Tuesday, March 26, 2024

Guest Fit Review: Athleta Downtown Dress, Athleta Striped Maxi Dress

by Cristina

Mrs. O, my amazing shopping friend from afar has really provided some really great Athleta dress fit reviews. I actually really love the striped maxi dress in these pictures despite the fact that she’s not loving it. I think it needs to be hemmed a bit and sized down because it’s a bit too loose around the ribs. I do completely get what she’s saying with the stripes, and the pleats around the waist though. Although I love it in these photos I know those details are things that would bother me in person enough to not purchase, so I’m really glad she pointed them out. I would consider this one for steep markdown as a cheap and cheerful summer purchase if I was going on a beach vacation, especially since it’s modal (which is what gives the material it’s heavy feeling) but not something I’d pick up at full price.

PS. you may have noticed I’ve had some server issues. It would have been most noticeable to you in the comments since that is content you are creating (so you know what isn’t loading that should be loading), and if you’ve tried to access my site while it was down. On my end, some of the posts I had posted weren’t loading and visible to you for several hours.  I’ve worked with my host and we’ve upgraded the server so the issues should be cleared up fully within a few days. If not, please message me or comment and let me know. I’m away on vacation right now which is why I haven’t been super responsive but I have been working on the fix behind the scenes so hopefully you haven’t experienced the outages. Sorry about the hassle if you tried to leave comments and it wasn’t showing the full threads.

Athleta Downtown Dress Athleta Downtown Dress

Athleta Downtown Dress

I always like it when LLL offers dresses, most of which I find flattering.  I thought some of you ladies would like to see a fit review of some of Athleta’s dresses.  I tried on 2 dresses.  This one is a knee length fitted dress with an asymmetrical hem and side ruching.  I always like ruching because it hides flaws and a not so flat stomach.  This dress was TTS.  If you’re in between sizes, I think it would be fine to size down.  I think it will stretch over time.  Sizing up would create more ruching though.  So, it really comes down to what you prefer.  The fabric was soft but a little thin.  Because of the ruching, the fact that the fabric was thin didn’t bother me so much.  I also think a regular bra would make the dress a lot more flattering.  This would be a nice dress for dinner with the girls.  (There’s enough give in the dress that you could splurge with the girls and not feel restrained.  Haha!)  Because the fabric is lightweight it would be cool for the hot summer days.  I’m not sure I would wear it in the afternoon because it is black and because I prefer color during the day.  It’s casual enough for day and can be dressed up for night.  I know lots of you ladies like black/gray dresses because it is slimming.  Who doesn’t want to look slimmer, right?
I’m a little undecided on the price point.  While I may spend more on a LLL dress or another brand, I’m not so sure I would spend $89 on this particular dress.  I have similar dresses from designer brands that I find on sale that are less than or equal to the price, many of which the original price is upwards of $200.  (I love a good bargain!)  I tend to spend more on designer clothing.  I guess I don’t mind paying for the label.  Maybe if the price point was around $60, I’d feel better about it.  LOL, sometimes I find it strange what I’m willing to spend on certain items but not others.  It really just depends on what it is.  I’m hoping I’m not the only one like that . . .

Athleta Striped Maxi Dress

I think everyone can agree that this dress is a bit overwhelming on me.  This was my TTS but I wonder if it would have fit better in a size down.  Also, it was definitely too long for me.  I didn’t like the way the stripes matched up around the waist.  I think the waist seam hit me at an awkward spot.  If it were a true empire waist or if the waist hem was lower, it would have been more flattering.  I also think there was too much fabric in the skirt.  On my body type, it just widened me — the stripes and gathering.  Actually, it might have been a nice dress if it wasn’t a gathered skirt.  The dress was also heavy because of the amount of fabric needed for the dress.  I could feel the pull of the dress on my shoulders because of it’s weight.  Not so much that it would bother me throughout the day.  But after having tried on the knee length dress, the weight caught me off guard a bit.  Maybe if I were taller it would have looked better on me.  I also think it was priced too high for the type of maxi dress it was.  You could definitely find another dress of similar quality for less.
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15 comments

Andrea August 18, 2017 - 8:51 am

Thanks for the review, Mrs. O, and I actually love how you look in the Downdown Dress!

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Mrs. O August 19, 2017 - 5:10 pm

Thanks. Out of the two, I liked the downtown dress. I just wish it wasn’t a crew neck top. If it were scoop neck, I might have been tempted. There was another dress that caught my eye on my way out but I had to leave because of time constraints. I’m hoping to go again in the near future.

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Mrs. O August 19, 2017 - 5:14 pm

Thanks. If it was a scoop neck instead of crew neck, I might have been tempted. It’s a dress I’ll consider on markdown. There was another dress that caught my eye on my way out. I just didn’t have time to try it on. I’m hoping to get back to Athleta soon.

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Mrs. O August 19, 2017 - 5:14 pm

LOL, I guess both of my comments posted. I switched browsers.

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Anon August 18, 2017 - 3:30 pm

Thanks for the review Mrs O. I struggle with the same issue with Athleta dresses. I like them but I think they’re priced higher than they need to be. I do like that downtown dress on you though.

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Mrs. O August 19, 2017 - 5:15 pm

Definitely priced too high for what it is.

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Anonymous August 18, 2017 - 9:48 pm

I have 3 Athleta dresses. Even though I think they are so pretty, the fit is just slightly off for me on each one (in various ways depending on the style). They were little things that I didn’t think bothered me at the time, but I find myself not reaching for them as much as my other summer dresses. So, I stopped looking at their dress line all together. I did buy each dress on a nice MD, but part of me still feels like I wasted money on something I didn’t love. Bottom line, don’t buy it if you don’t love it or aren’t sure. You won’t wear it.

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Mrs. O August 19, 2017 - 5:17 pm

I agree; I’ve done that a lot of times with other clothing choices because of the markdown. If you don’t like it full price, you won’t like it on markdown. On some girls the dresses look so great; my friend looks terrific in her Athleta dresses.

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Gymmie August 19, 2017 - 3:49 am

Love downtown dress…soooo flattering!

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Mrs. O August 19, 2017 - 5:18 pm

The ruching adds a really nice feminine touch and would be very flattering on all body types.

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j August 19, 2017 - 10:07 am

Both dresses look great on you!
The first dress reminds me of a lulu rulu dress that I have.
I don’t find that the second dress overwhelms you at all, it’s a pretty dress. You need to go try it on again & size down 😉
I agree about the price though. Seems a little steep.

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Mrs. O August 19, 2017 - 5:20 pm

A size down in the maxi dress would probably work better but the mismatched stripe at the waist seam would drive me nuts. I’ve spent that much or more on maxi dresses but they were perfect in seam placing, fit, quality of fabric and very, very flattering. When I go back, I’ll try a size down to see if it fixes some of the issues.

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janine57 August 19, 2017 - 2:55 pm

Athleta does have cute dresses but these just don’t appeal to me. I bought one last week that is called a sweatshirt dress but feels more like a knit sweater. So cute with aligns and boots. It was $108 but with 20% off and reward money brought it to $76.

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Mrs. O August 19, 2017 - 5:21 pm

That sounds really cute! You should do a fit review with your whole outfit!

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danika August 22, 2017 - 8:59 am

ooooooohhhh the downtown dress looks so good on you, Mrs. O! such a cute piece. maybe with a 20% off coupon 🙂

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