I must start this review with a big disclaimer! My photos are terrible. I had the best of intentions to do this review with loads of lovely photos with my hair done and makeup to match (loaded ALL my swing dresses in the car for the weekend - no easy task since there's nearly twenty of them, with all my shoes and belts and petticoats...), but then I wound up holding the couch down all day today with food poisoning. I was lamenting not getting my review in on time, when it occurred to me that I DO have photos... lots of them. Just not good ones. You see, one of my best friends is a PUG addict (she got me into it!), so we trade photos whenever we get new items - usually taken in the bathroom of our workplaces, rapid fire, as we unpack glorious bags and boxes. So those will be the photos you guys will be seeing... It might not be such a bad thing in the end, because who among us always has on a full photo-shoot ready head of hair and face of makeup when we wear our PUG lovelies? I know I don't... so this will be a Very Real Review.

Why swing dresses? Simply put, they helped me feel better about myself again. This isn't a blog post so I'll spare you the melodrama, but I've been through a few Icky Times (including huge weight gain) that left me with a wardrobe of nothing but big sweaters and stretch pants. Being introduced to PUG was a huge lifestyle change for me and I am so thankful for it.

Back to swing dresses... I often get the impression that many PUG fans think that swing dresses are 'less sexy', just for fat girls, or for girls that have problems they want to hide. While that may have some measure of truth, I also think that if you feel hot in something, it's sexy. We all get to define that word for ourselves. While I certainly AM a fat girl (no shame, it is what it is!) and I have areas I want to hide, I don't think that swing dresses need to be our uniform. On any size, they're more versatile than the wiggle - you can wear a swing dress to work without a sideways glance. I've got a couple Natasha dresses that I like quite a bit, but I'd never wear one to the grocery store or to work. 

I couldn't choose which single item to review, so thought I might as well do them all. The more the merrier, right? My measurements, for reference... *gulp*... 45-38-I'm Not Telling because this is a swing dress review and the hip measurement is irrelevant! :-D (Needless to say, it's big. BIG.)

HEIDI
I'm going to start with the classic, iconic Heidi. I've got... 8 of them. It's probably easier to say that the only Heidi dresses I *don't* own are the red with cream bow, and the original black with white detail. Simply put, I LOVE this dress. There are a few subtle differences among them, which I'll note here:

Blue -- (XL, 2X) Love this one. Nice heavy fabric, just the right amount of stretch vs. weight. The blue is such a vibrant jewel tone, I get SO many compliments in this dress. I have this dress in XL and 2X I love it so much. (Hey, one for Feeling Fluffy Days and one for Normal Days!)
Black with Cream Bow (sold out) -- (L) I bought this one in a size Large, which I *can* get on... but it's better for everybody involved if I wait until I'm a bit smaller to wear it outside the house. Really, it's a testament to the construction of PUG items that this dress didn't blow off of me in an explosion of sateen and anger the one time I did wear it for a full day. So I don't have detailed notes on this colorway just yet.
Grey with Pink Bow -- (XL) This is my least favorite Heidi. I like the *idea* of this dress, and it looks gorgeous on other (smaller) women, but it's not for me. The grey fabric is lighter than that of the blue or red, and it doesn't do as good of a job at camouflaging my prodigious lower half. I think with a heavier material it would hang a little better, and not be so revealing of lumps and bumps.
Red -- (XL) This dress is of the same nice heavy material as the blue, but it gets a little less air time because of the bright rich color. Wearing a blue dress sends a different message than wearing a RED dress, especially at work -- when I do wear this one to work, I dress it down with sandals and a robin's egg blue narrow belt and sweater. It's worth noting on this one that the color is much more deep and rich than in the photos on the sale page.
Pin Dot -- (XL) Favorite Heidi! This is the very first PUG item I ever bought. The weight is perfect, and the colorway is so versatile. Dress it up for dates or down for work, all you need to do is change out the colors of your accessories! I wore this dress on a first date with my current boyfriend, and he notices every time I've worn it since then. Truly, this was my Gateway Dress.

Cherry -- (L) I have this one in a Large, and you'll laugh at me when you read my measurements and compare... but for some reason, it works. I got this pre-owned (and pre-stretched), and the fabric is lighter than the solid color heidis. It's so flattering because of the print - This dress is the most 'famous' PUG dress for a reason.

Mint -- (XL) I just got this dress last week, so haven't worn it out of the house just yet. But the mint color is just perfect - not too light, not too dark. It also doesn't suffer from the same 'thin fabric' problen as the grey, so I feel comfortable with it not clinging to my Problem Area.
Cat Print -- (XL) I was on the fence about this dress for a while, but saw it in person at my local PUG retailer (Naked City in Portland, shout out!) and had to have it. It's not super appropriate for work, but a REALLY fun weekend dress. Nice heavy fabric hides what should be hidden, this dress is pure fun.

Red Floral -- (XL) This dress is going to give the pin dot a run for it's money in the Favorite Dress department! I just got it last week, but have already worn it twice. It's so big and fun and in style right now, I stopped counting the compliments I was getting wearing it. It can be paired with red or black or green to fun effects, you can't go wrong!

GINGER
I 'only' own this dress three times. I was extremely hesitant about the halter style, because I've had neck issues in the past and thought the weight of a dress there might make things worse. I'm happy to say that unlike most other halter dress styles I've tried, the Ginger is fitted enough through the bodice to not have to rely so heavily on the halter straps to stay up. I wear this dress all day at work with no problems! Reviews by color:

Coral (sold out) - (2X) This example of the Ginger has the white eyelet lace trim on the bodice and the skirt, which really make it so much more feminine. The 2X is very roomy, which makes this a great go-to dress for certain times during the month, if you catch my drift.

Green Atomic Print - (XL) I ordered this as an afterthought to the pink, but am SO glad I did. In person the green is a bit more rich than in the product photos on PUGC.com, and I loved it so much I wore it to my 30th birthday party, paired with an orange sweater and orange sandals. Roomy enough in the waist, but fitted enough to be cute. The skinny belts don't do me any favors (look at that poor black belt in the photo, you can almost hear it screaming for mercy), so I paired this with a wide 2" vinyl belt.

Pink Atomic Print- (XL) I can safely say that if it wasn't for this product and it's photos, I would never have ordered this dress. But the photos of it with the adorable black shrug did me in, and I'm so glad! Notes on this color, though... if you live anywhere where it's mostly cloudy all the time, this dress might not be for you. As you can see in the photo, I'm PALE, but not pale enough to contrast with this dress - it's almost the same color as I am. For that reason I'll only wear it with a darker colored shrug for now.

COURTESAN SWING by Deadly Dames
I was SO excited when preview photos of this dress were released, I waited eagerly for months for it to come out. When it did, I pounced! I have it in both colorways. This was my first DD item, and it does run very true to size - I can't get away with my '2X measurements in XL garments' shenanigans with these dresses.

Victorian Rose - (XL) I really wish I'd gotten this dress in 2X. The Victorian Rose print is my favorite print PUGC has come out with, ever - but I don't wear this dress much because I'm worried about stretching it out too much. It's a very good motivation piece in my dress collection.

Gingham - (2X) I learned my lesson from the Victorian Rose, and sized up when I bought the Gingham to match! This is a top dress of mine, it's SO comfy. I don't need to wear a bra with it, and with the wide velvet belt it hugs all the right places. I pair it with a looser pink sweater for work, to counter the dress's natural sexyness. This photo was taken the morning I quit my job! I chose my Quitting Outfit very carefully.

LUSCIOUS
This is a new style for PUGC, but I'm already hooked! It's easily the most comfortable dress I own, and I'm not going to separate out the colorways I have because they're all from exactly the same fabric. My only note on this dress would be that the embroidery on the shoulders can rub after several hours, so I ironed on backing to cover it and the problem was fixed. The tag location is also on the top of the shoulder (since there's no back or side zipper - no zipper at all in fact, this dress is 100% pull-on!), and that can be a bit irritating. Also, be sure to order your true size on this one, because the adorable edge detail is a bit rough, so if the arm holes are too small for you, you will notice it.

NETTI
After the Heidi, this is my second favorite PUGC style. It has a FULL circle skirt, and the adjustable straps make it so easy to fit a multitude of shapes. The side zip can get irritating after a bit, but that's my only complaint. Notes on colorways:

Green Polka Dot (sold out, still available in blue) - (XL) This is my least favorite Netti, just because the fabric is a bit thinner. Thinner fabric combined with the full skirt make for some potentially embarrassing Marilyn Moments! The fun color makes up for it, and I still wear this dress often - just only to events where I'll be mostly inside.

Tiki- (XL) This example of the Netti fits much more snugly than my others, and I'm not sure why that is. It's also shorter - a fact I didn't notice until after wearing it to work and noticing how much breezier it was than what I'm used to! The shorter skirt is noted in the measurements on it's page, but I neglected to read those until after the fact. That said, this is still a great party dress, or for winter months when I've got opaque tights on underneath.
Squirrel Print - (XL) This is my favorite Netti! The print is SO fun, and the fabric is of a good weight to keep it where it should be - covering up my goods. I pair it with black accessories for work, and add more sparkle for the evening!

Thus concludes my swing dress review. If you've made it this far, congratulations and I hope it's been of some help to you in deciding which dress(es!) to select!