Made in Preston Dress Roundup!

This post was written by Laura, a contributing blogger for Thin and Curvy. If you missed her intro post, look no further!

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During the pre-holidays shopping frenzy, Made in Preston had a promotion that allowed first-time shoppers a 50% discount on everything. I couldn't pass that up, right? So, I purchased a dress and planned to review it. And planned. And planned. The lovely ladies and gents at MIP then offered me two dresses to review as a preview of the upcoming Spring/Summer 2014 line, and I couldn't pass it up!

So, this first dress was purchased by me and all opinions are my own. The following two dresses were given to me free of cost to review, and all opinions are still my own.

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The dress I bought during the promotion is the Gold Panelled Party Dress, which immediately drew my attention.

I mean, how could it not, right?

 I knew this dress was one-of-a-kind and I couldn't pass it up. Especially not for 50% off! It's a minidress, so tall ladies may want to watch the length. Or not. It's up to you! I felt most comfortable wearing tights with this dress, mainly due to my bodacious bottom.

The back ran a little big on me, so broader-backed and/or taller women are in luck! 

 The sizing at Made in Preston is a bit different than your normal shop. The numbers are in UK sizing, and 16 is as high as they go (equivalent to a U.S. size 12). To determine your size, you input your "high street" size and then your bra size. They calculate your suggested size for you, so it takes all the work out of it! There are three categories of size beyond number: Fit, Foxy, and Fab. Fit is on the less busty side, Fab is for the bustiest customers, and Foxy is right in the middle. Because I wear a 34HH, I said I wore a 34J (since 34HH is not an option in their drop-down menu). 16 Foxy was my result, and it definitely was the right size in all 3 dresses.

You can totally disco in this dress. For reals.

The zipper is really easy to do up yourself, which I love in a dress. Then again, that goes back to the fact the dress is a little big on me in the back. Doesn't make it unwearable, but it's definitely something to note for the more petite crowd.

A better shot of just how gorgeous the details on this dress are!

This dress is fabulous. Yes, it is a tight dress. Yes, I have a tummy. Yes, I'm still going to wear it out. For those more self-conscious about tummies, you can easily get away with standard shapewear under this dress; however, a corset may show due to how close this dress hugs the body. For those of you readers with body shapes more similar to Brittany, it won't be an issue at all.

Outfit Summary:
Dress: Made in Preston Gold Panelled Party Dress, size 16 Foxy
Bra: Ewa Michalak PL Charlie, 34HH (I think! Will update this when I have a chance to look.)
Tights: Spanx
Boots: Steve Madden

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The first of the two dresses MIP gifted me completely blew me away with its super-cool print.

CARS. CITY. SO COOL.

This dress is called the City Print Bodycon Dress, and you can find it HERE. It is slinky, stretchy, comfortable, and dare I say, traffic-stopping? (ba-dum-pssshhh)

This dress loves all of your curves. All of them.

I had a little trouble with getting the lighting right in these photos, but this was supposed to demonstrate that on me, this dress hits me a little below the knee. For taller readers, this should probably hit you right at the knee.

Weird stomach lump, brought to you by my tights slipping down. Too many costume changes!

This dress doesn't really need tights, because it goes past the knees. If you do decide to wear tights, go with something solid; I tried wearing this dress tonight out for my mother's birthday dinner, and the fishnets I was wearing caused the dress to static cling uncomfortably to my legs. Lesson learned!

This print is bananas. B-a-n-a-n-a-s.

For those of you readers who have body shapes more like me, shapewear may make you more comfortable in this dress. I mean, it is a bodycon dress, and they're supposed to be super clingy. It's certainly not a bad thing -- I actually like how the length of the dress balances out how tight it is. However, I know a lot of people want to hide "problem areas", and it's pretty impossible to do that in this dress without the assistance of shapewear. Made in Preston really is a company that designs for women with figures like Brittany, but it makes me happy to note that I feel comfortable pulling off these clothes, too!

I recommend being very careful when handling this dress -- don't, say, lay it on top of a sequined dress, because it may snag a little. Whoops. 

Outfit Summary:

Dress: City Print Bodycon Dress, size 16 Foxy.

The rest: see above.

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I saved the best for last. This dress is my absolute favorite, and since receiving my dresses on Tuesday, I've worn it out twice. Once to the theatre to see Book of Mormon (GO SEE IT RIGHT NOW), and for my mother's birthday dinner tonight because the City Print dress was too static-y for my tights.

Behold:

I am so excited about this dress.

This is the Springtime Floral Skater Dress, available NOW.

I don't even know what to do with my hands, I love this dress so much.

The waistline of this dress was in the most absolute perfect place for me -- at my natural waist! Taller readers with similar proportions to me may find that this fits more like an empire-waist dress, but I had no such problems. This dress also hits me about mid-thigh, another thing for taller readers to keep in mind.

I don't know what I'm being sassy about, but deal with it.

I find the a-line cut of this skater dress, like so many skater dresses, to be ridiculously flattering. This skater dress is really cut extremely well for busty women. Now, as much as I adore this dress, it was missing something: a belt. Personally, I think this dress begs for a waist belt. So, y'know. I obliged.

Pleeease forgive my bedhead. Please?

Much better! Right? I just think a wide black belt makes this dress 100x better. 

Apparently, my back was itchy while the camera was going off. Welp.

I can't believe I haven't talked about how much I love this print yet. I love this print. I would love it in the form of a blouse, a skirt, pants... I'd wear it all day, every day. Where the City Print dress was a more delicate fabric, this dress is made of much stronger, yet still soft, stuff. 

I feel pretty, oh so pretty!

My only complaint with this dress is that it comes up very high in the back, so far up that the back of the neckline is on my neck. As a result, it kinda feels like my neck is being pushed down a little bit, like how a halterneck feels. It's certainly not enough to deter me from wearing this dress (seeing as I've worn it twice in the week I got it), but for those who are sensitive to halternecks, it's something to keep in mind. I'm probably going to have it altered somehow so it'll be perfect.

Outfit Summary:

Dress: Springtime Floral Skater Dress, Size 16 Foxy.

The rest: see above.

If anyone has any questions about sizing or styles, please feel free to ask in the comments!