As you know Shop Translated (ST) sponsored last month’s giveaway. What you don’t know is that they also sent me two INES dresses the month before to review. Unfortunately, I really haven’t been a dress kind of mood. If you follow any of my tweets I’m in thick socks and long underwear frame of mind. But it really wasn’t fair to avoid it any longer.
I have always admired the dress that Joy Nash wore in her video Fat Rant #3 and I’ve even blogged about it on more than one occasion so when ST said they were sending me the INES Deco Print Wrap Dress ($75) I was thrilled because I had already seen it on a plus-ish body and had an idea of how it would fit. The other dress they sent was the INES Inverted Pleat Dress ($69).
Both dresses are made from 96% polyester and 4% spandex. They are super silky to touch and have a bit of sheen to them and sideways stretch to them. ST offers them in sizes 0X to 4x. ST cautioned me when I had picked the dresses that “INES fits a true plus size and sometimes runs a little large”.
The Ines Deco Print Wrap Dress
When I put on this wrap dress I was totally surprised at how well it fit and how comfortable it was. The print pops but in a good way and the sapphire blue is right on trend with the hot colors. It isn’t a true wrap dress but a faux one with a bit of crossover on the bust with a sash to complete the look. I was also surprised that I didn’t suffer from the too short in the back and too long in the front sensation that some times happens with plus size dresses that are made with no thought to the plus size form. Not surprising, I love this dress. It has just enough spandex to make it comfortable. I just have to think of numerous ways to fit it into the current colder weather. It’s just pretty and I love it. I would totally love to have red shoes and a belt to go with it. The dress is labeled as hand-wash but I’m not a handwasher so I threw it in the wash with the regular laundry on delicate and hung to dry and it came out perfect. I do not however encourage you to do this, I’m just saying. (Side note: yes my arms are really that white.)
The INES Inverted Pleat Dress
Right from the moment I took this one out of the box I thought it was an odd dress. I had not realized that not only is there a v-neck in the front but also in the back. While I like v-backs on others I don’t like them on myself. The first time I wore it one shoulder kept falling to the side. My first thought was this needs some major body tape or something. Of course when I took it off it I then noticed two little strips of material and snaps at the shoulder and I immediately knew what they were. They snap around the bra straps to keep the shoulders from sliding off. Ingenious!! Another feature I like about the Pleat Dress is that it has two hidden pockets (I think everything should have hidden pockets). The inverted pleats make the dress feel fancier than the v-necks and they offer a nice camouflage for my belly. I found the side zipper from the armpit to hip a waste of time and difficult to do up once on. It was easier just to pull it over head with the zipper zipped.
Overall, I loved the wrap dress the best and only liked the pleated dress. I’ll definitely wear the wrap one more often — again it is more to do with my personal preference for a closed back. I’ve been recommending the INES collection for a few years because of their style and see no reason to stop.
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* Get your own plus size dresses from the INES collection at Shop Translated
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