "midnight", nor swiss-dot", nor "shift"). Disappeared from the face of earth (or at least from that very little world called the JCrew website), I tell you. For a moment I thought that it had sold-out because the last time that I had checked on it, at the end of the 20% off dresses promo, only the size 4 and up were left. Still, a little bit weird that it had gone like that without leaving a trace.
Until someone on the JCA blog provided me with the style number (23993), which is the only way to pull it up. It was still there (in all sizes), only it had been misplaced somewhere under the man's section. Not that buying it had suddely become a lot easier, now that I had found it. As soon as I clicked on it, it would disappear from my cart. I told myself that at least it wasn't going to sell out if nobody could find it and I waited for the right occasion.
So last time that I was in store and I had one of those 10% off coupons that they gave away a while ago for providing the email adress, I ordered it from the red phone and my PS got me the 10% off on it (and free shipping because it was a full price item).
When it shipped I still couldn't believe it, but it arrived yesterday and I am happy to announce that this dress does exist!
Now, do I like it? It is certainly a nice dress and the fit it is much better than other shift dresses that I tried this year (like the portico dress). Really, I don't have any complain and it is very much my style of dress (it has a downtown vibe to it), but I wasn't carried away like I thought I would be and I am a little bit puzzled by my own reaction. Maybe it's because it's a little bit "dark" (duh, it's navy and black!), maybe it's because I thought that the fabric would be nicer for the price (while it is a cotton like the one that they use for the linings when they don't use poly, nothing extraordinary and actually a little bit ordinary), or maybe it's because I am a little bit shopped out and nothing excites me these days (which means that I am ready for a little bit of rehab again).
Anyway, I am going to show you the pics and I would appreciate your opinion. If you notice something wrong with this dress let me know. I think that I am going to keep it for the time being because it was so difficult to get it that if I regret it afterwards I don't want to go through ordering it again. I have to say that I liked it better once that I put on my TB Miller sandals as you will see in some of these pics (instead of trying it barefoot).
It is a little bit longer on me than on the model, but besides the fact that if I want I can have it hemmed, it is already a short length:
With imaginary heels:
The detail of the flatter-sleeve in a contrasting black crochet is really exquisite:
Here you can see the subtle shirring at the top:
Three-quarter view:
And a tentative to accessorize it with the dangling disc necklace (or whatever it was called) from last summer (which is the same necklace that I was wearing in the previous pics but wrapped around my neck):
Instead of asking if you like it this dress, I should ask you in which occasion you would wear it. I think that I DO like it but I can't shrug away the feeling that I really don't NEED it. There are many things that I don't need (do I need four striped tees for example?) but in this case I mean that I can't see when I am going to wear it. It feels a little bit too much to just stroll down the street with my daughter (and again, a little bit "dark") and it is a little bit too understated to be an evening dress or a party dress. The only occasion where I can see myself wearing it would be to go out for dinner in the summer with my husband and no baby. But again, how many times it is going to happen?
What do you think, keep it or return it?
