Fashion. Culture. Community.
Zooey in Circus and Golightly Lily in Tipsy Elephant
Disclaimer: These photos and reviews were completed somewhere around 10:30 pm, after a long night at work. I literally opened the package and threw them on for first impressions, so nothing is ironed, hair is not done, the lighting was dark and terrible for a cell phone camera, etc - so of course nothing looks quite as good as it would under normal and well-treated conditions. Please do not judge me too harshly ;)
Starting with the GOOD:
LILY
omg Lily, where have you been all my life? I looooove the Tipsy Elephant, serious amounts of WOW adorable adorable adorable. The print and cut of this dress make me want to do backflips. Husband thought it was megacute as well, he could not stop raving about how great it looked and how silly and wonderful the print is, and how ME it is all over.
The Lily features a FULL circle skirt, with ample room for a petticoat underneath. The high back is a little tricky to try to work up the zipper by yourself, but it's very comfortable and a neat and kind of different look and feel compared to most swing dresses that I've tried. The fabric has quite a bit of stretch to it and seems of decent quality - not luxury, but good. It's a good, light weight for a summer dress. This design can be easily dressed down, but also possibly dressed up for certain quirky occasions.
This is a 2X. My measurements are about 41.5 bust 35 waist. My preference would have been to order the XL, but that size was out of stock, and I wasn't 100% sure how it would fit since some reviews indicated that the fabric didn't have any stretch (but it does).The bust/shoulders are waaaay too big on me. Luckily I have found a PUG friend in possession of an XL version of this dress who wants to swap with me. Yay!
Edited to add: my XL version arrived and fits much better. It's also the slightest bit shorter, so even sassier :)
A little birdie mentioned this style *might* be coming back next spring in more prints. I sure hope so!
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Ending with the...not-as-good :/
ZOOEY
You know how when you get a really strong craving for something - let's say chocolate souffle - and you spend a long, long time dreaming about it, thinking about how wonderful it will taste, how it will satisfy your exact desire? And you've spent all this time dreaming about a chocolate souffle, but when you finally get your dessert, it's a slice of blueberry pie. Blueberry pie is delicious...but it's just not chocolate souffle. This dress was that slice of blueberry pie.
Unfortunately this style did not work for me at all. I have seen other girls' photos who make it look beautiful, and for many who have yet to order it in any of the prints, they will fall in LOVE. The fabric quality is wonderful, very heavyweight and expensive-feeling...truly luxe. As my waist is about 35, in between the top measurement for the XL and the bottom limit for the 2X, I wrote to the PUG customer service for advice on sizing. They advised me to size up due to the corset waist. Unfortunately, the 2X was too big pretty much all over, including the waist. The waist section is lined with the satiny charmeuse, which also looks and feels expensive/high quality.
Long story short, this cut just didn't fit with what I wanted/expected and wasn't very flattering on *me* (not to say it doesn't work very well for others!). The PUG customer service people told me Zooey had a full circle skirt, but in truth it does not (according to my understanding of what a circle skirt is). The pic above shows the skirt stretched out to full capacity/width. It's more 'balloony' in shape compared with the megaflare that you get in the Lily or what I've seen of the Courtesan Swings.
I did find the adjustable straps in the crossback very comfortable, and potentially would like to see them incorporated into other, future designs. The scale of the print surprised me - all of the illustrations are much larger than I'd envisioned from how they appear online. They are beautifully rendered, and quite charming. The pink appeared to be more of a peachy tone, but I was under yellow lights indoors at night, so didn't get to look at how it would appear in daylight. The bust would be more accommodating to a bullet bra than anything I have in my collection, so keep that in mind. Sadly, Husband commented on how unflattering this cut was on me all over, especially compared to how much he loved me in the Tipsy Elephant Lily. I have ordered this print in the Ginger form and a size down in hopes that that one will work out much better!
Replies are closed for this discussion.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Hope Tan on
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Thanks for the review! When I did my first order with PUG, they told me to get a 2XL for 2 of the dressed I was getting. They turned out way too big; I think I could fit into a L easily. Customer service and other PUG fans also told me that the dresses I got had no stretch but they do...quite a good amount too!!Unfortunately, I live in Australia and can't return the dresses easily. The quote to get it taken in here is also really high. So now I am stuck with 2 dresses that are too big! Tried selling one but no takers yet.
I will know to get an L for the Lily dress now!! You look really cute in it. :) -
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Permalink Reply by Sarah F. on
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Thank you! After I get my XL Lily in the swap, I hope I can get a better picture to really show it off ;)
I'm not sure why the advice I got on the sizing and the fabric was in such the wrong direction? Sometimes I wonder if it's just a terminology thing - like when I say the fabric has stretch, I mean that the fabric itself is a little stretchy all the way throughout, as part of the woven materials. But maybe other people use it in reference of sewing in elasticized portions, so when they say it doesn't stretch, that's what they mean?
For your dresses, have you tried posting in both the Swap group on here as well as the Facebook Sell/Swap? Or maybe if you listed them as items that you wanted to swap for smaller sizes you'd get a bite? Sorry about your situation though, I know how much it stinks to get stuck with things you can't really use and don't want :( I'll cross my fingers for you!
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Hi Sarah,
I got the Tipsy Elephant dress a couple of days ago and wore it to the office the next day! I cannot thank you enough for your review!! My measurements fall into the 2XL category for this dress but I got the size L based on your review and it fits perfectly!!!!!
It does stretch like you said. A few other PUG fans told me that the fabric doesn't stretch but I think we (them and me) just have different opinion of what 'stretch' means.
I think you should be able to fit into the size L as well since your measurements are smaller than me in the bust and your waist is about the same as me. I am a loose 43-34.5-46. The size L was fitted but definitely not tight!!
I watch out for your future reviews as we have such similar measurements!!!
Thanks a lot again!!!
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Permalink Reply by Erin Corbett on
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Great reviews!! The Lily in Tipsy Elephant is the very first PUG (well, GoLightly, but still) dress I've ever tried on, back at the end of last year. My room-mate had it, and I've been hooked ever since - SO stoked when they re-stocked it, finally, I bought two! LOL! I bought it in the falling leaf print too, while I was waiting for the elephant to come back. I just adore the shape of that dress.
I also bought the Zooey in Circus print, but had to return it - the black waist detail was not sewn to the zipper on one side in the back, so it gapped open. I'm getting a replacement, but I'm not sure about the fit of the bust. The bullet shape seems really fun in theory, but in practice... I think it might just make it look like I'm not filling out the bust cups enough? There were big empty pockets of fabric right on that seam, but I also didn't keep it on for long after noticing the zipper problem. I'm eager to see more fan photos of this dress, so I can see how other ladies are adjusting it.
Thanks for your awesome review!!
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Thanks for taking the time to read! :) I really hope they come out with more prints in the Lily, since it's such a fantastic shape and so versatile! Since there is a Tipsy Elephant embroidery on the Luscious (another one I'm eyeing but resisting...so far), I'd LOVE to see them come out with an oceanic print for the Lily featuring the other two Luscious embroideries - Octavio & Mira! Hint, hint, hint ;)
Good luck with your replacement Zooey! I edited my review to further clarify that there's nothing wrong with the dress, that I just had been anticipating something different. Hope yours works out for you!
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