Off the Rack ~ My First Miss Candyfloss Wiggle Dress, the “Sabine-Katalin”

Recently, I tried my very first wiggle-style dress from Miss Candyfloss, so it’s time for another review. Due to the wiggle shape, this time I’m assessing the fit at both the top and bottom halves of the hourglass.

The dress is called “Sabine-Katalin,” and comes in a vibrant turquoise with mint green accents with a removable mint belt. It’s made of 63% polyester, 32% viscose, and 5% elastane, resulting in a soft and moderately thick fabric that’s (yet again) machine-washable.

This dress features MCF’s signature pleated bust (and darts too! I never noticed them before), but with a mini-peplum and a folded over collar. There are darts up the back for shaping, and a pair of seams up the front and back of the skirt, plus a small slit in the back of the skirt for ease of movement.

With my measurements of 37”-29”-41”, I took a medium. At 5’6” tall, it just covers my knees.

First thing I have to comment on is the gorgeous, vibrant color. Sometimes, MCF’s items look a lot brighter online and quite a bit duller in real life. One dress I tried recently looked like a super saturated royal blue online, but when I received it, it was more of a dusty cornflower blue. I was disappointed enough that I sent it back for a refund.

But the Sabine-Katalin dress looks exactly the same in real life as it does online, much to my pleasure:

As for fit, the bust is totally accommodating, as usual. The underbust seam rests just slightly on breast tissue, but it’s nearly invisible. And the pleats expand to fit a range of bust sizes. There’s also a decent amount of stretch, so I’ve no doubt that a much bigger bustline than mine would look fabulous in it.

As for the bottom half, I think I look very straight-figured in these photos, but I actually have a 12” difference between my waist and hips. Since most pants and wiggle skirts are designed for a difference of 10” or less, I have quite a difficult time finding tighter bottoms that fit right.

But I have no such issue here! The hips are listed as fitting up to 40.2” on the size chart, and they feel totally comfortable and fit just the way I like—snug, but not so tight that they create the “strum strum” look across the front, and easy to walk in. I’ve tried other stretchy pencil skirts that looked good when I first put them on, only to ride up with every step, and end up as a bunched up miniskirt. But this skirt is the right fabric content and level of tightness that it doesn’t ride up.

I do have to admit that I had a little trouble with underwear. There’s a tiny bit of visible panty-lines, but not enough to bother me. However, the back zipper stops under the collar instead of reaching all the way to the top edge, so you have to pull it over your head instead of stepping into it; and when I pull the dress down, it tends to pull my underwear down with it. I have to reach behind me and pull them back into place before zipping it up. I run into the same issue when I pull the skirt up and down while using the restroom.

I’m sure a different type of underwear might help. I’m wearing lace-waist hip huggers. Perhaps higher-waisted panties with a tighter waistband would ameliorate the issue.

Lastly, this dress may not be the best choice if you’re self-conscious about your belly. In these photos, I’m totally sucking in my stomach, because otherwise the flat front panel of the high-waisted skirt highlights it pretty strongly. Shapewear would probably take care of it, but who wants to deal with that on a hot day??