How do we feel about maxi dresses?

Personally I will be passing on this trend.

i'd consider it if i found one in a great pattern that isn't cut like a bikini top, but most of the ones i've seen have been ugly. the dress in the photo is hideous.

So prone to horribleness, if only because the size of the canvas makes the fabric even more noticeable. Also, the bikini tops encourage bralessness which should really be left for special occasions, not, say, trips to Midtown.

I have one ankle-length halter dress, I like it but can never find occasions to wear it because it's kind of dramatic (also the braless thing). Oh well.

we were talking about this on a diff. thread. i am liking them, but that is because i'm going to a tropical paradise for a week. don't think it's something you can really do regularly living in a city. though maybe... i don't know.

this would not be flattering on me at all. i think you need boobs.

I think a non-print one wld look awesome on me. I would totally rock that shit. Unfortunately all the ones I have seen and liked have been some kind of stretch jersey fabric that would MAD pill up.

Well, we all have our little insecurities -- I don't think you need boobs to wear maxis, but I do think you need a pretty restrained ratio of width to length. The visual impact is SO COLUMNAR, I think the more not-tall you are, the more narrowly the skirt should be cut in order to keep the emphasis on the vertical.

Oops xp!

I really think that six feet of any fabric is gonna be waaaaaaay too much.

OK I take that back because I have had two proper ankle-length evening gowns that I thought were flattering, but they were highly tailored, not big blowsy things. The curtain-ness of these maxi dress things is what most turns me off.

If you were wittle like Abbott I think you could make this work, actually.

I am 5'9"

no wai really? Hmm from WDYLL pics I thought you were widdle!

U R OPTICAL ILLUSION!

this would not be flattering on me at all. i think you need boobs.

you also can not have lots of boobs. need perfect mid-boob size.

i do not feel all that great abt maxi dresses

but i just looked at that cat with no face thread so i don't feel great abt much right now aaaaaaghhhh

also why are they called MAXI dresses! worst name ever for dress!

No, I think the fact that we can't even agree who they look good on makes them a non-starter. On the other hand for hanging around the house, some really light dresses with full skirts that are unhampering would probably feel pretty nice. Best left as PJs, though, I think.

eh, why would i want to hide all my legs?

I'm 6'1" and tried one on.. I looked like a bedspread. I didn't dig it at all. And as said above - I love my legs!

Maxi dress, of course, sounds like maxi pad. I can dig, rrrobyn.

Chilxors being tall! I wouldn't mind hiding my legs, they aren't even in the top 10 list of my best features. But eh whatever -- maxi dresses still LOSE.

i like the one i have, but i haven't worn it yet, so yeah, it is a hard dress to find the right occasion for.

i think i might just start wearing it around the house, to the grocery store, etc.

oh! i found a picture that's almost the dress i have:

http://www.shopbutante.com/images/DEDL35P_D11_1_M_tbags.jpg

mine doesn't have a sweetheart neckline, though. it's got a deep v.

okay, my dress has this neckline, but with the orange and purple print above:

http://images.saksfifthavenue.com/images/products/04/789/0049/0478900493053/0478900493053_ASTL_300x400.jpg

I like the idea but the implementation seems to be rather horrific. The 70s take on this with flat colours rather than prints and often with Edwardian style high neck seems better.

also can't ride a bike in it

OK well at least the one horseshoe posted above has waist definition. I feel kinda meh about my legs but the broad shoulders/hips and relatively widdle waist thing make my waist probably my best body feature, and I don't want it lost in the curtains.

yeah, i'm both short and wide-hipped, so even though i immediately fell in love with it when i saw it, i figured it would look awful on. but it's really well draped and doesn't make me look shapeless.

i think what's confusing about when you're supposed to wear these is that, unless, like tehresa pointed out, you're on a beach vacation, they're a formal length in an informal fabric. mine's jersey. confusing!

these are way ugly

i got one from julia at the clothes swap and like it-- it's black and not bathing suit-y on top and best of all has pockets. i look a little pregnant in it so was considering adding a belt, but am not sure if that's allowed with these things or not.

I guess I could get away with it if it was slim at the waist, but it's not really my thing. I do have a floor-length 40's vintage purple dress but never have worn it (I suppose one day or another a friend will get married & actually go somewhat formal, I'll get it out then).

I was hoping from the name that this would be a really enormous dress, akin to Elizabeth I's more elaborate gear.

so a maxi-dress is just a really long dress? I had not heard this term before.

You can totally wear these to ride a bike you just have to tie the sides in big knots when you ride.

i'm totally down with hiding my stubby ugly legs but with wide hips, shortness etc i think these dresses would look ridic on me. i prefer to hide my legs with boots or legwarmers (as an aside: i wish i had discovered legwarmers sooner - they are god's gift to ugly legs/ankles)

im totally for any dress that shows some boob action

no amount of cleavage can stop a patterned dress-thingy with no waist definition from reminding me of http://forbiddenplanet.co.uk/blog/wp-content/uploads/2007/01/Zippy.jpg

seriously that is exactly what I thought upon visiting quincie's link

So is there any real difference between today's maxi dress and the muumuus of yore?

more boob action?

You can totally wear these to ride a bike you just have to tie the sides in big knots when you ride.

hijinks ensue

I have 3 maxidresses, they look way cute, even with my non-existant boobage. I am a bit on the short side and they make me look longer, so that's a definite plus. The cutest one is strapless, black with a white stripish print and an empire waist.

I don't own any but am very interested in trying one one. I think if cut correctly it could look really great. I don't think I'd wear it just on an average day at work or in the city - that might feel strange. I'd probably reserve for a party, beach, or lazy weekend.

i have this crazy patterned outfit that is like a maxi dress but the bottom is not a skirt but wide-legged pants. i got it free from 2nd-hand situation and it totally fits me perfectly o_O but i feel like a one of those italian-cdn woman who is young but dresses like she's middle-aged and wears things like this to walk on boardwalks, somewhere. it is made of some weird synthetic stretchy material and has a sash.

this is weird considering that i don't really like maxi dresses, but i actually like the maxi jumpsuit with sash thing (if the pattern is decent). you've really got to be able to carry it off, though (some kork-ease wedges help).

yeah, i know, funny, eh? and v comfortable even! if the jumpsuit weren't a weird white-teal-purple big-pattern design i would totally wear it with wedges for sure. but it is kind of MAXIMUM in-yr-face jumpsuit.

have not yet seen anyone looking good in these

also did somebody not get the memo explaining the very good reason nobody uses that particular prefix anymore

i want to be able to claim i look good in these, but since i haven't worn mine yet...

i have seen at least one woman look good in one. she is impossibly tall and used to be a professional model, though.

well I think the ones you posted have, like, waistlines, so therefore not really muu-muu

They seem fine, if you do not care about flattering your body or attracting men.

I thought we already established that men don't really care how you dress until they want to break up with you and are looking for reasons?

did we? that sounds like an excellent thread idea

It's an Ethan-ism except I think he took it from a girly magazine article.

what's that bloom county cartoon where steve dallas is reading cosmopolitan in the bathroom? yeah that

I think it was that men will not find fault with their girlfriends' looks until they are ready to break up and looking for reasons.

My theory of men is that when they compliment clothes it is because you are wearing something that reinforces your feminine difference (like a dress) or that shows skin, because skin reminds them of sex.

I think my most frequent compliments over the years have involved really tight jeans, but YMMV.

^^^ Yeah, they seem to really like those.

tight jeans and swishy skirts are the fashion things a straight dude can compliment about w/o 1. GAAAAYYYY 2. me like titties

dudes have to repress a lot of fashion thoughts

I mean if they want to date girls anyway

hair

oh right we can say nice things about hair but that's kind of like a body part

does hair even really rate with guys?

yah

this is pretty true in my experience re: non-creepy comments from non-creepy men who are friends or boyfriends or bros. tight pants/jeans and always patterned or colourful dresses with swishy skirts (that aren't longer than just below knee) = guaranteed good comment.

what i find kinda confounding is that i get a lot of positive comments when i wear what i think are kinda man-ish wider-leg pants - i think this is b/c they seem like stylish menswear that is a bit too foppish for most men to choose but secretly they like the look of 20s/30s dandies. oh, i don't know.

really? like would you not date someone because they had a certain kind of hair?

i rate every woman's hairdo that i see on a scale between 1 and 7 and write it down in a little notebook.

kidding. i mean, yeah, we look at hair.

but what ABOUT hair? like no curly headed bitches allowed?

we like all hair except your hair

j/k

Dudes by and large like long hair or so they seem to indicate when polled on such matters. I don't care - I have never had nor never will have long hair.

yeah but then there are bunches of dudes who are like eew long hair
so whatever
dudes

Indie rock dudes be favoring the short hair, always.

Also baseball, horse racing, and pinball.

i like long hair too

No you don't.

u crazee

i don't like REALLY SHORT crew cut hair on ladieez

x-posts - Woah. Yeah and since that's the kind I'm normally after it's worked out well for me overall. lol. Even though it's only chin length, my hair is the longest it's been in a while and it feels weird.

Does anybody like really short crew cut hair on ladieez?

I'm sure some people do.

Tuomas, for instance.

I know, I know. Overall though I don't really think they're flattering on most women.

otm

as long as it's not super-short or super-long it's all okay

girls who haven't had their hair cut since age five or whatever - watch out

dudethink: are we making out y/n

if y then you have beautiful hair even right after you get up in the morning and haven't washed it in like forever

if n then whatever, like, hair, lol I'm a dude

hair is like colors of shirts
if it looks good on you then it looks good
if it looks like shit on you then it looks like shit

there are a few styles like spiky crew cut or trashy highlights or what have you that I'm opposed to but that's mostly on cultural grounds e.g. I am really unlikely to have anything in common with that girl, not necessarily based on a cute/hot rating

lol i like where this thread has gone

Maxi hairs vs. mini hairs

i think the dress could use a little more coverage on top, but i like it's casual-(hippie-?)ness and femininity

My theory of men is that when they compliment clothes it is because you are wearing something that reinforces your feminine difference (like a dress) or that shows skin, because skin reminds them of sex.

this is kinda otm for me, but it leaves out the casual/unpretentious part, supra

really? like would you not date someone because they had a certain kind of hair?

pretty much

but what ABOUT hair? like no curly headed bitches allowed?

well, there are occasional exceptions. i'm not a big fan of super-short hair on either gender.

it's

this is kinda otm for me

otm about what i like, not what i'd compliment

you wouldn't compliment what you like?

i think i'd be wont to compliment to make someone feel good as much as as an expression of taste (which isn't to say i'd be insincere). i think i'd be most moved to remark upon something particularly striking/bold, and if i think about it what goes in that category is often a not necessarily maxi but longer and perhaps colorful (printed?) dress (which isn't necessarily reflective of personal taste, and doesn't mean i'd actually say anything).

i'm thinking i may know the only guy who thinks jeans/hoodie/sneakers is totally hot (my bf): i mean if i get dressed up in fancy dress and heels and mascara he's 'yah pretty!' but the aforementioned combo gets the 'grrrr SEXAY!!' but he is outdoorsy and thinks that look is hot on girls.

(when i bought my first ever pair of hiking boots in preparation for our first hike together he told me it was the most romantic thing any girl had done for him... O_o but cute)

my new verdict is that this dress is bad. ended up at a party last night in my neighborhood where everyone was under 25 except my group and it was all popped collars and girls in bad, bad sundresses. i was amazed at how this dress seriously does not look good on anyone. although, for some reason I keep imagining some hot french mom wearing it while walking with her 2 kids.

Via Cafe Mode - not bad, actually
http://blogs.lexpress.fr/cafe-mode/1streetstyle_balenciaga_dress-thumb-380x567.jpg

well, it's balenciaga... how bad could it be?

There were a lot of maxi dresses out this weekend, usually with wedge or gladiator sandals. They look pretty when they're basically like a toga or very bare on top and floating around on the bottom. They made more sense in the hot, hot weather and near the pool and the beach.

yeah I can't think of anything I don't like balenciaga. I also can't think of anything I could afford unfortunately :(

Hah. It's Balenciaga and also the woman wearing it is a lot leggier than I am -- my one floor-length dress is quite straight up-and-down for a reason; I can't sacrifice any of my hard-won length vs width.

(And not that "hard won", either, considering I had a cheese steak for lunch.)

these dresses just don't usually move me...

I think they can be cute if they are committed to a resort wear look with a bare, halter or one-shoulder toga type top. The hybrids that try to use a top from a normal dress look pretty dowdy.

Also, I think it's very important that the print is a long vertical one that takes advantage of the maxi-length or has different details in the torso and length, like the ones tza posted in the summer trends thread.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/felicityredwell/2625306909/sizes/m/

Otherwise it really is just a boring print dress made longer a/k/a repeating zippy the pinhead look.

i love the idea of these dresses but haven't found any that are cut in a way that would be flattering or attractive. the ones i've found online that are the slightest bit interesting are always the massively expensive ones. ah well.

dresses suck for sizing anyway...they assume that women have certain shapes and proportions and fuck you if you deviate from those.

i wore mine finally + i love it. it was on the expensive side and i think the way it drapes is key.

I saw a girl wearing one made of what looked like drawing room drapes the other day -- it was kind of a cool fabric but YOW way way too much of it.

i found the prettiest dress at filene's basement today. it is a brand called kapalua (which makes me sad i am not in maui anymore) but is as far as i can tell a german brand? it is not maxi, but summery and beautiful w/ a slate-ish blue/black/white print of crinkly silk.