A friend of mine won a book competition (her book got selected for publishing based on her first chapter) so she's having a bit of a party to celebrate. I decided that I would like to wear my newly acquired Pris dress to the occasion. Now before I go anywhere I try on my chosen piece of clothing on a full stomach, just to get the effect of what I would look like with a tummy full of drinkies and eats.

I chose the Pris because I love red, it looks sophisticated, is modern, slightly futuristic and and elegant. Its my idea of a cheese nibbling, wine sipping sophisticated 'do' dress.

Disclaimer to my review: I DID take these pictures on a full tummy, I am VERY Harsh on my own curves that I dont like and finally I hate having to wear sucky-inny girdles etc.

When I ripped this bag out of the FedEx packaging I was impressed by the level of care taken with this item. PUG had even sent me a garment bag and a hanger for this little gem.

I thought the colour although different to the one on the PUG site, was still gorgeous.

Its that sophisticated red that is understated yet elegant. Think a deep ruby-ish colour, the satin like panels dont really reflect a whole heap of light but have a dull sheen that adds to the sophistication. I have taken a picture of the dress lying flat as well as a picture of the one on the site so that you can see what I mean.

This dress has a beautiful neckline and is more than flattering to my 32DDD bust line, but I would imagine it would flatter a smaller bust as well due to the excellent tailoring around the bust area.

The satin accentuates the bust area quite well. The stitched in belt under the bust is adjustable so if you have a narrow torso like me you can tighten it up to fit. It sits just under the bust and gives it a little bit of support and I think accentuates your waist. If you only concentrate on the shiny bits of the dress, it creates a very sexy silhouette of an hour glass figure. I am pretty blessed as I already have a very close hour glass and feel that the dress compliments it quite well. 

The length of the dress is again below my knee (I'm 5.5) and it has two back kick pleats which make it ulta easy to walk in. Its a very comfortable dress and moves with your body do you dont feel restricted in it. The material is soft on the skin and it is lined on the inside. Beware, the skirt is not tapered but is still flattering none the less. The new Satin is to die for and really I wish PUG had made the entire dress in this fabric, its just gorgeous. Its also nice and thick and I felt quite warm in it.

Now for the bad part....the panels on the sides of the dress, as you can see in the picture on the left from the silhouette, they dont hold in those bumps at all. I have love handles, its a fact and I feel that this dress makes them look horrid. My eye keeps focusing on them!

Nevertheless to counter the lovies I chucked on my squishy-holding-in girdle (pic on the right) (Its a rago extra firm open bottom girdle)

Unfortunately these didnt do their magic (as much) as I hoped they would.

Although it was a HUGE improvement there were still  bumps where I did not want them (see right side for what Im talking about). I tried turning the girdle and wiggled around a bit with no avail. Worse still my tummy is accentuated in this dress as well, as can be seen in the picture below (without the garter), its only a little bump (which could be caused by my full tummy so am a little undecided, but still dont like it)

I do need to work on loosing my handles but I find the dress unacceptable for me to wear at this time. I wont lie, I am a tad disappointed with the Pris as I was hoping for a lot. Dont get me wrong, I still intend to wear it....just not on Saturday to the book party, may be after I loose enough weight for my sucky-in girdles to do the job they are supposed to and suck those lovies in enough.

My advice is that if your not too critical about your bumps (or dont have any), this dress is the ultimate in sophistication and can be worn to graduations, art gallery openings, ceremonies, cocktails and even a lovely dinner date. The satin is to die for, its tailored beautifully and you can definitely see the high quality of this garment. You can definitely see why this dress would cost $152 (in all honesty for a top quality Couture item like this I would expect to pay a LOT more)

However if your like me and hate those extra handles sticking out like sore thumbs, I would save the $152 and concentrate on making sure those lovies arent going to spoil a perfectly awesome dress. Just a side note to say that the side panels (my foes) are not made from the Satin but from something close to the a knit.