Sunday, December 21, 2008

Mail Bag: London Times Dress

I have been reading your blog for fashion inspiration, and I am wondering if you could help me. You know that London Times dress that you have in turquoise and black? I have it in brown (a friend gave it to me when she was cleaning out her closet), and I can't figure out what to wear with it. I don't have a very defined waist, so I am a bit afraid of the belt (and I don't really own any nice belts), but I want to make this dress work because I love the brown color. Do you think a brown belt would be best? Or a contrasting color? Or could I find another way to make the dress look less shapeless? (I am short, so the dress goes to right below my knee.)

I'm sure you don't have time to give fashion advice to everyone who reads your blog, but I would be grateful for any ideas you might have.

thank you!
Deborah


How I love that London Times dress! Some might find its swingy shape daunting, but I love all the options the lack of structure offers. If you’d like to cinch it in, you can use a belt or top it with a vest or jacket.

Belted
I’ve tried the dress with skinny belts and fat belts. Belts that match, belts that don’t. They’re all good:


If you’re a bit thicker-waisted, I recommend belting the dress higher than your natural waist, around the ribcage. That is usually one of the slimmest points of a woman’s torso and you’ll get less of a bulge above and below the belt. An empire waist also makes your legs look longer.

Topped
I’ve only done this once, but I’ll do it again. These breezy dresses can be reigned in by vests, cardigans, or jackets that are fitted from anywhere just under the bust to your natural waist.


Loose
Not everyone is a fan of this look, but I like how wearing the dress uncinched puts the focus on your face, legs, and feet. This works best if the hem hits above the knee.


I encourage you to experiment. Two looks you'd probably like best are (1) a medium-width brown belt cinched high on your waist or (2) a fitted, two button blazer, fastened. The first option will give you a long, lean look and the second will create an hourglass figure. If you hem the dress to above the knee, you could also try it uncinched.

Enjoy the dress! It’s one of my favorites.

6 comments:

ebinbaby said...

HAHAHA!! What a concidence!!
I also bought this London Times dress in black from eBay after seeing it on your blog and I too found it very difficult to wear. I tried a variety of belt widths, cardigans and vests but found it impossible to make it look anything but dumpy and tent-like on my curvy figure.
I really liked how the top of the dress fit and didn't want to return it so my solution was to drag out my trusty sewing machine and change it's swingy shape to a straight line. Now it looks much better on me both with a belt, or without!

Anonymous said...

today i used your chi-chi wrap on my scarf, and as soon as i walked into the office, started garnering compliments on how id wrapped my scarf immediately! thanks kasmira! :)

Anonymous said...

I LOVE your blog and LOVE this dress too!

I was wondering where one might find a dress like this and ventured over to eBay. Is this the dress in your post:

http://cgi.ebay.com/London-Times-NEW-Womens-Dresses-Sz-8P-Petite-NWT-79_W0QQitemZ290285899430QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUS_CSA_WC_Dresses?hash=item290285899430&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=72%3A1205%7C66%3A2%7C65%3A12%7C39%3A1%7C240%3A1318%7C301%3A0%7C293%3A1%7C294%3A50

Fabulous little number... perfect for my resolve to wear more dresses (I'm a pants-girl) in 2009.

Cheers!

Kasmira said...

zazazu - the ebay dress looks a bit different. You might check your local TJ Maxx or Marshall's to see if they still have the tie-neck London Times dress.

vivi said...

Hey Kasmira! I stumbled upon your page and I love it! I'm so amazed at how well you're able to mix and match the pieces you have.

I went shopping today and found a dress similar to this black one! only thing is, it's sleeveless. and has somewhat a fluttery fabric on the sleeves. I need your advice on which outfits would still be able to work with that kind of sleeve and which wouldnt.

Amy said...

I have this in navy and always wear it loose, I am excited to try it in so many new ways!