Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with clothing and dress

Find me some fashion!

alygator — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 15:55:20 -0800

Help me find this dress! Thanks in advance! Inspired by this post. Seriously, ModCloth can't be the ONLY distributor of this dress. There has to be one Size 2 out there in the ether available for purchase. Right? Please say yes?

Help me find the right dress!

Industrial PhD — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 14:33:36 -0800

DressFilter: Help me find a dress for my woman that matches these shoes! My girl bought these shoes at the mall a few weeks ago because she fell in love with them, but she really doesn't have anything that matches them =\

So I'm trying to find her a dress that will match them for Christmas!

Here's the shoes.

I was thinking that a little black dress that had a lot of white accents would be good, and I managed to find one, but they are sold out of her size. I don't even know if I'm barking up the right tree, as clearly I'm no fashionista. I do think she would like something of this style though.

Some details:

She's pretty fair skinned, brownish hair that she sometimes colors red. She's 5'1", about 115lbs, and she's about a size 6.

We just had a baby about 6 weeks ago and like most people have been doing the lounge around the house in sweatpants thing while we care for our new addition, but those shoes got her excited about getting dressed up and going out and I want to encourage that =)

Hoping to keep the price ~$65

Thanks HiveMind!

Bump-less dresses

widdershins — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 10:04:17 -0800

Please help me find some nice dresses that work on a not-so-apple-shaped body! I'm having a tough time finding dresses that look good on my body. I've never had hips or a defined waist, but since my pregnancies my belly has gone from 'never-quite-flat' to 'permanently look about 3 months pregnant'. I'm 5' 8" and otherwise have nice long legs, medium-to-large chest (38 C/D) and broad shoulders. I'm only 10-15 pounds overweight, but it's all sitting up front and center.

While I'm working on getting rid of the belly-fat, I've gotten quite good at picking slimming clothes for my body - V-necks and suit jackets etc, but however I try, I cannot find any dresses that look good.

For skirts, I tend to look for stretchy materials (w/a jacket over it) so the skirt won't look like a circus tent. But stretchy dresses are exactly the wrong thing for me - I look more pregnant than ever. Empire dresses also make me look pregnant, and simple sheaths look horrible. Wide straps are not good with my broad shoulders, and I don't like loud prints.

Googling advice for apple-shapes yields results that seem to be geared towards bigger women than I. Is there another body description for 'fairly evenly proportioned except for my belly'?

Bonus points for links to specific dresses that I can try on in person - I'm in CT w/access to most major brands.

Describing a dress shirt.

phrontist — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 02:25:31 -0800

I'm sartorially clueless. How would you describe this kind of shirt? It's a "dress shirt", sure, but how would you specify the fabric and cut (particularly that type of collar)? Here is another example. I'm looking to buy some shirts like these but when I go to department stores I can only find this sort of thing - which is cut completely differently and uses an extremely thin fabric. Help me articulate the differences.

Who am I? I'm the best dresser in town.

mooreeasyvibe — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 14:14:55 -0800

Who were very well dressed English gentlemen? I'm going to a fancy dress party and I'd like to go as someone who's been drinking pints of sartorial elegance. The following items of clothing could make up the outfit:

monocle
tanktop
cravat
some sort of hat
pipe or cigarette holder
watch on a chain
umbrella
all that kind of stuff

The Chap magazine has the kind of look I'm going for. But who could I say I am?

Modesty without sweating to death in the heat?

ishotjr — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 12:35:58 -0800

Where can I find a selection of cotton-blend slips and half-slips in Austin, Texas? I wear a lot of light cotton skirts (mostly knee-length or just above) in the summer that require half-slips underneath. All I can seem to find are slips made of synthetic material that gets sticky and sweaty in the hot summer weather. I tried Petticoat Fair, but all of their cotton slips/half-slips are way too long for me, and seem overpriced. Target and most department stores I've looked in have nothing in cotton. As a bonus challenge, I'm really short, so I need slips that are short.

How to dress (or not dress) on my visit to Cologne, Germany?

RedReplicant — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 17:33:14 -0800

I'm going to be visiting Cologne, Germany on a research trip at the end of the month-- how should I dress? I'm an American PhD student from an East Coast university, speak decent (but not flawless) German and generally I try to avoid the major pitfalls like bright white tennis shoes, obnoxious t-shirts and fanny packs. However, one of my professors keeps suggesting that if I wear any color at all I will look like a tourist. Generally my uniform is a nice pair of slacks or jeans, a colorful top and a jacket or cardigan. Is that going to look out of place? Any pro-tips would be greatly appreciated, as it's my first time going to Germany alone rather than with a group of students.
Thanks!

Tomgirl Fashion

granted — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 11:44:45 -0800

You're a petite (5'1"/100) female invited to a semi-formal event where most of the women will be wearing dresses. You yourself do not feel comfortable in a dress (let's refer to your style as "tomgirl"), but you're definitely too feminine for a suit. What would you wear? Assume you're also on a budget. Asking for a friend.

Where can I find this dress?

scazza — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 08:00:18 -0800

Where can I find this dress? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Rusalka.jpg

Please help! Thank you.

Dressing for success

Bardolph — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 08:24:04 -0800

Help me learn to dress my husband! Tips/tricks/resources on developing a good eye for men's business attire? Over a few decades as a girl, I've acquired tons of specialized knowledge about how to dress women in general and myself in particular-- I know, for instance, that pencil skirts make me look thick-waisted, that certain prints look elegant while others scream "Wal-mart!", etc., etc. Having recently acquired a male second half (who's begged me to look after his wardrobe), I'm looking for ways to gather the same sort of information about men's clothing, and business attire in particular.

Areas of special concern are:

Body shape/tailoring. Suits all look the same to me-- kind of absurd and stubby-legged-- so I'd love to find out which lines/proportions will make suits look "right", and what specific adjustments to the garment can help make the most of my husband's adorable, but not 100% modelesque, body proportions. I'm looking to go beyond the basics here: something like this , with a discussion of specific waist/shoulder/arm/leg proportions, would be ideal, not just the standard "heavier gentlemen should wear double-breasted suits" or whatever. Hubby is 6'2, 200lbs, broad shoulders, short legs, small pot-belly, if that helps at all.

Colors. I have a decent eye for matching women's clothing, but men's shirt/tie/suit combos seem to follow subtly different norms. Exactly what shirt colors can one wear with navy, for instance? Is the shirt meant to be the accent color, or the tie? Are there any general rules to help one figure this out?

Ties. Once we move past the novelty-Simpsons-tie range, these all seem to be some variation of geometric print/stripe, more or less bright-colored, 100% silk. Whence, then, all the jokes about "that hideous tie"? What exactly distinguishes a cool, expensive-looking tie from a $10 Sears special?

None of the research avenues I've tried so far-- Google, salespeople, menswear catalogues, What Not To Wear, this, this-- has yielded much in the way of specific, comprehensive and ~scientific info on these issues. Would love any combination of direct advice/resource referrals to help me understand what looks good on real men!

Help a busty lass look polished at a wedding.

arianell — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 00:28:52 -0800

I just bought a lovely halter dress that fits me like a glove, except I need a little extra "support". One of my friends just asked me to accompany him to a casual spring wedding. So of course, I immediately used this as an opportunity to go buy a new outfit. I ended up purchasing a dress that is very similar to this one in terms of silhouette. My dress is black with white trim, and the back comes up a little higher, with three keyhole-type cutouts leading down the back to the top of the full skirt.

The problem: I wear a size 34DD, and the dress by itself isn't supportive enough for me to go braless without feeling very conspicuous. A halter bra or a strapless bra won't work, because the band would be visible through the keyholes in the back. Is there any other way for me to add a little "boost" so I can salvage this outfit?

(I did see the suggestions in this thread, but as far as I can tell, no one makes the stick-on "chicken cutlets" in my size.)

How do I find dress shirts that will fit me and stay tucked in?

jeffderek — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 08:46:03 -0800

How do I find dress shirts that will fit me and stay tucked in? I'm very much a tshirt and jeans kind of guy, but I work in government and I have to wear dress shirts or sweaters and khakis or dress pants. I've been doing this for a few years now but I'm having trouble looking "good." I buy nice clothes from Banana Republic/Gap etc, but its still not working for me.

I get up and down all the time in my job, and by about noon if I'm wearing a sweater, its several inches above the line of my pants and the undershirt is showing. If I'm wearing a dress shirt, at least part of it is untucked, and the undershirt is entirely untucked and up inside the dress shirt bunched around my stomach.

From the top of wear my pants sit (above my hips) to my armpit is 14 inches. From the top of my pants to the point on the back of my neck is 20 inches. I'm 5'8", 170lbs, and wear medium shirts. I tried a few large shirts but I just end up swimming inside of them.

Do I just have a long Torso? Do I not know how to wear shirts appropriately? Do I need a tighter belt? If I have a long torso, where do I find shirts that will do what I want?

What looks good on a heavyset 30ish guy?

zek — Tue, 09 Oct 2007 10:01:23 -0800

What kind of clothing looks best on a thirtysomething guy who is heavy but not obese? I am in a fashion rut and don't trust my judgement, and want to see some pictures. Yeah, I'm talking about myself. I am in my 30s, 5'9", 200 lbs, and BMI of 29 (heavy, but definitely not obese) and am physically active. I have descended into an awful fashion rut which basically consists of shorts and an untucked T-shirt similar to this (this is NOT me). I am not confident wearing anything else except for formal businesswear. Neither is good for fun social events.

I would be grateful for (A) links to random pics of heavyset guys who, according to your refined sense of fashion, look good and are not trying to make a fashion statement, and (B) advice and observations about what to wear.

Yes, I've seen this thread. All the advice is a definite slide to first base, but falls short of giving specifics and contains almost no visual examples (which I need to see details like what is tucked in, if there is a belt, and so on). Ugh's advice there was best but sadly the example has expired off the casualmale.com site.

To summarize, I need to snap myself out of this and start dressing good again. I need visual examples I can emulate, as I think my fashion sense is severely corrupted -- I have worn stupid stuff in the past thinking it looked good and I don't wish to repeat that mistake. I need your help! And yeah, I'm working on losing the weight, but that will take time.

Also I'm in Texas, which limits my ability to wear cold weather fashions. Because Wal-Mart is the only store in my town I'll most likely have to buy off the Internet, though I do make it to the Plano TX area often.