New Look, bad fit!

I threw caution to the wind and ordered a TON of clothing from the sales. The first batch (below) is all from New Look inspire, the second batch is from ASOS Curve and should be arriving very soon. If the Asos stuff is as ridiculous as the stuff from New Look then my credit card may breath a sigh of relief! I can't give you links because many of the items are no longer on the site, but I feel 100% sure that there will be returns, so it's worth checking just in case!

Lets start on a positive. I'm not sure why I ordered this dress to be honest, it's not really my style, but it was so cheap that I just went for it! It's a size 24 but I would have been better with a 22 as it's stretchy velvet. I think this looks okay, but I feel like the shoulders are a bit loose and I know I'd spend the whole time pulling them up!

 It's actually a cute dress, it's above the knee but not too short, and it will look great on any of you skater dress fans! I'm sending this one back (I know it looks quite cute but I don't need it and won't wear it!) so keep an eye out for it online if you want it!

Black velvet with blue glitter dots.

 So here is the problem with this AX Paris dress; it is not made for someone of my height, it is made for someone considerably shorter! I'm sad because I can see the potential in this dress. I'm wondering if a size up would be a tad longer? Chances are it would be the same just a bit wider!

This size 24 is a bit of an uncomfortable nightmare on me.... the waist hits me right on the boob and really flattens them. It's also very short on me, hard to tell but it only just covers my bottom at the back!

 I'm not going to mince my words on this one, this Koko dress is fucking ridiculous. This is a size 26 and I can't even do it up! I'd seen this reviewed on Cupcakes clothes, and she said it was a real struggle to do it up and that the 26 was really small, but seriously, this is insane! I know I have a wide back but for fucks sake!

 Koko seem to be the only clothing company that considers my measurements to be a size 30 (seriously, one size up would still be too uncomfortable to wear!) but of course they don't go above a (so-called) size 26 so I can't get anything bigger. This dress is bullshit, and it's a damn shame because it's so very pretty, I would have kept it and loved it!

 This Inspire midi skirt (size 22) was a no-brainer. I knew I'd like it and I sort of knew it would be a good fit.

 Good length, nice fabric, comes with it's own belt! I think I'd have really liked the maxi version too!

1st keeper of the order!

 This dress (size 24) is okay, but something about it just doesn't sit right.....

 ..... it's this - the little bit of netting at the bottom of the petticoat. The dress sticks to it like a static nightmare and it utterly ruins the shape.

Can you see how the static ruins the hem? It doesn't allow the curly hem to shape itself properly because it's stuck to the lining. Shame, quite a cute dress. A bit more empire line on my low-down boobs than intended but it still works. I could have worn a 22 easily if I had smaller jugs!

What the HELL is going on with the bodice of this dress? Was it made for a 4ft woman?!

 This is a size 24 dress that has a ridiculously short body with a sort of soft internal cup.... bra size 46A I would say! Utterly AWFUL fit on me! If you have a big body with small boobs then this might be fabulous on you, but on me? URGH!

 In order to get my breasts into the bust shaping on this one I have to pull it down until it's utterly ridiculous.

 If you have big boobs, this dress is not for you unless you're cool with basically being topless!

Annoyingly the skirt on this dress is much better than the red one, it has a ruffled lining that matches the outer layer so they don't stick to each-other and you get the curly hem effect from the online pictures. This skirt on the red bodice would have been a winner!

If like me you have wondered what the 'Jumpo' clothing that turns up in Inspire occasionally is, then I have the answer for you. After failing to find any info on the brand or it's sizing I reasoned that a plus range in S-XL would probably fit me in an XL. No. Jumpo is a non-plus sized clothing range that has for some inexplicable reason been added to New Looks plus size clothing section. The picture above is a size 22-24 dress next to a Jumpo XL dress. Can you see the problem? Yeah, a 30 inch waist is the fucking problem - about the same size as one of my thighs. Fix up New Look, take this shit out of the plus section please.

 Lets end on a high shall we (phew!). I've been waiting for these lovedrobe dresses to go into the sale for AGES! Finally they're affordable! I liked both colours (pink and green) but I thought it would be safer to go for the 24 as I didn't know what the fit / fabric would be like and the green had sold out in that size, so decision made!

I wasn't sure what colour I was going to get, because the dress was called 'bright pink', but on my order the colour said 'purple', and I knew that the colour on the Lovedrobe site was quite different to the one on New Look. Bear that in mind if you order it that it's sort of in-between the two representations!

I imagine it will be the same situation with the green too.

 I love this dress, its construction and fabrics are very similar to the vintage blue maxi dress I got a few months ago (post here) so as soon as I took it out of the bag I knew I'd love it!

Size-wise I think it will depend on your back & bust size. I'm glad I got the 24 because I think the 22 would have been a bit tighter than I'd like on the bust. I could have worn a 22 on the waist and hips easily though! Stretch lining, non-stretch overlay and elasticated waist. It's beautiful. I highly recommend this one!

Parsnips out!