A dress that fits, for all
At 5'10", buying dresses is an exercise in frustration. From mid-priced to designer, the dress is tuggingly short–and I'm only hoping for to the knee.
Bear with me, petite possums, this post might interest you, too.
Clothes: Parisienne sensibility, sized for real women
Bear with me, petite possums, this post might interest you, too.
Clothes: Parisienne sensibility, sized for real women
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| Designer Muriel Dombret of Clothes |
I recently visited Belgian-born, Paris-trained designer Muriel Dombret, owner of the chic boutique Clothes, in Ottawa, Ontario.
Clothes manufacture on site, so will custom-fit length, body or sleeve and offer various fabrics from a selection of Italian linens and wools, as well as offering ready-to-wear. Sizes run from 2 to 16.
(Larger sizes require specially-milled fabrics, which is why many small shops don't offer sizes above 16 or so.)
(Larger sizes require specially-milled fabrics, which is why many small shops don't offer sizes above 16 or so.)
I chose the "Emma" dress in citron stretch cotton:
and a custom-fit version of "Lolita" in navy:
Orders via the website are for ready-to-wear only, due to the specifics of custom fit.
Men's outfitters have always offered custom tailoring or on-site alterations for ready-to-wear. Why have such services vanished for women? Why don't more designers address women's size diversity?
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| This is not "to the knee"! |
In the e-shopping world, Boden offer two lengths for Misses' dresses and skirts (but no Women's sizes) and J. Crew have quietly added some dresses up to 20– but would you call this dress "to the knee", as they do?
Standard sizing veers ever smaller, shorter and tighter and the higher the price point, the more the clothes are designed for mannequin figures.
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| A peek into Clothes |
"The largest size most non-specialty stores in the capital carry is about size UK 8/10, which leaves approximately 70% of Argentine women hard-pressed to find stylish clothes that fit, despite the size laws that exist to combat the problem."
Size 6, standard-proportioned women may be rolling eyes. But I'm thrilled to buy a dress that won't look borrowed from a friend.
Dobbin: Workhorse designs cut for grown-ups
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| Dobbin's Juliet stretch ponte dress, $168 |
Jessica Gold Newman and Catherine Doyle's just-opened online shop Dobbin promises "classic and vintage-inspired silhouettes made of designer-level European fabrics in flattering fits made for real bodies of all ages"– and free shipping both ways for US customers.
Check out their description of the "Dobbin Fit", which made me sigh with relief. More pieces will be added to the presently small line; Jess says they will offer more length options, too.
I only wish more designers would accommodate our various sizes and body shapes in luscious fabrics. If you've found any of these rare sources, please share your finds with us!
Comments
My own request: that e-tailers include an objective measure of skirt/dress length (center back to hem, waist to hem) in inches/centimeters.
Both of those dresses are stunning, and are great examples of the kind of thing I am always looking for and hope to be sewing someday.
I love it when online retailers give detailed measurements of clothing, though it can lead to some depressing news. Browsing through Net a Porter's sale list last night, I found more than one size 10 dress made for a 30" bust, 34" hip. In what universe do these designers live?
C.
C.
Do you just see the item and email or call?
Thanks!
I grapple with proportion and fit issues and am getting to the point of making my own dresses - something I used to do in my pre-professional life. The cost for poor design/fit is endlessly frustrating; as is the relative lack of talented alterations specialists in my city. I think, too, that I tend toward slightly more "classic" styling (not styles) and construction which just isn't available in ready-to-wear at or near my price point. Of course, if I had four figures to drop on a dress, I would be less constrained on that front; funny how the levels of expenditure have such a noticable demarcation of quality in design.
As for the to-the-knee description, even with my extensive years in retail, I'd never sell that as a knee length dress. It's soundly above the knee. But every inch of fabric costs so volume sellers skimp here and there on the length of the garment pieces along the grain in order to get more units for the dollar.
Enough griping, though! I think a good resource for custom design is in the young graduates of fashion design programs. What I see on the runways, and the ambitious work these designers are doing, is of very good quality for the price; many of them have etsy shops as their virtual storefronts. It's a fast-changing landscape, though.
About five years ago, when I was at the thinnest I've been for a while, I treated myself to a made-to-measure suit from a local dressmaker. It was gorgeous, and I got a lot of wear out of it.
Now that I've put on a little weight (OK, about 15 pounds worth) I had dismissed the idea of having another piece of clothing made, wanting to wait to lose weight first.
But why? It's more important than ever to have good quality clothes that fit at my current size, since the selection is so much smaller now then it was when I was a size 8
- the Italian fabric used by more expensive high-end designers
- the overall streamlined cut of the pant and straight legs creates a slimmer silhouette
- in the canvas pant (the Stanton) the back button-elastic waistband detail allows for a custom fit pant
The frocks are lovely. The sale items are fabulous. I am addicted. They are so flattering. My 5'10" friend is a recent convert. Jacinta from Australia
Kristien62: Thanks (but I got it in navy as the brown was s/o.)
hostess: These days it's more "dress down" than "up" but that is always a plus!
materfamilias: I would love to lure you here!
Susan: Great! I am always on the lookout for this rare kind of service, for readers and myself.
Fritinancy: Yes!!! Why are there not measurements. Boden excel at that. (And that damn dress still looks an inch and a half above the top of the knee to me.) I find at the knee (so the bend at the back is just covered, or to the bottom of the kneecap far more chic, but if you have cute Nancy knees, do show them!
Mardel: Yes, *you* could sew them. There is quite a refinement to her cut, the draping and the little details that do not show as well on the site.
Anonymous@ 7:40: See "concept" page. In short: call or e-mail. They will also send you swatches.
HB: I toy with the idea of buying a judy, borrowing my old Singer from my son's Gf and ust going for it. But then, I know the kind of 'soft tailoring' Clothes does is deceptively hard. Sigh. Maybe a skirt.
Yes, I have found young designers more amenable. The challenge is the fabrics, many of them cannot afford very good ones, or cannot take a chance tying up limited funds in inventory. (Of course we can buy it and bring it to them; I've had mixed success that way.)
That's Not My Age: She will adjust the waist, shoulder etc. too.
sisty: Absolutely! If you have a local resource like that, you are in luck.
Anon@ 2:52: See jgold's (Jessica Gold's) reply to you below and thanks from me, too. A pair of cheap, badly-cut size 12 pants and a pair of well-cut great fabric 12 pants will be totally different. I'm ordering pants later this summer and will report back.
Jacinta: Great, thanks! I'll order from anywhere in the world and in fact find that fun.
Le Chateau in Canada seems to be a reasonable retailer for fashionable "grownup" clothes that fit the yawning gap between teenager/club clothes and suburban mother/matron clothes. Some of us don't want to be either!
Small boutiques, busy with standard sizes, are not as amenable to the special requirements of working in length-only, so customers like the woman you describe are lucky to have persons like you.