Living ~400lbs

I Love This Dress

Evans calls it a “blue velvet drape pocket dress”.  I’ve been calling it the “Beth Ditto dress”, “blue velvet dress”, or “the dress” for short.  Oh, and it is — at least, it feels shorter than this picture appears (perhaps because the picture was taken by someone taller than I):

 

Blue Velvet Dress on me
Blue velvet dress on me. Click to enbiggen.

 

The dress arrived weeks ago, but I haven’t had an occasion to wear it.  The man of the house was concerned about the shape and the fit — he felt it was too short, that the skirt tapered too much (apparently he’s not a pencil skirt fan) and it “looked like a vase”.

I thought it was great, although shorter than I’d thought.  I liked how it looked on me and that it was comfortable.  I also liked the pockets.

Saturday I wore The Dress all day at a convention — with black leggings & Mary Janes. Oh, do I ever LOVE this dress.  The velvet stretched enough to be easy to move in.  Yes, velvet is warm, but the short sleeves and short skirt kept me from being too warm.  I was comfortable.  Oh, and those capacious pockets made it easy to have my wallet, cellphone, and other useful accoutrement with me.

I also got compliments, including “Where did you get that? It’s fabulous!”  I ended up explaining who Beth Ditto was to several folks, which isn’t bad either ;)

For reference: I’m 5’8″, weigh 400lbs, and got the dress in UK size 32, which is supposed to be a US 28.

Edit to add: Marianne Kirby aka The Rotund posted about this dress too.  Devon also wore it in this post.  Devon lives in the UK and posted many reviews of the Beth Ditto collection on her blog.

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31 responses to “I Love This Dress”

  1. Regina T Avatar
    Regina T

    Yay a Lvng400 headless fatty picture! You’re rocking it! You look awesome in that dress! I love it and want it! Those pockets are deeeeeep!

    BTW…where are the tights from?? :)

    Reply
    1. Living 400lbs Avatar
      Living 400lbs

      Thanks! The leggings are black Danskin leggings in size 4x. ;)

      Reply
  2. Shannon Avatar
    Shannon

    Looked like a vase? That’s kind of adorable. Also that dress looks fantastic on you.

    How do the Danskin leggings hold up? Are they kinda warm? I’ve been looking at them lately and kind of want some.

    Reply
    1. Living 400lbs Avatar
      Living 400lbs

      Thanks!

      I’ve had the Danskins for years and they seem to be holding up. I’ve got some cotton blend ones and some non-cotton ones; the cotton blends breathe a little more but the color seems to fade more. Both are warmer than tights under skirts, but when it’s cold/rainy I layer them under pants, too. I sometimes find them at Nordstrom, which is cool for trying on without having to pay shipping.

      The man of the house likes the Danskin bike shorts too.

      Reply
  3. crookedfinger Avatar
    crookedfinger

    What’s wrong with vases?
    That’s a gorgeous dress. Say, how long did it take to get an Evans dress, and did you have to pay ridiculous postage for it?

    Reply
    1. Living 400lbs Avatar
      Living 400lbs

      I don’t know what’s wrong with vases! ;) (Edited to add: Hubby says he’s worried I’ll fall because the dress looks like it will shorten my stride. Maybe he’s seen too many Carol Burnett sketches? ;)

      I don’t recall the exact postage, but I’ve paid less on orders within the US (not always a resounding recommendation unfortunately). Currently Evans has £8 shipping to the US.

      Reply
      1. crookedfinger Avatar
        crookedfinger

        Oh, awesome. I’ve been worried about ordering stuff from other countries for fear of customs or something…I don’t know. I’m a scaredy cat.

        Reply
  4. Rebecca Avatar
    Rebecca

    You look absolutely amazing in that! My mum’s bought me the rose dress – which is stretch cotton but a similar shape to this – for Christmas – I can’t wait to have it! If I look half as good as you I’ll be happy!

    Reply
    1. Living 400lbs Avatar
      Living 400lbs

      I hope you like it. I have the rose leggings, but not the dress.

      Reply
  5. Tehomet Avatar
    Tehomet

    Looks great! I wish you health to wear it. All the Beth Ditto collection clothes are pretty nifty.

    Reply
    1. Living 400lbs Avatar
      Living 400lbs

      Thank you!

      Reply
  6. Dani Avatar
    Dani

    It’s a great dress. It’s refreshing to see someone who is overweight accept her body and dress up. I know there are many overweight women out their that do dress up, but it seems more common that they cover up and hide. Enjoy it!

    P.S. I don’t think you look like a vase.

    Reply
    1. Anita Avatar
      Anita

      Cute!

      Reply
  7. slythwolf Avatar
    slythwolf

    I love it too.

    Reply
    1. Living 400lbs Avatar
      Living 400lbs

      Thank you :)

      Reply
  8. notblueatall Avatar
    notblueatall

    I’m not a fan of velvet, but seeing you in it? It makes it look much lighter and easy to move around in than I had thought. You keep rockin’ it! I love it!

    Reply
    1. Living 400lbs Avatar
      Living 400lbs

      Thanks!

      Reply
  9. intransigentia Avatar
    intransigentia

    Ooh la la! And the store picture shows what neat details it has – love!

    Reply
    1. Living 400lbs Avatar
      Living 400lbs

      Yeah, it’s hard to photograph dark velvet. ;)

      Reply
  10. JupiterPluvius Avatar
    JupiterPluvius

    I think that looks great on you! I am actually jealous of how much more awesome it looks on your size 32 body than it would on my size 14 body. Which is a bit of a failure of body acceptance on my part, but a complete win for the designer of the dress on making something that looks so beautiful on larger bodies!

    Reply
    1. Living 400lbs Avatar
      Living 400lbs

      Some cuts work better for some bodies, others work better on others! One of the comments I got Saturday was “That dress REALLY shows off your curves” — and yes, it emphasizes my hips and bust.

      It’s one of Beth Ditto’s, and she’s an “apple” too.

      Reply
  11. Niveau Avatar
    Niveau

    I love vases – my favourites are curvy and sexy and you put gorgeous flowers in them. That being said, I think you look like a hot woman, not an inanimate object :)

    Reply
  12. CaitieCat Avatar
    CaitieCat

    Fabulous! You look wonderful in it, and it’s a beautiful dress.

    Reply
  13. Simone Lovelace Avatar
    Simone Lovelace

    Beautiful dress, beautiful picture.

    And while I love my own unique figure, that dress looks much better on someone your shape and size than it would on an in-betweenie like me. It still amazes me that so many designers don’t want to explore the aesthetic possibilities of designing for bigger bodies.

    Reply
    1. Living 400lbs Avatar
      Living 400lbs

      Thanks!

      It still amazes me that so many designers don’t want to explore the aesthetic possibilities of designing for bigger bodies.

      This dress is from punk singer Beth Ditto’s line, and according to reports in the UK press Beth wears size 28 (presumably a UK 28). I’m not surprised that she came up with something different from “normal” fashion.

      Reply
  14. Tricia Avatar
    Tricia

    It looks great in the pic. I ordered it a couple of weeks ago, but they were sold out of my size — UK 28 IIRC.

    Reply
    1. Living 400lbs Avatar
      Living 400lbs

      Yeah, I dithered over the blue velvet dress vs the floral print and the floral print sold out of my size before the blue velvet did. I think the velvet is down to just sizes 14 and 16, and the floral is totally sold out.

      There is still eBay …

      Reply
  15. attack_laurel Avatar
    attack_laurel

    I love this dress, too – on you, especially! The whole design is flattering (who decreed that larger women couldn’t wear form-fitting clothing?!), and I love the scoop neck (rather than a v-neck, which I don’t think is as attractive, but that’s just me), and the ruching that flatters the hips and accentuates your waistline.

    And too short? No! With leggings or tights, it’s just right. :)

    Reply
    1. Living 400lbs Avatar
      Living 400lbs

      Thanks. I like the ruching too, and that it’s not just cosmetic — the pockets are in the ruching, so things like wallet/cell don’t show but are readily available. ;)

      Reply
  16. Karen Avatar
    Karen

    The dress is fabulous! Outfit posts are great in one way, but I’ve noted a downside. By the time I read them, the items (at Evans or Torrid or wherever) is usually sold out! I wish retailers would either backorder (especially this dress which I feel is both classic and multiseason) or put a mechanism in place to track demand. Then we could hope that the next season would have higher inventories.

    Reply
  17. Constance Avatar
    Constance

    You look fabulous and your legs are soooo shapely!

    Reply

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