The Best Dress Review I Have Ever Read by my friend Jessica

Today I am pleased to present a dress review of the Igigi “Modena” gown. Igigi sent me this dress this past March to wear to a weekend party and I promised to provide a product review. They sent the wrong size for me but the perfect size for my sister Greek chick Jessica, and thank goodness it worked out this way because I love her writing. So witty! So descriptive! And so pretty in her new dress! Please take a moment and leave a comment for Jessica (by clicking the word “comments”) after reading and wish her a Happy Birthday while you’re at it.

My Horribly Overdue Dress Review by Jessica

Igigi “Modena” Gown

Jessica's Fairy Godmothers

I guess it is every girl’s dream that eventually, one day, she’ll be Cinderella. A fairy godmother shows up, gives you an awesome dress and shoes, and lets you blow your house-cleaning responsibilities for a night of kicking it with Prince Charming. I never thought that at 31, I’d be a living version of Cinderella with TWO fairy godmothers and my big ball being bar-hopping until the wee hours of the morning in Green Bay in the dead of winter, but I also never dreamed that MySpace would become completely irrelevant.

I guess my story is one of being at the right place at the right time. The Tribe, as we call ourselves, was preparing for our BIG NIGHT OUT at the Bad Bar. Now that I’ve officially donned the title “Old Married Lady” for almost a year, I had resigned myself to wearing a fantastically low-cut sweater, tight jeans, and boots; gone were the days of Friday Night Fuck Me Pants and barely-there tops. I noticed a bunch of lovely ladies donning these gorgeous gowns (I had missed the e-mail to order one, it seemed), and I had a twinge of jealousy, but at least I would be snuggly and warm and non-descript as I guzzled my Schlitz.

Corinna was dashing down the hallway with this pretty dress in her arms looking for Mo. I couldn’t help but notice the ooh-ahh inducing royal blue color, the way the dress swayed in the plastic wrap, and I commented on it. Her eyes opened as she said, “WHAT SIZE ARE YOU?!?!”

Oh God. Because if there’s anything us women of heft don’t want to admit out loud, let alone to ourselves, is our weight and size. Corinna is the non-judgemental type, though, so I said “Um, 22ish.”

“Great! Take this! Have it!”

What? I am not the person who gets stuff for free. I was the girl on the college campus filling out credit card requests only to be told that today’s t-shirt/bobblehead/fleece blanket has been sold out, but would I finish my application anyway please? To have a gorgeous gown (“Look at this fabric,” murmured Corinna as she showed me the dress) handed to me was something I was admittedly skeptical of since I knew it wasn’t going to fit. It couldn’t fit. Could it?

My husband’s wolf whistle sealed the deal. “Wow, babe! You look amazing!” Indeed, the dress fit and looked pretty darn good. That is the magic of this dress, ladies.

I will say initially I was not a fan of the fabric; it’s a polyesterish blend. I thought for sure that I would sweat right through it leaving unsightly stains and even worse odor. Not only did I NOT sweat through this dress, but like Under Armour, it wicked the sweat away from my body! Magic!

Corinna and Jessica drink up!

Need further proof that this fabric is magic? Since I went out bar-hopping in this dress (I KNOW), I happened to be sitting on a table that an enthusiastic and drunk young man decided to stand atop of to lead everyone in inebriated song. You can see where this is heading: the entire contents of the booze-fueled table spilled and soaked my skirt. After a bit, I noticed there wasn’t a stain on my gown. Amazing!

Jessica Dancing Queen

About the fit: the dress is fantastic for the pear shaped among us who are not built like linebackers in the shoulder department but definitely are not lacking in the hip-butt-thigh area. The wrap top perfectly accents cleavage without constant nervous adjustment and embarrassing gaps. The skirt hides the flaws and accentuates the good parts of curves, without looking deliberately like it is trying to hide anything. I also had a very drunk lesbian loudly hit on me at breakfast at three in the morning, so win-win!

As for the negatives, if you are in the 5’6” range or shorter (like me), you will most definitely need this puppy altered. It dragged on the floor for the majority of the evening, despite me wearing super-high heels (courtesty of my second fairy godmother, Susan) and my best efforts to not let it hit the bathroom floor (gross). I found the sleeve-length to be flattering, but annoying. The dress also has a slight itch factor to it; I suppose the magic fabric cannot be perfect. All in all, I’m definitely looking forward to wearing this dress again, but not to bar hop in.

Recommended for: making your high school boyfriend jealous at your reunion, going to an opera, attending an awards banquet in your honor, hot role-play with the hubby wherein you play the famous Oscar-winning actress and he’s your bodyguard, fall/winter evening wedding.

Not Recommended for: a graduation party, (despite its ability to combat errant beer and booze spills) bar-hopping in Wisconsin, wearing to sporting events, spring/summer weddings.

**Since this dress is hanging in my closet, this counts as a compensated review. Thanks to the good folks at Igigi and The Tribe, and especially my fairy godmothers for making me oh-so-pretty!

Announcing Igigi Gift Certificate Winner and a Summer of Contests

Congratulations to commenter lucky 13 – rishabree has won the $100 gift certificate to Igigi. She has generously agreed to send in pics when her shopping arrives. I am looking forward to seeing her new outfit.

This is officially now the Summer of Contests! Another contest will be announced tomorrow.

Thank you to everyone who played along and posted a comment and a link. There will be many more chances to win something so stay tuned.

Visiting the House of Igigi and a Contest

Tonight I am having dinner with my friends Yuliya Raquel and Ozlem Arpaci from Igigi, and Lisa and Jim Dolan who own Lee Lee’s Valise. It is sure to be a fun filled evening and I will post a report tomorrow.

Remember that contest that I promised you a couple of weeks ago? It all started when I visited the Igigi showroom. Contest details at the bottom, after my report of my day at Igigi.

When I was in San Francisco last month I was fortunate to meet Yuliya Raquel, the design talent behind the House of Igigi. My appointment to tour the studio was with Ozlem, Yuliya’s confidant, business manager and sargeant-at-arms.

I am a big fan of Yuliya’s design talents and I was thrilled when I learned that she would be joining Ozlem and I for lunch. But lunch would be later in the afternoon and first, I got to try on clothes.

This is the Floral Creme Brulee Dress. When I came out of the dressing room I told Yuliya and Ozlem that this dress is a miracle, and it absolutely is. Yes, I know that my lacy black bra is much too revealed and I would never leave the house like that, but I wanted you to see how it looked on my body shape. I am your virtual mannequin!

I am 5’7″ and I have a rack of doom (38DDD), so there is probably enough fabric to cover your tata’s, while I must wear a cami. But I decided that the dress is worth it. I am wearing a size 12 because the 14 was too big for me.

There are so many incredible design touches that I can not rave about this dress enough. There is a bit of ribbon on the sleeve that compliments detail on the neckline. The dress is designed to wrap, with the attached belt wrapping inside the dress and through the side, so the belt wraps around to tie in front. There is enough fabric to cover you (there was too much fabric in the 14 for my shape and that’s why I chose the 12), and most importantly the quality of the fabric is luscious. It floats beautifully, doesn’t cling, shines like silk…and for $112.00? I told Yuliya she should charge more so I suggest you get this dress before I talk her into it.

Francesca dress in amethyst

This is the Francesca dress in amethyst, size 12. I don’t think I need to say much here. A cut above the basic low cut cocktail dress and it is simply gorgeous. The fabric is a good medium weight, is fully lined, and glides around my legs as I walk.

I absolutely love this dress. I think it works best as an evening dress and I don’t think that I would wear this to the office. Perfect for dinner out, going to hear live music and dancing, etc. I would even wear this to the Metropolitan Museum of Art on evenings when they open galleries with a bar cart and a jazz combo.

They have things like that where you live, right?

Squeezing into something too small looks like this.

This is the Breezy Morning Dress in size 12 I should have tried the 14. I am posting this pic of myself, your virtual mannequin, because I wanted you to see what it looks like to wear something that is too small. You’re welcome.

The top of the dress is a similar knit to the Francesca dress, and the bottom is similar fabric to the Creme Brulee. The reason the dress fits so differently is because of the differences in the two fabrics and the style of the dress. This is not a wrap dress (there is a zipper on the left side), and so there is no extra fabric to adjust to your shape. I suggest you order one size larger.

Friendly faces at Igigi:

Yuliya and Igigi wedding dresses

Yuliya at the design table

Yuliya working with one of her many inspiration boards.

oooh fabric!

Ribbons and details and colors oh my!

People who work at Igigi seem really happy.

I wish I could find my notepad with everyone's name. Thank you for letting me post your picture, guy who works for Igigi.

Somebody has to keep things running smoothly around here.

Ozlem, me and Yuliya holding her camera shy daughter.

AND NOW FOR THE CONTEST

Please post a comment (you click on the word “comment” beneath this post) with a link to something that you would get from the Igigi website and where you would wear it. Next Tuesday, June 22nd, I will be choosing by random number generator a winner for a $100 Igigi gift certifiate.

Cocktails at the museum? Best friend’s wedding? Someone planning on proposing to you? Your kid is graduating from college? Your kid is finally moving out? Be dressed for the occasion, or any occasion. Be ready for those moments when people take out their cameras. Igigi offers fashion, real fashion with a real design sensibility. The quality of the fabrics and the stitching is outstanding. I would say that their clothes are worth every penny so good luck in winning that $100!

Winner of Igigi Gift Certificate…from May

Cate R. won the gift certificate back in May of this year. I just realized when I announced the winner of the Kiyonna Gift Certificate last week that I never posted Cate’s pics and her product review. Thank you Cate for posing for readers of A Celebration of Curves. Cate asked me to hide her face, hence the big black dot. It’s too bad because only I get to see how truly beautiful you are. What amazing blue eyes!

I think Cate looks fantastic in her IGIGI purchases. Don’t you?

Okay, I know I won the $100 IGIGI gift certificate a while ago, but it took me a while to spend it all! I ordered three different dresses. The first was the Tina Faux Wrap in Olive. It came, and it fits beautifully. It’s a pretty color for my complexion, but I wish there had been a few more dynamic color choices (although there are now!).

I like the fit of the dress; it’s very flattering. One issues I have is that it is extremely low-cut on me. I have to either pin it (in which case it still shows about an inch of cleavage) or wear it with a tank top underneath. I wear it with a tank top to work, and it’s cute. I pair it with navy blue espadrilles generally.

The next dress I ordered was the Daniella Print Knot dress. It looked so amazing! Unfortunately, when it arrived, the fit was all wrong. It fit like a muumuu! I like dresses to show off my curves, and this was the exact opposite approach!

I had filled out a first-time customer survey, so I had gotten 15% off the Daniella dress. It took a while for me to get in touch with customer service to arrange for an exchange. I ended up getting the GORGEOUS new bubble dress with pockets. This dress is amazing! The color is breathtaking! Well done!

So, pros: I like the way these dresses fit, and the colors are beautiful. I wish they had more casual selections, and a few that were less pricey. (If I hadn’t had the gift certificate, I probably wouldn’t have done too much shopping there. These dresses are beautiful, but I would spend somewhere between $40-$60 for them, not $80-$100. They are dry clean only, and the fabric on my green dress already started to pill in one place.

And, like I said, big-chested ladies beware, these dresses easily put all your business in the street.

In the interest of full disclosure, I ordered a size 12, and IGIGI says my shape is “Figure 8.”

Thank you Cate for sending in pics of your purchases and writing such an honest review. Buying clothes online can be a challenge but I personally prefer it to spending time stomping around the mall, going from one dressing room to the next. Pics and reviews like Cate’s are extremely helpful in making informed online shopping decisions.

I am still giggling over Cate’s “…all your business in the street” line!