I wear a cropped denim jacket over big sleeves. Or use a linen shawl. Or wrap the shawl around my neck with the jacket, depending on temperatures.

A sweater tied around the neck when you can’t wear the sweater with the dress screams…cheesy way to get a pop of color. You can’t put a sweater over these sleeves. That’s game over for me.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It is 100% not my style and I rarely see anyone around me wearing those dresses. But when I visit the south and DH's family, it is all puffy, tiered dresses or Lilly Pulitzer dresses for social occasions among the 40 - 50-something crowd.

So what are you wearing to those same occasions and what would the people you know wear? I do think there is a regional divide on this though that's probably not all of it.

I typically wear a black sheath dress of some sort and nice jewelry. The ruffles and tiers make me look like a football player. I am sure the other women think I am the most boring person on earth

And, to be fair, many of the men are in seersucker or linen suits, which I also think is pretty regional?

Anonymous wrote:It is 100% not my style and I rarely see anyone around me wearing those dresses. But when I visit the south and DH's family, it is all puffy, tiered dresses or Lilly Pulitzer dresses for social occasions among the 40 - 50-something crowd.

So what are you wearing to those same occasions and what would the people you know wear? I do think there is a regional divide on this though that's probably not all of it.

Anonymous wrote:I like the green dress because it's a more restrained version of most – the sleeves aren't over the top puffy and the skirt isn't overly flouncy. I'm 53 and do not have a good body – or the arms for sleeveless. I wore a similar green dress for a HS graduation a few weeks ago (admittedly in the Deep South) and got lots of compliments.

I'm sure someone will say that people were just trying to find something gentler than "oh, Larla, you look less fat than usual in that dress and that bright color distracts me from your face," but I will take what I can get.

I mean this in all seriousness - the way you write makes you sound like a genuinely fun person who I bet has a ton of friends.

It is 100% not my style and I rarely see anyone around me wearing those dresses. But when I visit the south and DH's family, it is all puffy, tiered dresses or Lilly Pulitzer dresses for social occasions among the 40 - 50-something crowd.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:That green dress, while a nice color, has tiers, puffy sleeves and a gathered waist. I think this is what the OP was complaining about.

I’m 5’7” with a DDD chest and 130 lbs. I’m not fat. I look horrible in these types of dresses.

Overly loose dresses often create the dreaded “boob shelf” on busty women. We need something more fitted and adult. Sometimes a belt helps, sometimes it makes things worse.

It's not my style.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Heh. Just confirming I went to a party Sunday and I was the only middle-aged female NOT wearing a dress in this style.

Every social event I go to I seem to be the only middle aged female not wearing a similar outfit as the others. I always wonder if they coordinated in advance like schoolgirls, or are all the other women dialed in to what's in style and care about trends enough to wear it.

This whole post smacks of “I’m not like the other girls”. If you keep going to events where you’re a noticeable outlier in dress/style, the problem is you. Not that the other women “coordinated like schoolgirls” and left you out.

Anonymous wrote:Oh my word, these dresses are so flattering on my body. I don’t do the big puff sleeves, but those tiers are magical for hiding mom belly. I’m tall, so I much prefer long dresses. What’s knee length other women is slightly indecent on me. Almost everyone I know wears them. It’s only large sleeves that look cutsie.


A gentle reminder that if you don’t have anything nice to say, you don’t have to say anything at all.

As another who likes these dresses…why don’t you take your “gentle reminder” and stuff it? This is a fashion forum so people are allowed to have an opinion.

Anonymous wrote:If anyone is from the South, and I don't mean DC, but the true South, these floral, frilly dresses are lower income church-lady-on-Sunday coded. They would always wear prints. I've always associated it with a very cheap, dowdy look. I don't even like this look for younger women....just not my thing.

I am from the South as well and I think that's a different kind of frilly dress. Like cheap satiny material maybe. But I think the style under discussion here is more of a Tuckernuck style that you definitely find on a lot of wealthier women in the South now, not to church but in more casual settings.

I love the green dress and I like the style. I like the way poofy sleeves look on me. It's casual and breezy and preppy (to my eye!). When people say it's like trad wife coded I think they are just looking for things to judge. Feminine doesn't mean trad wife. I appreciate an understated look but I can also appreciate this.

That said some of the Tuckernuck stuff is ridiculous and little girl like. There's a line. And I agree the print matters!

I like the green dress because it's a more restrained version of most – the sleeves aren't over the top puffy and the skirt isn't overly flouncy. I'm 53 and do not have a good body – or the arms for sleeveless. I wore a similar green dress for a HS graduation a few weeks ago (admittedly in the Deep South) and got lots of compliments.

I'm sure someone will say that people were just trying to find something gentler than "oh, Larla, you look less fat than usual in that dress and that bright color distracts me from your face," but I will take what I can get.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have this dress:



I always get compliments when I wear it. I am 54. (I don't think it looks particularly great on the model).

I don't associate this with a little girl look. I reminds me of casual dresses from the 70's.

I love this color! What brand is this dress?

PP here. It's JCrew (Factory though).

Thanks all for the laughs. My teen daughters were incensed that some of you didn't like this dress. They really don't care much for my love of green, but they love this dress! They were ready to post and defend me.

I love green too. I have light green eyes and when I wear bright green, people comment on them all day. It's my best color, and I wish it were easier to find bright green dresses.

And yes, the prints on Sweet Magnolias look cheap.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If anyone is from the South, and I don't mean DC, but the true South, these floral, frilly dresses are lower income church-lady-on-Sunday coded. They would always wear prints. I've always associated it with a very cheap, dowdy look. I don't even like this look for younger women....just not my thing.

Why cheap? I'm thinking of the fashion on shows like Sweet Magnolias. It doesn't read low income to me (but I'm originally a New Englander).

They don't always read as cheap, but believe me, a printed dress from a lower-end brand USUALLY reads as cheap. You've got to have a VERY good print (usually expensive) for it to not look cheap. I'm not talking about Lilly. I'm saying that your run of the mill print dress from a mid range store is most likely going to read as cheap and frumpy. Printed fabric quality is much easier to determine than something of a solid color.