Dress: 17 Sundays via The Iconic
Shoes: Chie Mihara via eBay
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:
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.
I love it!
I thought BodyCon stood for body contour. But I like body confidence. I’m confident within the contours of my body!
You look so good in it!
Stunning! You look gorgeous.
Seriously HOT!
I have both these pieces and wear them regularly, I’m actually wearing the cardi now in coral 🙂
Gorgeous!
PS You should totally do more side-on shots!
PPS Where did you get the cute necklace?
oh! me wants! this dress is ahawesome! and you look stunning! 🙂
Woot woo, you look great! Body con {whatever the heck it means} suits you. This dress is all kinds of wonderful and I wear it often. The other day I wore it under a full skirt as a top. It’s the best.
I was expecting to pop over and see your black eye after it shocking the heck out of me on Instagram last night. You poor thing. Looking mighty fine though lady. Take care.
I’m wearing this dress underneath a black 17Sundays tunic top as we speak! I’m not confident enough to wear it on it’s own, but I hope that one day I will!
I knew body-conscious but I (am I alone?!) always thought there was a winkwinknudgenudge connotation of body-condom, too… Really like body-confident, and yes, with the right underpinnings, go for it 😉 Many British semi-celebs who are curvy wear them on TV! (most notably Carol Vorderman, but anyone really – skinny doesn’t really look good in these dresses – you’ve gotta have something to put IN them!!)
I think this dress is stunning and really slimming on you – not that slimming is the point but it makes you look petite
Oh, definitely loving the stripes!
TheLforLOVE.blogspot.fi
Love the jacket, it’s exactly what I need to throw on over everything.
Don’t agree with the quote, though, and haven’t been very impressed with the range so far at 17 Sundays. I could only see about 2 items of clothing on the 17 Sundays site that would flatter me. It’s one thing to say dress how you’re comfortable, don’t worry about your size etc, but if you’re interested in looking your best then you absolutely DO have to consider your body shape. For instance, everything you wear Lilli, looks divine on you, but as I’m a plus size gal with no definable waist, big boobs and slim hips I would look frumpy and shapeless in most of the clothes you wear (except for some of those gorgeous Asos dresses). However, I know my body shape and what suits it and think I get it right most of the time.
AUGH! I LOVE this dress! Too bad The Iconic doesn’t ship internationally… and I kind of splurged on clothes recently, so I’m on a shopping break anyway… But AUGH!
It looks lovely on you, Lilli. 🙂
Also, FWIW, “body contour” makes the most sense to me.
This is a great outfit and something I’ve been wanting to try. Can you tell me how tall you are? I think this dress might be too short for me.
I always thought it was body contour as well!
This looks beautiful on you!
The dress looks fantastic on you! I wish I had the confidence to wear a bodycon dress but alas, such is not the case. I am glad, however, that we have the option to wear a cardi to make us less self conscious. The one you’re wearing is perfect and I agree–the hood makes it extra special! 🙂
The monochrome stripe trend is one of my favorite things about this spring’s trends. And that tiny heart necklace is precious <3
New on Plush Plum:
Plus size street style pins!: http://www.plush-plum.com/plus-size-street-style-10-great-pins/