Rein in the sack dress
June 20th, 2007The “it” item this season, celebrities can’t stop wearing them and dress departments are full of them. The sack (or shift) dress is a ‘60’s inspired boxy mini that’s looks… well… like a sack. It’s muu-muu quality makes it comfortable, but at the same time enormously shapeless and difficult to pull off with style.
Sack dresses in soft draping fabrics like sateen, chiffon and thick jersey are a little more flattering, but still not ideal. Matching them with leggings, skinnies and straight leg pants gets a look going, but does little for your silhouette.
The only way I’ve felt fab wearing a sack dress is by belting it at the waist over a pair of slim fitting pants. And a wider belt works better than a narrow one. This combination gives you the volume and the shape. Try reining in that sack dress (without the pants if you have great legs). You might prefer this high fashion look if you do.
Left: Satin shift dress is easier to pull off because of the draping fabric.
Right: Sack dress paired with a wide belt for extra shape.
June 20th, 2007 at 11:03 am
I have always loved these dresses for summer, because they are so cool - literally. And never having had much of a waist, anyway, being a square mesomorph at best, I have found them flattering! But for a skinny minnie - I can see what you are saying….
June 20th, 2007 at 11:58 pm
Oh, those sack dresses are really awful in general. They do remind me of muu-muus. The belt definitely helps, though I’ve found that because of the way sack dresses are cut, they often don’t look right even with a belt because there is too much fabric gathering in the back. The extra fabric has to go somewhere. I wonder what the dress on the right with the belt looks like from behind. My guess is that it isn’t pretty.