Product Review: Ruffled Carly Dress

Ruffled Carly Dress
Click here for product page
Item 21494
Price: $98.00

If you stop by a brick & mortar (B&M) J.Crew store, you may have noticed a new Spring dress, the Ruffled Carly, hanging on the racks. J.Crew describes this dress as the following:

Our designers detailed this sweet dress with rows and rows of ruffles then garment-dyed it for gorgeous saturated color. Spun from pure 100% cotton, you'll love the comfort and ease. A great transitional piece that you can wear layered during winter (try it with leggings and a sweater) and on it's own come spring and summer. Tiers of washed cotton. Shift silhouette. Slightly fitted at waist. Straight bodice, slight A-line skirt. Ruffled collar. Metal buttons. Short sleeves with turned-back cuffs. Unlined. Falls above knee.

A big "thanks!" to Jennifer who shared her review of this dress. The following is her review:

J.Crew describes this dress as follows: "Our designers detailed this sweet dress with rows and rows of ruffles then garment-dyed it for gorgeous saturated color. Spun from pure 100% cotton, you'll love the comfort and ease. A great transitional piece that you can wear layered during winter (try it with leggings and a sweater) and on it's [sic] own come spring and summer."

I hadn't seen this dress online before I popped into my B&M store, where the personal shopper recommended it highly. It was a new arrival, and she was excited to see someone try it on. I was also excited, since I love ruffles, and the dark grey (which appears to be no longer available as of 17 Jan) is one of my favorite colors. The two sizes of ruffles add visual interest, and the change from small to large ruffles provides nice waist definition.

I found this dress problematic for a number of reasons. First, although the construction is impeccable, the cut is oversized in general. I tried on my usual size and swam in it, so I would recommend sizing down. Even one size smaller than my usual had plenty of room in the shoulders, arms, and bust, my usual problem places.

Secondly, and the rear view photo on the website illustrates this nicely, this dress is cut STRAIGHT up and down in the back. For anyone with rear curves, this will be a less than flattering fit. On me, the dress fit fine around my butt, but then went straight up my back, making me look like a ruffled column--not my best look, to say the least!

Undeterred, I tried the dress open over the perfect fit ruffle tank with a matching belt, hoping that this would solve the extra volume problem. Unfortunately, a slim belt with this dress only accented the bagginess of the dress, and the dress went back on the hanger.

Has anyone else had success styling this dress, or is this just the wrong cut for my body type?

But wait, there's more! A big "thanks!" to DinDin who shared her review of this dress, as well as some real-life images. The following is her review:

The carly dress: SUPRISE! I like it!

I got this in the same size I get for perfect shirts and all other dresses. I thought this would make me look heavier but I think this dress has a good shape which eliminates that problem.

I'm 5'2" and I think this dress is a nice length for me. But I suspect it will be too short for anyone that is tall. This hits like 2-3 inches above my knee and when I bend over it gets even shorter in the back! On the model in the online photo it looks to be about the same length as on me, so I'm not sure how that is possible. Maybe the distance from her knees to her ankles is exceptionally long making her tall overall.

The weight of the dress is nice, it's not see through thin but it's not super heavy either. It would be good with tights now and in the spring and summer bare legged. And the best thing is that it is cotton so I can machine wash it.

The ruffles aren't loose and crazy, they are stitched down a bit so they don't go flying about which I think contributes to the good shape of the dress.

Overall, 4 out of 5 stars. I know some people on the blog will tell me I look horrible in it, but, go on, I don't care, I like it.

"Thanks!" again to Jennifer & DinDin for their great reviews of this dress! I love these styles of shift dresses, however they never seem to work for my pear-shaped frame— either the top fits fine but the bottom is too tight, or the bottom fits fine and the top is too loose.

What are your thoughts on the Ruffled Carly Dress? Have you tried on or own this dress? If so, what is your review of the fit & style? Would you recommend it to another fellow JCA?