In Mamamia’s Road Test series, real women road test the latest trends, treatments and techniques you need to know about - and share their honest thoughts. If it's out there, you can bet we've tried it. This week, four women with different body shapes try a bright summer midi dress.
If you haven't noticed already, 2020 farewelled the tight, body-hugging dress.
This year, we've been more interested in floaty numbers we can throw on for any occasion. And we hope they're here to stay.
In particular, we've been eyeing off bright, relaxed dresses that make an effortless statement. So in the name of shopping, we tracked down one such dress and asked four women to give it a whirl.
Here, women sized 8-24 try on the Atmos&Here Clara Button Midi Dress, $89.99, which comes in Curvy sizes, and share how they styled it. (PS: it comes in black too, if that's more your speed.)
Just quickly, here's Clare Stephens reviewing non-family friendly fashion. Post continues below.
Lily, size 8.
Lily's personal style: My style is quite varied and very relaxed - I like to pair sneakers with every outfit and my current summer wardrobe consists of a mix of old school retro t-shirts, shorts and wrap dresses.
How Lily styled it: I decided to style this dress a little differently as I'm really into wrap dresses at the moment. Instead of wearing it with the collar out, I folded and tucked the collar inside, undid the whole dress and crossed it over, wrapping it around me and securing it with the belt.
I then did up a few of the lower buttons so it's not too risque. And bam, done! I wanted to have a bit of fun with this and change up the neckline. I love it both ways but thought this was a great summer lunch option.
I've styled it with white sneakers - my go to for ANY outfit, day or night. These are canvas ones from a small brand called Simple. I went super clean with my jewellery and stuck to gold - my necklace is Reliquia, my watch is Daniel Wellington and my earrings are gold hoops I bought from Brie Leon on The Iconic earlier this year.
Lacey-Jade, size 24.
Lacey-Jade's personal style: When I dress for summer it's all about a cinched waist or a crop top! Anything that flaunts my curves! So this summer you'll find me on the streets of Melbourne turning heads but underneath... I'm always rocking my anti-chafe shorts.
How Lacey-Jade styled it: I had such high hopes for this dress. When I saw it online, it screamed casual Sunday afternoon drinks to me! Which is why I paired it with sensible heels, gold jewellery and big sunnies.
I wanted to highlight the gorgeous colour so I paired it with more neutral-toned shoes and gold jewellery which not only accentuates the magenta colour of the dress but will also bring out that (faux) tan!
That said, my hopes were dashed when I put the dress on. While the fabric is lovely and the opal buttons are super cute, I couldn't get past the cut. I am a curvy girl and unfortunately 'I' shape dresses just don't suit my hourglass figure. This was most noticeable around my belly where the buttons gaped.
Kee, size 10.
Kee's personal style: Chic, obviously! And I am very fond of a capsule wardrobe. I tend to shy away from what's "in-fashion" and invest in good, timeless pieces that I can mix and match, and enhance with accessories. During summer, I tend to be at the beach, a lot! So I wear lots of linen or simply a one-piece swimsuit paired with shorts, a pair of waterproof Birkenstocks, and a hat ALWAYS - and sunnies.
How Kee styled it: I wore this look to a nice family lunch where we sat alfresco. I wanted to keep the gorgeous colour of the dress front and centre with chic but subtle accessories. That includes a gorgeous printed headband, bucket bag, statement sunnies and lots of gold and silver fine jewellery. Although the colour is gorgeous, it's quite girly, so I felt like I needed to funk it up - I finished the look off with some chunky patent sandals.
Lize, size 16.
Lize's personal style: I wear dresses a lot. But not just any dresses. I need them to come in at the waist and have sleeves, otherwise I’ll look like a potato sack. So this one was perfect.
How Lize styled it: It’s super comfy but needs a heel for my height and to dress it up a bit more. I picked my go-to black block heels because they’re comfortable but also dressy enough. It’s the ideal dress for a pub on a Saturday afternoon in summer and is very light and breezy.
Would you wear this summer midi? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!
Read some of our previous roadtests here:
- ROADTEST: 'I'm a size 24, and went searching for the perfect spring dress.'
- ROADTEST: “I tried the $39 Target tights for two days to see if they rival my expensive pairs.
- ROADTEST: "I tried the 5-minute 'bathrobe curls' trick and I’ll never use a curling wand again."
- ROADTEST: “I tried the iconic Meghan Markle jeans to see if they're really that good.”
Feature image: Supplied.
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