Seeking opinion on something....

[moonshadow]

Damn Simon Cowell...

Well I guess I asked for it! I thought it was an okay dress all the same.

Well, I'm not going to run off the stage crying like so many American Idol singers.... under all that dress is a man who above all, likes it, and stands by his choices.

Considering the vast variety of skirts I have, I'm sure it's not the most ridiculous thing I've worn.

[moonshadow]

Looks too feminine, a shift dress or knee length pencil dress would look more flattering, in a darker colour. Any dress where there isn't obvious spaces for boobs to go would look better. That dress looks quite revealing, I would definitely wear a slip with that as you can see through it... of course that's just my opinion, and what I would prefer

The issue is, I don't care for pencil skirts or dresses. I don't particularly care for skirts or dresses that fall above the knees. Most box store dresses I see fall somewhere between the thigh and knee and it's just not something I fancy seeing on myself.

I was wearing a skirt slip when the photo was taken. That's one reason it fluffed out the way it did.

Regarding the bodice.... I'll grant there is a little room up there, but I don't think it's really sagging off of me. On a follow up shot with a white t-shirt I tied the string very loose (just for looks), allowing the bodice of the dress to "fall" naturally when moving about. Truthfully I don't really see this "boob area" that's been mentioned. As the only one who's actually worn the dress in this discussion, I can say that I would imagine this dress being quite tight on a woman with an average bust.

Finding dresses without a little breast room is very difficult. So I go as "flat chested" a style as I can find.

I respectfully disagree with those who seem to like absolutely nothing about the dress. No, it's not "fashion trend USA top 10", but I don't think it's a lost cause. And I also think it does have "style".

Martin, I appreciate your thoughts. Some lines on your comment were border line mean though... and that's not what I was aiming for. And no I don't sleep in my skirts, or any other clothes for that matter.

[Uncle Al]

OK Moon, here's my $.02 worth.

The first pic, to me, is the best. A little care is needed as
the left shoulder of the dress was slipping off the T-shirt.
The contrasting color is GREAT! I did not see any 'bleed-through'
of the color as the T-shirt went down to your natural waist.
It hit one of the seems of the dress which broke the difference
of color view. A smile would've helped in the first pic.
I did notice that the front was pulled up a bit because the
hemline was not level/even. Pull the front down a bit and
you'll probably lose the 'fullness' of the bodice.

I have a nice white twill skirt that I like. My wife doesn't like
it. She doesn't like any white 'bottoms'. Problem is the skirt
fit like a glove Not binding in any way.

Note - White is a visual magnet.

I would suggest this dress, with sandals, for summer.

IF the dress was a 'V' neck, I'ld then suggest an open
collar polo-shirt or a regular button broad-cloth shirt.
A long-sleeve dress shirt, either dark blue/burgundy
would be a great contrast FOR the dress and cover
the 'farmers tan'.

Again this my my $.02 worth

Have fun with the possibilities of, and for, your white canvas.
YOU are the painter - paint a great picture

Uncle Al

[moonshadow]

Well Uncle Al, that brought the thread back into more friendly territory. That's more like it... ideas, discussion, how to make it work...

Following on my wife's and a few of the member's here advice, I have swapped out the purple for a plain white tee. Note: The purple wasn't an intentional look, it just happened to be the color shirt I was wearing that day.

Using this white shirt eliminated all of the bleed through (although the men's shirt itself is surprisingly see through).

Here is the updated look, and I think I'm going to call this "complete". I found it suitable to my taste, and most important, was comfortable. For better or worse.... I'm wearing this when it warms up. For those nay-sayers I may run into in my travels... well, it wouldn't be the first time they laughed and sneered, and it certainly won't be the last.

BTW: The shoes stay. I know they don't go with the outfit, but I sought one pair of shoes that I could wear for both work and play, and this is what I came up with. I really like them. I seriously doubt one would find a suitable pair of men's shoes to go with this anyway, and women's in size 12 are too difficult to locate in brick and mortar stores. What can I say... I'm somewhat of a rebel I guess. I also dig the reflective stripes.

Feel free to click the picture and navigate to the surrounding shots for different angles.



And now a little fun.... (for when it's chilly AND sunny out)

[Uncle Al]

A great and MUCH BETTER looking, coordinated outfit

Uncle Al

[Ralph]

I'm coming to this party late, but throw my vote in for the "with shirt" view. I agree that the light outer layer over the dark inner layer is a bit stark, but I'm also a child of the 50s and as such I tend to favor more conservative looks - higher neckline, shoulders covered, longer hemlines. That's actually about as short as I'm willing to wear. For me (and my hairy gorilla legs) it's ankle length or longer all the way. But I do like the style of the first picture.

[Couya]

Let's be frank, for once. I don't like the dress. It has nothing to do with the-shirt or the tan.

And I should have added, It has nothing to do with the wearer, whose presence and contributions to the forum I appreciate.
Don't stop experimenting, Moon !

Martin

[crfriend]

It does look better with the light-coloured t-shirt, but one thing you're probably going to want to do is test the thing for translucency and what happens when you get strongly backlit. White can be a real problem in that regard, and as the commentary by some of the women who tried the dress seems to indicate it is a bit sheer. Something like that could well require a fairly substantial slip just to tone that down.

Also, a slip also helps reduce print-through, as I get when I wear a black shirt with my white skirt. That looks entirely ratty, but tucking the shirt (and, yes, it has tails) into the slip solves the problem quite well (the skirt being way too sheer to even contemplate wearing without a slip). However, a slip won't help in the torso, and a full slip would likely create more problems than it'd solve in that regard, so you may be stuck with either light layering pieces or simply wearing it bare-armed.

Oh, and good luck keeping that sucker clean. (Hint, separate darks from lights when doing the wash; else it'll go grey in no time flat.) If you're a slob like me, it'll be a challenge.

[Milfmog]

Hi Moon,

Very late to this thread, however, I will drop my comments in now.

My biggest problem with the dress is the waist; it is too high and looks like it has been designed to accentuate the bust (not good on a guy). I think I'd try it without the drawstring and see if that helps the hem to hang more evenly.

If that did not work, then I would look at a shirt over the dress. A t-shirt may work or alternatively a button down shirt. Although you suggest that wearing a shirt over the dress would defeat the purpose of wearing a dress it would still have the merit of everything hanging from the shoulders with no constriction around the waist (or rib cage with that dress).

To your original question; I'd go with the shirt rather than the bare shoulders; that just looks too much like a guy in drag to me. Though that may simply be my personal prejudices showing through. I have a couple of dresses I have bought and tried, but none of them has yet passed the believability test and so none has really had any use out and about.

Have fun (and keep experimenting),


Ian.

[Elisabetta]

To me, it just looks a shapeless throwout that you found and put on to wear for a pantomime. The length I find quite unflattering, neither long nor short, and would not be any better on the average woman. If we want to wear non-conventional clothing (and why not?), I think we should choose things that look stylish, that can be admired, something that serves a purpose, and was carefully chosen, not just the first thing you laid your hands on -- or even something you had been sleeping in.

The transparency of the cloth caused comments about the t-shirt showing through. I think, out in the world, people would more likely be looking at the lower half to see what was visible down there !

Martin

I understand Moonshadow asked for suggestions but your comments I quoted was down right Rude. Just because it wasn't something that you wear you didn't have to be so rude in another person's choice of clothing. First off my husband doesn't buy things that people throw out just so he can prance around and look like a wanna be he puts a lot of thought into what he buys. He was asking for suggestions on how he could make something he likes works so he didn't look like a fool in public. Next time you chime in with your views think of a persons feelings and not be so critical about their style and such.

[Elisabetta]

Hi Moon,

Very late to this thread, however, I will drop my comments in now.

My biggest problem with the dress is the waist; it is too high and looks like it has been designed to accentuate the bust (not good on a guy). I think I'd try it without the drawstring and see if that helps the hem to hang more evenly.

If that did not work, then I would look at a shirt over the dress. A t-shirt may work or alternatively a button down shirt. Although you suggest that wearing a shirt over the dress would defeat the purpose of wearing a dress it would still have the merit of everything hanging from the shoulders with no constriction around the waist (or rib cage with that dress).

To your original question; I'd go with the shirt rather than the bare shoulders; that just looks too much like a guy in drag to me. Though that may simply be my personal prejudices showing through. I have a couple of dresses I have bought and tried, but none of them has yet passed the believability test and so none has really had any use out and about.

Have fun (and keep experimenting),


Ian.

I think if he removes the drawstring it would look good as well however remember this is a dress so why would you want to wear a shirt over it? It's designed to show it off not cover it up with a shirt. Just my opinion.

[hoborob]

I would also agree with the others Moon. With the White T-shirt the dress looks quite good. Even with the jacket the look is very nice. I would suggest though that the sneakers and socks do detract a bit from teh overall look IMHO. Pehaps a slightly dressier white shoe with some hose of some sort would make the look even better. Even some knee high sock might work as well. At least that's what I think, others may disagree but then we all have our own opinions.

[Reaper_Man]

i think it looks great with the white t-shirt but if i was wearing it (and i certainly would wear it) i would do so without the shirt, i would also leave the drawstrings untied for a more natural drop

[moonshadow]

Thanks for the follow up ideas/opinions all,

The bodice is tricky. In the follow up photo, it wasn't "drawn", just "tied" very loose. Unfortunately, just shy of removing the draw string, and rearranging they layout of the dress, that part of it is just the way it is.

I was thinking about that today, and came to the following conclusion... Is the design of the dress clearly feminine? Most definitely! Then again, it is not very uncommon for me to see younger women wearing baggy cargo pants, a look that is better suited for young men in my opinion. Nobody seems to mind this, because once again, it's on a woman, and women can wear what they want.

So I took that little nugget and combined it with the fact that I personally like my dress, and decided that I would balk at this double standard. It's understandable that the look isn't popular. Let's face it, it's not a "man's" look. But once again, baggy cargo pants aren't really a "woman's" look in my opinion, yet they wear them anyway. Why? Because they want to. Why should my case be any different? In a point of fact, from my view, I love it, and it's very comfortable and fun to wear. That's reason enough for me! Men in very high waisted dresses? Sure why not?

Carl you are correct, one must be careful when it comes to stains. I almost did the dishes in it last night, but changed my mind. I think a perfect place to wear the dress would be if we took a trip to the beach again this year. For some reason, I feel compelled to take it on a ride on the Blue Ridge Parkway and visit the Roanoke Star this summer wearing the dress.

Martin: No worries. Yes I was a bit put off the other day, but it's nothing worth locking horns over. If you're cool, I'm cool. *fist bump*

[Darryl]

Well, in for a penny and all that....

Picked these up on a clearance. May only wear it in the house, but..... And....I DO have some red leggings, maybe red opaque tights as well, somewhere....

Can't say I like the V next, here or on the charcoal gray tunic, but a polo shirt or sports tshirt may take care of that. I basically wanted to try things out and get a feel for how it would wear. That said, I may have to search around online to find something more better. We shall see. There is also my mom's reply when I was worrying about wearing the support hose the nursing staff and my doctor recommended: "If you want to wear it, wear it."

Red Dress.jpg

Red Dress with White Turtleneck.jpg