Peplum Perfection

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Dress: Dorothy Perkins

Shoes: Wittner

One trend this season that has more or less passed me by is the peplum.

Don’t get me wrong, I love the style. It’s retro and ladylike, and a good peplum helps create an hourglass shape, which I kind of covet.

It just seems to be a hard thing to get right.

The peplums I’d tried in the past had been too long, too short, too full or not full enough. The tops looked wrong over every skirt that I had, and the dresses had peplums in the wrong place, creating extra volume exactly where I didn’t want it instead of where I did.

I decided to let the trend pass me by. At least, until I saw this dress on Dorothy Perkins.

It had the frill of a peplum, but without the sticky-out factor. The volume was all at the hips with none on the belly. The peplum curved like the petals of a flower. And then there was that bow.

I decided to give the peplum trend a final try, and I was rewarded by this fun hot pink confection of a dress.

I like the V of panelling on the bodice, and the way the seams break up what would have otherwise been a blank expanse of fuchsia. The panelling draws the eye away from my bust and towards the narrowest part of my body, then the V is almost mirrored by the way the the peplum falls away from the curve of my belly.

The peplum follows the silhouette of the dress, emphasising the swell of my hips without accentuating them too dramatically. I definitely think it’s the most successful incarnation of the peplum trend for my body shape, and it’s given me the confidence to give the style a second chance.

Here’s a few more examples that I think would work well for me (spoiler, I’ve already bought one of these items!)

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Sweetheart Neck Panelled Peplum Dress

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Navy Ponte Peplum Jacket

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Peplum Coat with Belt

 

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Gypsy Dress

 

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Panel Moderator Dress

28 thoughts on “Peplum Perfection

  1. Gorgeous cut on you and wonderful colour! You look marvelous 🙂 Not sure it would work on my pear-ish physique though….

    1. Hi,
      It’s definitely a challenging trend. I think will most things it’s just about finding the style that works for you, but it’s always important to be comfortable first 🙂

  2. The dress looks tops on you AND that Dorothy Perkins jacket you picked out is a real winner, let me just say from experience 🙂

    I have gone all out on peplums (I must just get round to doing a post on them before they fall out of fashion completely!). They are so flattering, I think because they skim over the muffin tops and saddle bags and create a really nice hourglass. PEPLUMS FTW!

      1. Muffins tops are the crispy part that gets extra bakes when you’re making cupcakes or muffins. Saddle bags are probably very helpful when you’re riding horses 😉
        But otherwise yes: not words to use in relation to yourself <3

  3. I managed to buy a peplum jacket sort of by accident, and it’s taken me about a month to figure out what makes peplum work (on me), but I eventually disovered that what is needed is that I pair it with something that doesn’t add any extra bulk to any part of my lower body. It looks great with pencil skirts and skinny jeans.

    1. It’s a tricky trend, isn’t it Veronica? I had a peplum jacket from City Chic but I discovered that I never wore it because the only thing it went with was full skirts, and then it looked all Victorian and Mary Poppins-ish!

  4. And isn’t that color gorgeous on you too! Reminds me I bought that Leona one on sale big time and its sitting in my wardrobe- should get it out 🙂

  5. Love that colour and style on you. Love peplum but doesn’t work on me. The leona dress is gorgeous but alas sold out! Drats, hubby will be pleased though.

  6. That colour is gorgeous on you, Lilli! And what a cute peplum dress. I love the trend but it really doesn’t work on my pear-shaped bod.

    Which did you buy? The Leona Edmiston dress? After seeing you in all your gorgeous LE dresses I bought my first one this summer. It wears like a dream 🙂

  7. I love your dress! It looks gorgeous on you.
    I am in love with the Gypsy Dress. So pretty and a v neck. My best friend.
    I have that ASOS coat in Ox Blood. Another trend!

  8. Love the dress and colour on you. And I know you’ve probably worn nude pumps to elongate your legs and make the dress the focus, but I’d just love to see it with bright shoes too – like the patent yellow pumps or even the two tones in your masthead, and cute primary-colour jewellery. Fun.

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