The Strapped Back Dress by Espiral is available in the colours white or red and available in the sizes S-XL. I ordered the red dress in size XL. What I really liked about the dress when I had first seen it was the straps at the back of the dress. The front looked nice, but the back of the dress is what really sold me.

The dress arrived in a cardboard package. The front of the box states the company name, size of dress, and has a photo of a model wearing the outfit. The back of the packaging has a few photos of different models wearing the dress, and states the colours available, material composition, and care instructions. I don’t consider the box to be ideal for storing the dress when it’s not being worn. I prefer to keep my dress in my closet on a hanger. The packaging can be recycled.



Inside of the box, the dress is inside of a plastic bag. The dress had a cardboard tag attached to it that stated the company name, size of dress, and colour of dress. The outfit is 93% polyester and 7% elastic. The material has quite a bit of stretch to it. I’ve taken measurements of the dress laying flat, unstretched. If you need additional measurements, do not hesitate to send me a message.

Width at bottom of dress unstretched: 15 inches
Width at bottom of dress stretched as much as I could: 26 inches
Length of area of that covers your bum unstretched: 7 ½ inches
Length of dress (from strapped area down to bottom of dress): 27 inches

When the cowl neck area lays flat, the width between the two shoulder straps is approximately 24 ½ inches. There are 4 straps (3/8 inches wide each) that go from each shoulder, down the back of the dress. The straps create a weaved pattern where they meet at the lower back area of the dress. Below this weaved area, down the centre back of the dress where your bum sits, is ruching.



The material to the dress is quite thin but does not seem to become sheer the more it needs to be stretched when worn. There is no padding or underwire in the chest area of the dress. You will need to wear pasties or a similar item to avoid having nipple outline show through the material if you plan on wearing the dress out. Also, because the dress material is so thin, it shows underwear/pantyhose lines.

I’m 5’6 and this “dress” is way too short on me, especially if I were to wear it out. The front of the dress falls at the top of my thigh. With the ruching at the bum, the dress is even shorter at the back. When I was wearing the dress and looked in the mirror, I was able to see the bottom of my bum. Unless you plan on wearing opaque leggings with the dress (or are shorter than me), you won’t want to wear this in public.

My second gripe with the dress is that it’s thin material and grabs every area that I’d prefer it didn’t. The only baggy area of the dress is the cowl neck. The rest of the dress will hug every curve that you may have. While some people may feel comfortable with this, I do not. This dress is not forgiving in the tummy/hip area.

Sitting down is not an option for me in this dress unless I’m wearing opaque leggings because when I sit down, the bottom of the dress rises even more. Also, you may want to invest in some double sided tape to keep the cowl neck from exposing your nipples. When I sit down, the cowl area likes to drape a bit too far to the side. Also, when you wear this dress, you are going to want to keep checking to make sure that the cowl neck material is not exposing the crappy stitched side. Since I didn’t have any double-sided tape, the rough stitching side of the material kept unfolding itself and looking sloppy.

The first photo below is of the cowl area sitting with the stitched side tucked in. This photo will give you an idea of how it should be sitting, and how far down it sits. I’ll be honest; this sits a bit too far down for my liking. The second photo below shows the stitched side that tends to flop out of the cowl area while wearing it.

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One positive thing I can say about the dress is that the material is comfortable against the skin. I didn’t have any issues with skin irritation while wearing the outfit. The dress should be hand washed and drip-dried. The dress should not be bleached.

Overall, I’m not happy with this dress. This is now my second cowl neck styled dress from Espiral that really let me down. The dress is way too short, the material is too thin, and the cowl neck stitched side of the material keeps flopping out making the dress look sloppy and not nice. I’ve given this dress a 3 out of 5 because I feel that some people may be able to wear this dress nicely (given they are comfortable with their body, have double sided tape on hand, and are much shorter than me). Though for myself personally, I will not wear this dress again.

I ended up giving this dress to my mom. My mom is smaller than me. She liked the colour and the look of the outfit but never told me how it fit, etc. I had high hopes for this outfit so I was quite disappointed. I won't get another cowl neck dress from Espiral again.