Colorblock silk V-back dress and Blythe in Shallow Sea

Despite many iterations that J.Crew came up with in the last couple of seasons, I don't own a Blythe blouse. It is a nice classic shirt but none of the colors ever interested me. But the Shallow See shade is beautiful and I decided to order it with the last 30% off sale.

Size 6

The color did not disappoint, it is absolutely delightful shade of sea green. It looked beautiful with leopard pencil skirt. I took my usual size 6 and it fitted well with no gaping. The silk is soft but substantial and not see through  The sleeves are long and the front placket is just the right length for tucking in. It also looked OK untucked with trousers.

The cut did not wow and it just has too much going on imo.  The gathering at the shoulders, combined with the pockets made me feel more top heavy than I already am The Shallow Sea color, while gorgeous, turned out to be an orphan item in my closet, with not too many things to pair it with.

I returned the blouse without regrets the very next day.

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Colorblock silk V-back dress

I spotted this dress when it first debuted on the website and it was one of my picks from the collection. Later on, I realized it was made of poly and I lost interest. However, after reading a review by Judicious Shopaholic and  seeing how great it looked on her,  I decided to give it a try.

The outer shell fabric is mostly synthetic (with 15% silk, I think) but the lining is acetate and the dress does not feel 'clammy' against your body.  On the other hand, how can they call it silk is beyond me.

I ordered my regular size 6. I was afraid that if I size down the waist will be too small. This was a right call and the fit of the 6 was good. There was definitely too much room in the hips but the fabric just stays there and does not look too big. The dress is slightly high waisted but this actually created nice shape skimming over the tummy area. The neckline is pretty but it definitely needs a necklace. I liked the horizontal lime stripe at the bottom, it is very striking and adds visual interest. The length is also good and appropriate for any special event .

Of course the main attraction of the dress is the back view. And this is where I had a problem. One of the reasons I decided to order the dress was that Judicious Shopaholic mentioned that she was able to use regular bra with strap extender. I did not have one and to try the dress I used one of those stick-on bras (that I hate!). I think you could use the strap extender but keep in mind that the v is pretty low.

The problem was that the fabric in the back was sticking out away from my body and I think the straps would be visible from that angle. Also, the bow is very hard to tie without help, unless you are very dexterous.

fuzzy back view

Another issue I had was that the dress was navy. For some reason, I could not wrap my mind around the idea of a special event dress in navy. I would much preferred that the dress was black. Don;t take me wrong, I love navy and have many navy pieces, they are perfect for work and casual wear but I cannot shake off the association with sailors, schoolgirls and business wear territory. I read somewhere that 'nobody ever wants to put a hand on a knee of a woman wearing a navy dress'. Maybe that's way navy is so perfect for work, it communicates that we mean business and nothing else.

In the end I returned the dress because I realized that when I run through some possible occasions to wear it  in the foreseeable future, I just could not picture myself wearing it.

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That's all folks!

Do you own a Blythe?

Have you tried the Collection dress? Do you wear dresses with exposed back?

Would you wear navy in the evening?

Please share, it would be no fun without you!!!