I don’t have a huge amount of experience with Stop Staring! I’ve only tried some of their wiggle dresses before while modelling for Deadly Is The Female and In Retrospect. I’ve always wanted to try some of their swing dresses but none had taken my fancy enough to order internationally until I saw this grey plaid Dorathy dress on Miss Victory Violet recently.

I put it into my cart on the SS website just ‘in case’ it ever went on sale then promptly forgot about it. Within a few weeks Stop Staring! held a $85 dresses sale, and what would you know, not only was the Dorathy dress included but I also happened to be in the states, meaning I could get free domestic delivery rather than shelling out the fees to receive it in the UK. Time for me to give Stop Staring! a whirl!

Dress: Dorathy dress in grey plaid by Stop Staring!
Brooch: eBay
Flats: Old season H&M

All photography by Sarah Forshaw

This dress features duel-pleated panels that crossover at center front of the bust to create a gathered, folded effect, which I love. It has cap sleeves and closes with a back zipper. The skirt is full, but not a full circle, taking one of my less-poofy petticoats best so that the skirt didn’t look stretched to capacity.

I was a bit worried about the dress fitting because the size chart said I should have sized into 14/1x but I decided to gamble with the fit and order the 12/XL. Typically in repro clothing in non-stretch items I am an XL in a lot of brands but L in some, and L across the board in anything stretchy. I knew that I had worn XL in their wiggle dresses whenever I had modelled Stop Staring! before so sizing up into 1X for a swing dress seemed excessive, even if I have been steadily gaining weight recently. I fretted until it arrived and winced as I prepared to zip in.

It fit perfectly! Looking at the dress more closely, I can tell you why. The website says that this style has less stretch than other SS styles and that the size chart should be consulted: laid flat it measures 32inches at the waist as the size chart states, but when measured at full stretch I got it to 35.5inches, which is greater than the 34 inches listed on the size chart even for a 1x waist. So, if you’re squishy in the middle like me and can sometimes size down depending on fabric type and construction, bear that in mind when checking the size chart for your size.

This grey plaid Dorathy is a lovely dress. It’s made in the USA, which is always great to know, and the fabric is of a decent medium-weight, unlined. For my $85 delivered, I’m really happy with it and know it will be a great seasonally-appropriate dress to wear through the remainder of autumn and through winter. It’s still on sale at $85 from Stop Staring! and available in Small, Medium, XL and 1X.