Every girl needs a sexy little black dress. When I saw this on EF, I thought that this could be my dream little black dress. It's simple, it's covering, and it's pretty sexy. At least..that's how it looks in the picture. In reality, however, I was left wondering why I purchased this dress in the first place. Don't get me wrong, it's not terrible; it's just very dull, and uninspiring. For that reason, this review is a bit difficult for me to write, but I do want to give you all my take on it, so here we go...

What is it? How do you wear it?
This is a very simple black dress. It has some decorative seams, but that's about the detail you get. Honestly, it's so simple that I'm tempted to call it boring.

For me, this piece is too short, and too tight, to wear in public. If I were a more confident woman, I could wear this dress out with a pair of leggings under it. Unfortunately I am not comfortable enough to do so, so i tend to store this with my lingerie. That being said, I never feel tempted to put this on. I don't find it sexy (though my guy does enjoy how short it is), and it just makes me feel rather self conscious.

If you do decide to purchase this, I'd recommend wearing some shapewear underneath, as well as a great pair of leggings to keep all your bits covered.

What's it made out of? How do you care for it?
This dress is made out of 90% Polyester and 10% Spandex.

The fabric is very smooth, almost silky; but it does feel a bit cheap.

This material does stretch a great deal. That being said, the more that you stretch the fabric, the more see-through the fabric becomes. If the dress fits you properly, however, the material will not be transparent at all.

You should also be aware that this is the kind of fabric that CLINGS. This means that it will highlight every single one of your curves. Personally, I was not comfortable with the way that this made my body look, but someone who is a bit braver (and more comfortable with their curves than I am) may like the fit of this dress a bit more.

To care for this dress, it's recommended that you hand wash it in cold water, and then hang it to dry. Personally, I see no reason why you couldn't wash this dress on the delicate cycle of your washing machine.

How's it fit?:
This dress is available in four sizes; small, medium, large, and extra large. I decided to purchase this in a large.

A large should fit someone with the following measurements:
Cup Size: C-D
Bust: 36-38"
Waist: 28-32"
Hips: 38-40"

I fit in all of these measurements, so in theory, this piece should fit me just fine. In actuality, however, this piece does fit, but it's so snug that I feel like an XL would've been a better choice for me.

I would definitely recommend that you size up, even if you're on the lower end of the size chart. After all, there is such a thing as too tight, isn't there? For me, this piece was DEFINITELY too tight. It was also far too short on me. I am 5'6", and this just barely covered my butt.

To help give you an idea of the sizing, I took the following measurements with the dress laying flat.

Length (top hemline to bottom hemline), unstretched: 22.5"
Across the bust, unstretched: 14.5"
Height of bust area, unstretched: 5"
Across the bottom hemline, unstretched: 20"

How's the design?
In a word, uninspiring.

This dress is incredibly basic. There are some seams on it that are meant to help with shaping, and I imagine, to give it some visual appeal. Unfortunately I didn't find that the seams did anything for shaping, and they certainly didn't look appealing to me, either.

Lets start with the seams on the bust. There is a seam that goes across the bottom of the bust. This is meant to sort of separate your breasts from the rest of the dress, and I imagine that it's supposed to give some additional support, as well. This seam did not add any support for me. In fact, the entire dress offers no bust support.

Then, we have the seams that go down the front of the dress. These ones start way up at the top hemline, and go all the way to the bottom. I'm not really sure what their purpose is, but it doesn't do a thing for me. The same can be said of the two seams on the back of the dress (which also go from top to bottom).

Now, we have the four diagonal straps. Two of the diagonal straps are positioned right over the stomach. These seams do not seem to lay flat, despite the fact that the dress is tight on me. The other two diagonal seams go outward, over my sides. Again, I'm not really sure what their purpose is.

For me, the seams were irritating. They just felt a bit awkward against my skin.

The best part of the design of this dress is the optional shoulder straps. The shoulder straps are, of course, removable. They are also very adjustable.

How was it packaged?:
This dress came packaged in a plastic bag. There was a hang-tag attached to the dress. That is the extent of the packaging. There was no hanger included.

Was the quality good, at least?:
The material feels cheap to me, but the sewing has been done nicely for this piece. I didn't notice any loose threads, nor did I notice any areas that seemed like they were going to come apart. So yes, the quality for this piece is decent. It's just a shame that it's such a dull dress.

This is just a very uninspiring dress. It has hung in my closet for months now but I never feel tempted to pull it out.

I did decide to try it on the other day, as I've lost a bit of weight. I was hoping it would look better now that my body looked and felt better... No such luck.