Off the Rack ~ Sourpuss Clothing Roundup

I’ve been meaning to do a Sourpuss Clothing roundup for a long time, and finally I’ve gotten around to it!

Sourpuss is a brand that caters to “old school punk, tattooed pinups, vintage and kitschy oddities, retro monsters, tikis, and sailors.” Their website carries the house brand along with a handful of others that fall within the same style (Pinup Girl Clothing, Fred Perry, Hell Bunny, etc.). Sourpuss goodies can also be found on other vintage and rockabilly sites such as Unique-Vintage.com and many others.

Usually I buy direct from Sourpuss because they have great sales and coupons on a regular basis, and their prices aren’t all that high to begin with. Fit and quality do vary, though. While some garments are surprisingly great for big boobs, others are decidedly not. Since the fit is so hit-or-miss, I often buy two sizes and return whichever one doesn’t work. With all their sales, the extra $6 to ship something back still ends up being worth it. I really love the brand overall, so I’m sure I’ll keep buying and trying this way for years to come!

Some of the clothes below are long since sold out, but most are released in different colors or fabrics every few seasons, so my reviews should still be useful. I’ll link to similar items when I can, but bear in mind that if you’re reading this several months after publication date, the links may no longer be active.

My measurements in all these photos are 37”-29”-41”.

First up is a fairly old button-up shirt. At the time, it was just called “gingham top,” but Sourpuss has since made similar styles, which you’ll read about below.

I bought it in red and blue in size large, but they actually ran out of blue after I placed my order, so I got an XL instead. Since it has an attached sash to tie a bow in the back, it doesn’t matter how big the shirt is because I can always tie the waist smaller. The cotton/poly/spandex blend is super lightweight and features two-way stretch (meaning it’s woven in such a way that it only stretches left to right, not up and down).

Next up is the more recent incarnation of the gingham shirt, the “Darling” top, which is still available in this teal with dots, cherry print, black with white dots and embroidered bat, red with embroidered sparrow, and black with white dots and embroidered sparrow (reviewed below).

Since the large worked out well the first time, I went with large again. This one is a cotton/spandex blend, so it’s still pretty light but not as lightweight as the gingham. Again it has two-way stretch. The sleeve style is different and there’s pink embroidered trim on the collar that helps weigh it down a bit (you can see above that the gingham collars are kinda all over the place). It has the same bust and front and back waist darts and the same sash.

I would say it fits about the same, though the top button is (mercifully) a little higher.

The last button-up is the Darling top in black with white dots and red trim with embroidered sparrow. Even though it has the same name as the teal shirt, it’s quite different. For one thing, while the teal was 95% cotton, the sparrow is 50% cotton, 47% polyester, and 3% spandex. It is much thicker and heavier, and offers four-way stretch. Further, the sleeves are different. Whereas the teal had big poufy ones, these are shorter—more a cap-sleeve length—as well as being less poufy and a tighter circumference.

Additionally, even though this shirt is also a large, it’s much smaller. It’s quite tight around my midsection and across the chest. You can even see a little pulling at the buttons right across my boobs. I don’t tighten the bow with this shirt at all, it’s purely decorative. When I first got it, I was tempted to exchange for a size XL, but since the dots help camouflage the button pulling and the waist and stomach fit so well, I decided to just keep it.

The final shirt is the Sugar Sweater. It’s a soft, sweet, short-sleeved sweater with—my favorite—a double-dip neckline. This one I got in medium because I wanted it to be quite fitted. I think it fits well across my chest, but I wouldn’t mind if it were a little tighter below my bust so that it would curve under and follow the contour of my body better.

The light pink is just sheer enough that it requires a nude bra, and you can see the dual layers of fabric around the neckline and seams, which is a bit of a disappointment. But I just love the open neckline, gathered front, and pointy cuffed sleeves. Plus, the fabric is suuuuuuuuper soft. Made of polyester and viscose, it has a tiny bit of fuzziness to it on the outside, but is a smooth woven texture on the inside (so no itchiness!).

The pink is still available (and on sale!), along with red. It also came in black, but that color seems to be sold out. However, I just found a new, similar top called the Black Magic Sweater, which I’ve added to my wishlist. It’s 100% cotton and has the same neckline as the Sugar Sweater, but simplified sleeves.

Next up, I have three dresses, which is where I find things to get really tricky, fit-wise. First is the Shaken and Stirred dress. It has double-seams up the front and the back, but still isn’t super boob-friendly. This is one that I ordered in medium and large. While the large was roomier across my chest, the medium fit much better under my bust and at the waistband, so that’s the size I kept.

Even though it’s a little youthful, I simply adore the colors and styling of this garment. There are little martini glasses up near the shoulders and a large embroidered martini shaker on the left side (which I accidentally ended up hiding in photos. Sorry!).

The fabric is 95% nylon and 5% spandex, so it’s very stretchy. The front of the bodice is lined with the same fabric, giving it a little more structure. Unfortunately, the boob window makes picking a bra very difficult. You can see below that the bra peeks out in the corners, and is visible under the arms thanks to my boobs pulling the fabric forward. I’m wearing a Bravissimo Satine bra here, but I think I ended up determining that my Ewa Michalak CHP bra is the best for avoiding visible bra in the boob-window since it has more of a straight-across balconnet shape and wide-set straps. However, it also provides a ton of uplift, so there ends up being a lot of cleavage.

Though the Shaken and Stirred dress is no longer available, there are similar styles, such as the wiggle version, Shimmer Houndstooth Joanie, and the Tattoo Roses dress, a dead ringer in different fabric.

Next up is another not-so-boob-friendly dress, the Rosie. This dress is released in several new prints and colors literally every season, but so far none have captured my attention like the colors and cute ray guns of this particular one. I originally bought an all-over tattoo print version in the same order as the ray guns, but I was so disillusioned with the fit that I sent it back, and I’ve avoided buying any more since, even though there have been some prints that I really love. Though there are bust darts, the fabric is too floppy and the underbust seam way too high up to fit breasts well.

This is another I ordered in both medium and large, and I was really on the fence about which to keep. The medium badly gaped at the buttons, but the underbust seam also stayed under my boobs better because it was tighter in that spot. Ultimately, I ended up selecting the large due to the buttons, but also because I didn’t like the way the medium clung to my hips and showed panty-lines.

Unfortunately, the 95% polyester/5% spandex fabric is a little unpleasant. It feels scratchy on the skin. It also made me sweat a lot when I wore it on an especially hot day, which when mixed with the scratchy fabric made it feel even scratchier.

All that being said, teal and hot pink is one of my favorite color combinations (obviously) and I’m positively obsessed with the adorable ray guns, so I still wear this dress fairly often. I just find myself yanking the front down a lot! But unless they come out with another print or embroidery that I simply can’t live without, I would not buy it again. If you want one, though, search for “Rosie” on the Sourpuss site to see all the colors.

Lastly, we have one more success story, the Keep ’Em Flying dress. After looking at photos of regular folks in this dress, and considering the fit of the Shaken and Stirred, I took a chance and only ordered a medium. Luckily, it ended up being just right! It’s basically a dress version of the Sugar Sweater, considering it has the same neckline, gathering, and sleeves.

This one’s waistband hits at a good spot and everything stays in place around my chest. Additionally, while it’s also 95% poly/5% spandex, the fabric is much smoother than the Rosie (though it still wears a bit hot). Even though there are no darts, it’s stretchy enough and with a low enough waistband that I think it would work with a variety of bust sizes. Finally, I love the military colors and the screen-printed airplanes on the skirt.

Though this item is no longer available, the Polka Dot Dollface dress is the exact same style in black with big white polka dots and red trim—only made of cotton and spandex instead of stupid polyester!