Wednesday’s TPS Report: ‘Rica’ sleeveless wrap dress
Our daily TPS reports suggest one piece of work-appropriate attire in a range of prices.
Today we are liking this jersey wrap dress from JB by Julie Brown. (Is it Downtown Julie Brown? We will have to Google when we have a moment and report back.) In any event, we like the small, ornate print — it is called “shannon tile,” but at first look we thought it was an interesting chain-link pattern. Either way: love the color, love the length, and think it would be a great basic for the summer with a white shrunken blazer on top. It's $119 at Bluefly in S, M, and L (was $198). ‘Rica' sleeveless wrap dress
Love the print–it’s so fresh and interesting–but is it just me or is that V-neck a liiiitle low for the office?
I didn’t think so, but the truth is, being 5’2″, it probably is more likely to be too low on me than on a taller person!
Guessing it’s a have-to-try-it-on-to-see item
Too bad it’s polyester
Some polyesters drape beautifully. I’d have to see and touch it in person to decide if this is one of them.
Isn’t “microfiber” just polyester with better marketing?
Louise – I think you’re right!
And I agree — and being on a business trip in a hotel tonight, I have to tell y’all – my polyester items travelled beautifully!
Thread hijack:
Can someone explain to me the politics in Great Britain? What is a coalition government and why did the PM resign?
I’d like to know this too!!
In a parliamentary system, you don’t elect the Prime Minister directly – he/she is chosen by the house, which usually means the leader of the party with the most votes. Where you have more than two parties, as virtually all parliamentary systems do, sometimes no single party gets a majority of the seats. That’s what happened in Britain last week. The former PM’s party, Labour, effectively lost the election by getting the second most seats. The Conservatives got the most seats, but less than a majority.
That leads to a situation in which the parties need to work out who is going to run the country. Usually, the party with the most seats would take power, either by themselves or in a coalition with a smaller party. Here, however, neither the third-place party (the Liberal Democrats) nor any of the smaller parties (mostly separatist parties in Scotland and Wales) have much in common with the Conservatives’ platform. Had they all banded together with the Labour party, it would have been possible for that coalition to govern instead of the Conservatives. However, the Lib Dems and Labour coalition talks broke down earlier this week, making it impossible for Labour to remain in power. Brown, the former PM, “stepped down” but that’s a bit of a misnomer – had he not voluntarily done so, Parliament would have voted no confidence on him once it was back in session. Once he stepped down, David Cameron, as leader of the Conservatives, became PM. The leader of the Lib Dems is now deputy PM.
I hope that makes some sense – I realize that parliamentary systems sound kind of wonky if you’re not used to them, but it’s not as crazy as the American media is making it out to be.
whoops! looks like you got to this first AND explained it better.
So to be the PM you need the majority (51%) of the votes, not necessarily the most?
PS – American media=bletch
You don’t need the majority of the votes, just a majority of the seats in the House of Commons… but that’s another issue!
And in fact, you don’t even really need a majority of seats – just look at Canada. The Conservatives have been governing with a minority of seats for the past few years. They just need one other smaller party to vote with them on different bills and it can be a different one each time. No coalition or majority!
For your party to be the ruling party, you need to win a majority of the seats (326 i believe) – the conservatives failed to get 326 seats even though they had the most of any other party and that is why the election resulted in a hung parliament.
Basically, there are three main parties in the UK that compete for seats in the House of Commons (one for each district or riding). The Conservatives won the most seats, but still less than half. Without more than half of the seats, a party cannot form a “majority government” which is necessary to pass bills, etc. The leader of the majority party/coalition becomes the PM. Therefore, the Conservatives must join up (either formally or informally) with one of the two other parties to form a coalition that will fill more than half of the seats. This could either be the Labour party (outgoing governing party who came 2nd in this election) or the third place Liberal-Democratic Party.
Yesterday, the Conservatives finalized their coalition agreement with the L-Ds, so as a coalition they now have more seats than the Labour. That’s why Gorden Brown, the PM and Labour leader, had to resign. Now the Conservative leader David Cameron is PM and will govern jointly with his party and the L-Ds, leaving the Labour party in opposition. Cabinet ministers will come from both parties and they will all usually vote together.
Hopefully this helps! Sorry if it is still confusing, I just had a minute to ramble this out! :)
Thank you! Your rambles were clear.
This is way, way, way over-simplified, but it is comparable to the U.S. system to elect the Speaker of the House, with the Speaker as Prime Minister. There is no separately elected “executive branch” per se in the U.K.
Pretty! I will check it out on bluefly. :)
Between this dress and the little red one a couple of days ago, I think I could be in heaven. What wonderful choices for summer.
Love this! Very work appropriate with a sweater, cardigan or blazer. And you can fix the low v-neck by putting a camisole underneath or buttoning the cardigan at just that spot.
Agreed about buttoning the jacket/cardigan. It’s silly but something just irks me about the look of a camisole under a dress, especially when it’s like in-your-face white.
I’d put a black cami under it – seems like it would be a little less obtrusive that way.
It’s annoying but I find that I have to wear practically all of my dresses this way. It seems that everything is cut too low to wear any other way, even though I think they are clearly intended to be office appropriate.
I have been wearing a lot of dresses to the office lately and just about every one of them has to have a cami underneath. I am getting a little sick of it. I have some “bra camisoles” (with the underwire bra built into the cami) but it’s getting a little warm to be comfortable wearing them all the time. I wish clothing designers would consider that women are wearing these dresses not just on hot dates but to work, church, PTA meetings, etc. where flashing boob is not appropriate or desirable.
I don’t mean to pick a fight, but maybe you’re “sick” of a certain trend or cut because it doesn’t work for your body; that doesn’t make it universally inappropriate.
Some of us equally ‘real’ women have a lack of bosom that can make all but the deepest v-neck look downright matronly looking. The neckline on this dress would probably be flattering to my shape and be 100% office-appropriate.
Just sayin’ we’re all built differently, and imho we each ought to buy and dress according to how we’re built, not according to what’s on trend.
Yes! Yes! Why don’t designers recognize this? I get particularly frustrated when I don’t have a cammi that quite matches any of the colors in the dress. The off-white cammi isn’t exactly the same off-white as in the dress, for example. Arg!
People can be “sick” of a trend for many reasons other than it not being figure-flattering for them personally.
I’m small busomed, tall and thin, and having tried on similar dresses I know this one would probably be very flattering to my figure. It would also show off a lot more than I want to reveal to anyone other than mr. anon. So regardless of how flattering it looks, I’d never feel comfortable in it, and I’d never wear it to work because I’d feel trashy and over-exposed, even if I got a lot of “you look great!” compliments.
I wear a DD cup and I find that what bra I wear greatly affects whether a top is work-appropriate or not. My favorite v-neck top with a full-coverage or soft-cup bra is completely cleavage-free, while with my usual balconette or molded-cup bras it requires a cami. So perhaps try varying your bras if you’re sick of camis and see if that helps?
Even if I am not showing cleavage, I’m not comfortable with a shirt that dips down that low in the front. Doesn’t matter if you see my cleavage or just my (what is a good word for the part of the body between boobs and collarbone? that part!) and cleavage is covered – it’s still too revealing for me.
@jojo – “I don’t mean to pick a fight” – really? because that’s the tone I got from what you said. Unfortunately, I’m not interested in debating you about this – or anything, really. I’m sure there’s someone here who would let you pick a fight with them, though, so don’t give up!
ANYWAY, Eponine – I probably do need to try a different bra style. I am a D and most of my bras are balconette or molded-cup. I need to buy some new ones anyway – I went up to a DD after my son was born, and now have lost weight and I’m down to a D-almost-a-C. The big question is, do I buy now or wait until I lose more weight and I am officially a C?
@A. – Buy now! Just buy three bras and rotate through them every three days. Ill-fitting bras make one look and feel bad and there’s no reason to suffer even short-term. Besides, you might have another baby in the future and need them; if not, agencies that provide clothes to the homeless often need gently used women’s bras in larger sizes.
A. – go for the C cup, and buy some of those extenders to make the band a little wider. The makers of Hollywood Tape sell some.
Yep, buy the bra, even if you think you’re on the way to another size. I held out, too, through pregnancy, but finally broke down and bought my size, and it makes a WORLD of difference. I don’t hate maternity clothes quite as much now that they fit better! (And that’s saying something, because I really hate maternity clothes.)
You don’t have to go restock the lingerie drawer from VS–I’ve been rocking a couple $7 T.J. Maxx numbers until my size settles down.
i kind of like a white cami under a v-neck dress or sweater. i like the contrast. is that frumpy?
No.
Not unless it’s a frumpy dress/sweater ;-)
I am also a dd+ … I have several wraps (although I have vowed not to buy any more…nearlyhad them all made into skirts to save the fabrics). My seamstress has sewed the wrap part of the bodices shut. With all of them in jersey fabric, pulling them on over the head is easy. That way I do not have to wear camis with them. It takes a good fitting to get the angle correct. I have also had some of the flaps/overlaps sewn shut in the same way…they drape well and lay flat and closed (!) in my lap in front of patients. However, I have vowed not to buy any more…now the designers need to use the same wonderful fabrics in either faux wraps or skirts or other styles of dresses…time will pass…trends will change, and until then I’m a skirt gal!
How clever! What a wonderful idea.
dr – I am thinking of getting my DvF wrap tops sewn shut and just pulling them on over my head – they are silk jersey so think it would be fine. Can you share whether you had your wrap tops sewn shut ‘fully’ and if this made them lie better? My issue is that wraps ride up to just below my ‘girls’ when i sit at my desk…really draws attention to an area where I would prefer not to have eyes directed!
AN, the tops are sewn fully shut. If I hold the dress up and shake it, there’s nothing loose…it is now all “one piece” like a t-shirt. Or a t-shirt style nightgown. Ditto for the skirts, except for a little loose flap at the bottom to give the illusion of a real wrap. It allows the bottom of the skirt to flip a bit and works very well with wraps whose skirts taper or curve on the formerly loose part.
With my cup sizes, many times the horizontal bodice seam is either atop or right under the cups, and when sewn shut, it simply doesn’t matter any more. While the shut seam may cross my chest in a different place, because the seams lie flat, I personally don’t think they are a visual distraction. In other words, I don’t have to ensure that the crossing over seams are right in my decolletage (sp). With the tightness of the jersey fabric, it all lays better and fewer visible lines, now just wearing a bra without the cami/tank thing as well. Cooler in the summer outdoors as a plus.
You might try your seamstress doing one (your least favorite, precious, pricey) and see what you think.
I have added a small snap on a similar dress I own to make certain the neckline is where I want it and secure.
I’ve done this too! An inexpensive trip to the tailor solves a lot of problems with dresses like this. Great idea… has anyone else tried this out??
If you’re always coming up with ideas like this for your friends… check out Glamour mag’s Glambassador program!
xo
glamalert.com/glambassador
Oh goody, now I know which business is behind this stupid spambot and I can avoid ever buying their magazine again. Hooray!
Glamour is so vapid anyway. The only one worse is Cosmo. I outgrew both of them after I graduated from high school.
uHaha ;-) Marie Claire is worse — they have an entire column devoted to fashion for plus size women… which is lovely except everything they feature only goes to size large… in juniors (not even xl!)
@ Shayna. Big Girl in a Skinny World has regularly featured items from Igigi, Marina Rinaldi and Avenue, which are all plus size retailers. I’m not sure why you feel that the columnist only features junior sizes.
A second thanks for helping me avoid your magazine!
Consider me a third. This is not your blog. Stop monopolizing it. Your continued spamming is very unprofessional.
@ Glamour Spambot haters – you are HILARIOUS
Since the posters above you indicated that they have added a snap or otherwise had them altered to eliminate gaps, I’m guessing that someone else HAS tried this out, and that it worked.
And your virtual kisses and hugs are weird. We don’t know you.
P.S. Still not clicking on your link.
I’ve either had too much caffeine this morning, or not enough, because the first thing that popped into my head when I saw this dress was the SNL “I’m on a boat…”
I really can’t explain why.
Anyhoo, I think this is probably a bit casual for some offices (and I’m not big on the “throw a blazer over the inappropriate dress to make it work for the office” tactic) but I’d wear it with white flip flops to casual summer something.
yeah, me neither, on the blazer-over-inappropriate-dress thing. I would inevitably get hot or uncomfortable wearing the blazer and want to take it off, or at least worry enough about this situation coming up that it seems more stressful than just wearing something office-appropriate without an extra layer (or at least, more office-appropriate than this – but this would be great for a summer weekend!).
You mean with white “flippy floppies”? (Admittedly lame reference to the SNL On a Boat digital short. Not enough coffee here.)
Very cute dress!
It seems like a lot of you are big fans of Lands End. Has anyone bought this dress? Price seems super reasonable and I’m on the lookout for a cute wrap dress. Also, what is the sizing like?
http://www.landsend.com/pp/ShortSleeveLightweightCottonModalWrapDress~204106_59.html?bcc=y&action=order_more&sku_0=::DRC&CM_MERCH=IDX_00002__0000000130&origin=index
I also like this shirt dress, but was wondering if the skirt part would look too full:
http://www.landsend.com/pp/OriginalBeltedShirtDress~201099_59.html?bcc=y&action=order_more&sku_0=::BLA&CM_MERCH=IDX_00002__0000000130&origin=index
Any thoughts on either dress?
The blogger at http://www.alreadypretty.com has the shirtdress in multiple colors and featured it recently – the post is probably still on the main page. It looks great on her.
Hi Eponine — that’s actually where I saw this dress in the first place, on Sal’s site. :) Thanks!
Woo hoo! SO glad this darling shirt dress is gaining fans. I just adore mine and bought it in all four colors. (Shhh, no judging.)
The skirt is quite full and has hip-level pockets. Oh, and sizing on this dress is actually pretty true – I take an 8 and took an 8 in this style. Though, as s-k-s points out below, Land’s End is notorious for loose sizing.
I like both of those dresses. My only concern would be the that the neckline looks a little low in the first one and the skirt looks a little full in the second one. The full skirt is pretty, but it does make it a little more casual-looking. It just depends on how formal your office dresscode is. For my office, that would be perfectly fine.
Lands End is generally a little bigger than other brands. If you were a 10 in something like Banana Republic or J. Crew, I would recommend trying an 8 in Lands End. In my opionin, their quality is unbeatable for the price.
I have a very similar dress to the Lands End shirtdress that I got in navy from Ann Taylor last year. I absolutely love the dress and wear it to a lot of places like wedding showers and dates with the husband. It is incredibly flattering on me (tall, pear shaped).
I wore it to work once but I did feel a bit too casual in it and haven’t worn it to work since. I might wear it again if I could find better professional shoes/accessories. I wear mine with nude peep-toe sling backs with a relatively high heel. The shoes bumped up the casualness in addition to the sex-appeal, both of which made me feel self-conscious that day. My other more work appropriate shoes, however, felt too stuffy and matronly to go with the lightness of the dress. I’d be open to other suggestions on how to make the dress more work-appropriate for a conservative office place because the dress is fantastic and I wish I could get more wear out of it.
I tried that shirt dress on at the Sears near me, which carries a pretty good Lands End collection.
The skirt was very full; going down a size as suggested didn’t help. I’m also petite (only about 5’2″) but I felt like I was swimming in the dress. I didn’t buy it.
Thanks all for the feedback! As a pear shape, I find that really full skirts are not flattering on me. This probably isn’t a good dress for me.
Sally, love your site! I just recently discovered it. You look great in that dress, by the way.
Love the wrap dress including the sleeve length, but not a fan of Modal–it seems to pill after a few washings and look old.
Maybe it is drying it?
I don’t dry anything, and have never had this problem with Modal. Not sure if that’s the cause, but it could be.
Modal is actually rayon, which I do find can develop a fuzzy surface with too much friction, so I often hang-dry mine. Even hand-wash items I really like, and want to wear for a long time.
I like the pattern on the dress but not the style. It looks a little low in both the front and in the armholes, which may mean your bra will show through on the side.
Is it me or have we not seen many pants/skirt options on the TPS report lately? I would love to see both more often, as it seems like everything lately has been blazers, shirts, and dresses.
I can’t speak to the pants issue but I personally have been having a hard time finding skirts lately that are not your basic pencil skirt or super casual. There seems to be no in between lately.
a-line skirts? I like this one from BR: http://bananarepublic.gap.com/browse/product.do?cid=17051&vid=1&pid=702665&scid=702665022 (but had to order a tall b/c it’s short)
I like it, especially the way the waist is shaped. Probably safe to try hand-washing it.
I think this is a great pick! And it’s very versatile. I can see it with red (blazer or cardi), green, grey, orange, yellow, and on and on! Love it!
Love the dress, and am grateful for some good choices this week. Grump is no longer grumpy (for now, anyway).
Grump, you are my favorite poster lately. At least you are a grump with good humor!
Grump and Frump are definitely some of the best commenters (sp?) on this blog.
Thank you! *heart*
Not to wish for ill-will, but I like you when you’re grumpy, Grump.
They definitely are the remarks that cause me to snicker at my desk! ;-)
Speaking of “shrunken blazers” – have any of the plus-sized girls found a good source for either shaped, fitted short-sleeve blazers or shorter fitted blazers? I keep trying to find a good lightweight “summer” blazer, in black or white, but have not had much luck.
AT Loft generally has some good shrunken blazers, and there was one featured here last week that was short sleeves. I don’t know how good they are at carrying plus-sizes though.
I can actually fit into the top end of the size range at AT Loft now, so thanks for the suggestion. :)
Jersey wrap dresses are an essential part of my wardrobe! Those are pretty much the only dresses I ever wear
I love wrap and faux-wrap dresses like this, and I have been snapping them up while they’re in fashion. But when Kat says throw a blazer over it, how does that work? Do I tie it the same way and let the sash hang down under the jacket? That looks odd to me, so I’ve been playing with the sash and trying to tuck it in somewhere so that it doesn’t hang at all. It doesn’t work terribly well, though.
I know exactly what you mean. I’ve actually had tailors cut the sashes shorter. In one case, we actually removed the sash all together after I had the seams sewn shut (see earlier post in this thread). also works if it is truly a faux wrap. I just couldn’t come up with anything else to solve the dangling sash whether or not I wore my jacket open or shut. I have tried looping and weaving the sash around itself; inevitably it would come out and drop down when I least expected it! Sweaters don’t seem to resolve the problem either, in my mind’s (and mirror’s) eye.
I just let the sash hang out underneath the jacket. For variation, you can also try tying it in the back, so then bow/tails comes down the back, rather than the side.