It’s finally warm enough to post this find from Ana–the same Ana who found a great H&M peplum top for us in March. Since many of the prints and colors in this year’s iteration of the dress are already sold out, I hope I’m not too late with this information for you. (Thanks to Ana, I gave H&M a try in June and found these scoop neck tees with the sleeve length I like. The medium fit me just right.)
As a reminder, Ana wears a size 34/XS in H&M, and her measurements are: 1.6 m height (5’2″), 91 cm bust (36″), 66 cm under bust (26″), 63 cm waist (25″), 83 cm high hip (33″), 89 cm full hip (35″). Her bra size in most brands is 26FF/28F.
This post is about a style of H&M’s summer dresses that might work for fuller busts. The red H&M dress below is from two years ago; however for the last few years they have released dresses with variations of this cut in numerous colors and patterns. I have also found other similar cuts with short sleeves or with buttons on the front instead of the zipper on the back. All of them have in common the fitted bodice (with princess seams in the front and back) combined with a fuller skirt.
If I recall correctly the price was 14€, so as one might guess, the fabric is not prime quality. It has no stretch and is very thin, and I imagine it might be a bit see through in lighter colors, but given that this is a summer dress, the fabric being light isn’t necessarily a bad thing. I’ve worn this dress a lot and it is starting to show: there are a few stitches coming undone where the straps meet the front of the dress, mostly on the right strap; however given the price point I think it is actually holding up quite well.
This style features princess seams in the front and in the back as well. It closes with a back zip, has a full skirt and thin adjustable straps. As shown in the pictures, given the placement of the straps the most adequate bra to wear with this dress would be a strapless. I currently don’t own any that fit me well so I usually wear it with a Masquerade plunge called Polka that is almost the same color of the dress. As one can see in the details below, the bra doesn’t show under the armpit but only where the straps meet the cups. This is a common issue for me as most bras in my size usually have the straps quite wide set. The straps of the dress are quite thin so would probably never cover those of a full bust bra completely, but I do wish brands started to make bras with more varied strap placement because with some clothes it would be very useful.
The main reason I like this dress so much is the fact it fits both my bust and my waist and is not made of a stretchy fabric–this is extremely rare. For the more adventurous with the sewing machine I took pictures of the inside of the bodice where the seams can be more easily seen. For the rest of us that aren’t so handy, one can always look for dresses with a similar seam placement.
This black dress with white, orange and pink keys is from 2012. It has a similar cut but with buttons at the front and more of a sweetheart neckline. It also made a bit of a point in the centre at the front where the bodice meets the skirt. I was wearing Masquerade’s Rhea in Mulberry underneath and the cups don’t seem to show as much. I returned this one because I wasn’t very keen on the pattern’s colors.
This cat print dress from 2011 is just like the one from 2012 but with sleeves and a higher neckline. The buttons on this one seemed to be pulling a bit.
This year’s version of this dress has the strap adjusters like my red dress and the one from 2012, buttons in the front like the cat print from 2011, looks to be made of non-stretch fabric like all the others and has the vertical seams (though they’re hard to see because of the prints). But it seems that this year they decided to remove the seam at the waist, making all seams vertical. It doesn’t have a back view on the website and as of July 1 I couldn’t find it in stores to check that it fits like the ones from previous years.
I would love to know if someone else has tried these dresses and what has been your own experience with non-stretch garments and H&M clothing.
I saw a girl wearing the dress today and can definitely confirm the bodice is cut in a similar manner to the previous years’ dresses. She was not full busted and one could tell there was still a fair amount of space left in the bust. Wanted to get a picture but since we were seeing an exhibition I refrained from interrupting/bothering her.
Now if only H&M could get their act together with the offerings in store and on the website, is so annoying that stuff in stores sometimes never reaches the website and vice versa. They should follow Bershka’s example, in their online store there is a feature that lets you know which stores have the item and in what sizes it is available.