Chie Mihara | Frocks & Frou Frou

The plus size striped dress from 17 Sundays

Hands up who knows what bodycon stands for?

Yeah, me neither.

I mean, I know what it IS: a item of apparel that fits close to the body. Dresses and skirts particularly that are usually very stretchy, and very tight.

I’ve never owned a bodycon dress before, but I like the idea behind them because it seems to stands for everything that I like to think I do at Frocks and Frou Frou: No camouflage, no fading into the background, it’s unapologetic and lets the wearer say “hey, this is me, this is the shape that I am, and I’m proud of it”.

Apparently, bodycon stands for “Body Conscious”, which I suppose makes sense, but when you’re a little larger than the average girl on the street you’ve probably got plenty of self conscious awareness about your body already anyway, right? Personally, I always thought bodycon stood for “Body Confidence”, and I think I’m going to stick to that.

This dress is the Body Con Stripe dress from Australian company 17 Sundays and it’s available, with FREE and super-fast shipping, as part of The Iconic‘s exciting new range of plus-size labels.

I was really thrilled to hear that The Iconic had started stocking a range of fashion in larger sizes, because it provides a great one-stop-shop where you can find a number of the best Australian indie labels like Harlow, 17 Sundays, Embody Denim, Hope & Harvest and more. They have free Express shipping Australia-wide, and I know a few people in Sydney who’ve ordered from them in the morning and had their package by the afternoon (!) Impulse shopping for the win!

I haven’t tried anything from 17 Sundays in the past, but The Iconic did a wonderful interview with them last year for their in-house blog where Claire Primrose – one of the founders of the label – said this:

“we don’t really subscribe to dressing for your body shape. 17 Sundays is about confidence and style, if you feel amazing in an outfit, if you feel bulletproof and sexy then it’s the right look for you.“

Yes.

I was keen to try this dress, after seeing both Suger and Dani rocking it on their blogs, and I must say… it does not disappoint.

It’s a really sturdy stretch jersey with bold black and white stripes. The elbow-length sleeves are a versatile length, and the dress can be layered over opaque tights or skinny-leg jeans for more or a tunic look.

If you’re not comfortable with the tight fitting nature of the dress, then it’s a great item for layering UNDER, too.

I often wear tight dresses under long open cardigans, and the 17 Sundays Hooded Drape Jacket teams with it perfectly.

The cardigan’s made of a similar dense stretchy jersey, and I love that the sleeves are long enough to cover my wrists (I think I must have very long arms, because most tops end up at bracelet length on me). It fits slim around the shoulders and arms, not you’re not covered by lots of bulky fabric, but it’s open with extra fabric at the front, giving a drapey waterfall effect that doesn’t photograph particularly well.

It’s just long enough at the back to cover my bum without overwhelming the bold graphic stripes of the dress, and my favourite feature?

The hood.

Blouse: YesStyle

Skirt: Asos

Belt: Glassons

Shoes: Chie Mihara

I had such success with my experience of purchasing from YesWalker, that I decided a few months ago to try my luck with the mothership store YesStyle and see if they’re prices and “plus size” products really WERE too good to be true.

I’d had my eye on this lace collar polkadot blouse for some time, and had quite fancied the idea of buying a second pair of heart-toe ballet flats this time in black. Coupled with the fact that YesStyle were one of the only sources for me to buy the BB cream that I fell in love with while I was in Japan late last year and I decided to take the plunge.

My second experience dealing with the “YesAsia” brand was much the same as the first – I placed the order on the 15th of March, it shipped on the 26th, and I had it a few weeks after that.

The BB cream was The Real Deal, the shoes turned out not to be the same brand that I’d had success with previously (and frustratingly fitted about three sizes smaller) but the blouse was well worth the $25 pricetag.

It’s made of a synthetic polyester, with no stretch, and the description of the size range as “plus size” is laughable. I bought the largest size, 47; and while it fits me well enough it’s the largest size available and it seems unlikely that it would fit the 42.9″ waist measurement the size chart suggests.

The collar’s made of a lovely antique-style cotton, double layered, and it sits flat and wide with a scalloped edge that doesn’t roll at all.

The sleeve cuffs are elasticised with a slight ruffle that you don’t see because they’re at exactly the right length to get lost in the crease of my elbow. They’re quite loose and flowy, and the elastic doesn’t cut in at all.

Overall, my experience didn’t fill me with a great deal of confidence about YesStyle. It seems like the sizing is inconsistent to the point of being comical, and you need to have some familiarity with each of the brands to understand what exactly it is that you’re ordering. I fluked this top, and it cost less than the shoes which are completely unwearable. A 50% strike rate isn’t great.

That said, they have some of the cutest pieces I’ve seen on the internet. Lots of peter pan collars, colour blocking, printed fabrics, and preppy, almost cutesy styles.

The prices are great, the fashion is original and quite innovative, and next time I need to restock my BB Cream, I’ll probably take the opportunity to do another browse through their “plus size” section. BUT, it does feel like a bit of a lottery so I doubt they’ll become somewhere that I regularly frequent. (she says, before clicking through to the website & then spotting this!).

On to the Mother’s Day competition: Congratulations to Bella who’s won the opportunity to treat her Mum to an afternoon High Tea this Sunday the 12th of May.

Thank you to everyone who entered – I loved hearing your stories about your Mums and what you remember best in the wardrobes!

Bella, I’ll be in touch about how to claim your prize, and I hope everyone enjoys their weekend!

Frocks & Frou Frou

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