Today I am sharing with you my thoughts on the Lauret dress (I bought mine for £28.04 but it's currently available at the reduced price of £23.70).
Image courtesy of BiuBiu
In the past I have found the best size for me is 40BB/BBB, so this is what I went for again this time. If you want to understand BiuBiu's sizing system, you can read all about it on their website here.
The Lauret is a gorgeous deep cornflower blue in colour and it is peppered with polka dots of varying sizes. It has a plain blue empire waistband (that continues around the back, hurrah!) and plain blue strips along the top of the neckline. The dress is made from the usual high quality stretch jersey I have come to expect from BiuBiu, so the fabric has a lot of give to provide a great fit. The fibre content is 96% viscose and 4% elastane, and it's machine washable so very easy to care for.
The short sleeves are perfect for summer, and the dress suits a cardigan or shrug to provide arm coverage in cooler months. The sleeves have a slight puff to them thanks to the gathered material, and this is a really nice touch.
I'm always a fan of wrapover busts, so the Lauret scores highly there. The bust plunges quite low and I think a size up would have given a more modest appearance. However, I can always add a cami or cropped vest top underneath to preserve my modesty. I can also sew the bust closed or pin it together if wished.
The a-line shaped skirt suits the look of the dress well, but you can see from my photos that the skirt of this dress is a bit tight for me and the skirt doesn't look the same as it does on the model in the stock photo. The jersey material stretches well so that the skirt does fit me, but I think I would have done better to order a 42BB/BBB to get a better looking fit. This would have also given me more bust room, which I would definitely have liked. I suppose an alternative could be for me to take in the bottom half of the skirt a little, to transform the garment into a wiggle dress, but I am not that handy with a sewing machine!
For me, the length of the Lauret dress is pretty much perfect. My knees are comfortably covered and the skirt is a flattering length. That said, I wouldn't complain if it was a couple of inches longer, but that would make it too long for shorter ladies.
The description of this dress on the BiuBiu website points out that the cut is empire line, and this is most definitely the case. This means that the dress has a high waistband (the plain blue fabric), and that the skirt flares out from that point downwards. I found this dress to not flare out too much from the high waistband, but I do think I would have preferred it if the waistband was either placed slightly lower or that it was wider. The waistband sits right underneath my bust and so if this dress was a larger size I feel that my waist would be somewhat lost. However, an empire cut is perfect for anyone who is conscious of their tummy as it usually has lots of extra room to accommodate a protruding tum.
All in all I love the colour and print of the dress, the wrapover bust, and also the defined waistband, but I feel that I should have got a size larger in this dress.
You can read another review of the Lauret dress - and some other BiuBiu garments - on the Hourglassy blog here.
