These are my first women's dresses. I have had other dresses, either made for men or unisex items (thawbs and caftans) that I only wear at home, but these are the first I've bought designed and marketed specifically for women, and the first dresses I've worn outside the home regularly.
The first is a shirt dress. I wear it without the sash because the sash shortens it slightly and the dress is already above the knees more than my comfort limit. I also wear the sleeves down, not rolled up as in the picture. The pockets are ample and part of the reason I wanted this dress. I find that I can wear dark tights/pantyhose with it only if everything else is dark, otherwise I need to wear just tights that are close to my skin tone. Socks up to my knees don't feel comfortable mentally because the dress is short enough that the bit of flesh that remains visible above the socks seems too flirty to me, an effect that young women can pull off much more effectively than grey old men.
The second is a knit ("sweater") dress. I have it in both a light brown and the grey shown here. It falls much lower on me -- right to mid-knee -- than on the model shown, despite me being 6'1" tall. This is probably a consequence of me not having her curves. I bought the first of these one size up from my usual 3x because the knit fitting so close featured my lumps and bumps rather unpleasantly. when I bought the 2nd one, I went with 3x, and could easily have worn a 2x. If I am too self-conscious of my bumps in these smaller sizes, I can wear a jacket, and I wouldn't wear these dresses in non-jacket weather anyway because they are very warm, almost too warm for indoor wear. I am not sure I'd want to sit in a warm office for 9 hours in something so warm.
The experience of wearing a dress; of getting dressed in the morning and remaining in it for most of the day; has been quite gratifying. The simplicity of the single garment is wonderful. It makes things one wears under it more pleasant as well because there is no competition around the waist: for example pantyhose and a cami. The main downside is that the hem goes up when one reaches up with one's arms, so one needs to consider the length of the garment seriously before choosing it for certain activities. A belt around the waist reduces this effect considerably, but pulls the hem up slightly on its own to begin with. I find a regular man's black belt looks good with the sweater dress, even with a leather vest or short jean jacket over it.
These dresses are the start of what I think will be a much larger collection, eventually rivalling or surpassing skirts in my wardrobe. For me, finding dresses that are suitable for a man will probably be the main limiting factor, because most women's wear in my size range is designed for the much more curvy bodies typical of plus-size women.
Between the footwear and other items I've been buying from Additionelle over the past year, most of the clerks have gotten to recognise me, and to trust me in ways I suspect they might not trust any unknown male customer, especially around access to the change rooms area. Access to change rooms was very handy for these dresses, so I am glad that it was offered without me even requesting it, as has become the norm. Many things I could buy online with confidence, but dresses and footwear definitely require trying on.
There aren't a lot of opportunities to shop around in my size range. If I could be said to have a bust, it is 51". That makes me a 3x or 24 in North American sizes.
