I have to confess that I have several of these dresses in my wardrobe. Printed or plain, long sleeved, short sleeved or sleeveless I never fail to add at least one to my collection each season…..understatement. This is your go to dress for every curvy girl. Sexy, snappy (at the right length), in gorgeously soft and fluid jersey, perfectly washable - oh yes - packable, uncrushable and by Lauren Ralph Lauren. Where I am at the moment, in the US, they’re the equivalent of a Michael Michael Kors handbag - in just about every department store, with new prints appearing all the time, and there’s a petites collection as well if you happen to be, like me, under 5’4” tall. The most flattering are in a faux wrap style which offers extra fabric across the front.
What makes these dresses so special for curvy girls is not just that they hug your curves, but with a flattering V or cowl neck they add height and they have the perfect amount of ruching around the middle to highlight the good bits and camouflage anything that you want to.
They’re not that easy to find in the UK, but House of Fraser and Ralph Lauren are the best places to look for Lauren Ralph Lauren. Annoyingly most of the US department stores allow you to get far into the ordering process before telling you that they can’t ship Lauren Ralph Lauren to the UK. I have no idea why.
You may be one of those girls who can wear the tightest sheath dress with no problems at all, but if you’re the average curvy girl who wants to show off her assets but be helped just a little (or a lot) without resorting to Spanx then you may like to try one of these. I’m wearing one of mine right now.
By the way these dresses are quite stretchy so if in doubt go down a size. And wear at your best length which I find is above the knee, even though I always have to have them shortened. Any dress will look frumpy if it’s the wrong length for you.
