J Crew: Linen Halter Maxi Dress, Linen Dip-Dye Dress, Short-Sleeve Cotton Shirtdress, Chevron Striped Dress

Anthropologie is currently offering 20% off Shirts and Shorts right now. See these posts, here and here, for some shirt reviews. Before I get back to more Anthropologie reviews I wanted to share some dresses I found a J Crew, while the 30% off SHOPNOW promo is running (through Saturday).

For reference, I am Medium/8/8 Petite in dresses.

~ Linen Halter Maxi Dress, White, Small ~
I had last year’s Linen Maxi Dress in Hammock Green and Black Chevron but only wore each of them once, maybe. The cotton lining seemed thick and made me hot when I wore the dress. I think the cotton lining of this dress is a little thinner. The lining is also shorter due to the side slits. I think that makes a huge different between the two dresses. Though it seems thinner and lighter in weight I don’t think the white is sheer at all. There is still plenty of coverage. 

I thought I would give the Small a chance before sizing to my normal Medium. This slipped right on over my head without any problems. There’s no pulling at the chest and there’s hip room as well. The pic above are without my wedges on, flat-footed. You can see the length is just at the floor. The wedges in the pics below raise the length some. A strapless or racer-back bra, with clear straps, will be needed for this dress. I think it’s worth it though. If it wasn’t for the next two dresses I would probably have bought this. It does come in Petite sizing so I am considering a Petite Medium. I’ll do an online chat to compare measurements between the two sizes if I decide to order it.

I loved this dress the moment I saw it online and knew I needed it. It showed as a pre-order online (still does) but there were already reviews from people who had tried it on in-store. I took a chance and went to my store and there it was. I love the flutter-sleeve and it is very flattering, covering my upper arms. The Small was a great fit, with no pulling across the chest and room in the waist and hips. 
The length hits just above the knee on me. I had considered ordering the Petite sizing but glad this was in-store since it would have been even shorter. I already know I’m going to wear my Ikat Isabelle Raffia Pumps with this dress! The Seville Wedge Espadrilles from last year in Citrus Lime look good with the dress too.

This is another dress that is currently “pre-order” online. I was about to order the Petite Medium online but there wasn’t information on the length for it or the Regular; only the Tall. I figured the Regular was an inch or two shorter than the Tall and the Petite and inch or two shorter than the Regular so I decided on the Regular. I ordered the “pre-order” dress in Navy in a Small. Then I found the White in store, which confirmed I ordered the right size. 
Though this is in S/M/L and not numeric sizing like it’s Shirt twin, I went with the Small since the shirt ran big. It’s a great fit and the length is at a fun length for me. I like that there is some shape from the armpit to the waist. It’s not straight up-and-down shift like the Linen Dip-Dye Dress is. 

The only issue I have is that the White is not lined. The slip I have is too long for it so I may have to resort to Spanx shorts for this dress. I will try to take a few pics outside in the Sun to see if there’s any see-through or sheerness to the dress but from the dressing room and opinions of a few SAs it doesn’t seem to be. Still, I want to be sure. Of course, anything other than nude undergarments will show through.

 
~ Chevron Striped Dress, size 10 ~
Another “pre-order” dress online but was available in-store. My store sold through the size 8 in this dress so I knew to go up instead of down to a 6. It does look like it fits well in the 10 from the front and side. It was nice to have it just a little loose and almost thought I could work with a size 10. 

But, the back has a criss-cross/wrap design and this is how I knew I would need my normal size 8/8 Petite. There’s too much gaping in the back. The material should lay flat against my back. I still love the dress as the fit-and-flare style is one of my favorites.

My store honored the “online only promo” of 30% off because I asked. I stated I would just order the dresses from online, which was also offering Free Shipping. I do not see why there are online-only promos, especially for items that they show as “Pre-Order” but are clearly sitting in stock in a store. They are also taking away from store sales by not offering or allowing the store to have the same promo. I understand that offering a promo on specific items takes up the time of the SA to tell a customer what is on promo. But, in the end they’ll make a sale for the store instead of losing one to online ordering.

I am very glad that my store will do this. I do still spend most of my shopping money at J Crew so it’s nice that they will recognize that I do. Also, I come prepared with the knowledge of what is on promo. I won’t ask to have a promo applied if I know it’s not part of the online promo.

Sorry for the rant, but I’m sure it’s especially frustrating for those of you who try to get a store to honor the promo and they won’t but you know people who have stores that will.

Anyway, go get these dresses!!! I would have paid full-price for the two I purchased and even the Linen Halter Maxi Dress. They clearly meet a need in my closet and fit my style.

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3 Comments

  1. June 5, 2015 / 6:49 pm

    The Linen Dip Dye in Tall is in my cart thanks to your review 🙂
    I've been wanting something like this that can be fun for summer and the tall length is much better for me even though I'm only 5'5". thanks!

  2. June 5, 2015 / 8:31 pm

    The Linen Dip-dye dress caught my eye as well. I ordered one size down, after comparing measurements that I got from chatting with CS. So glad for your review, it looks like I made the right choice. Of course, time will tell. And it will be a long time, since shipping for in-stock items lately has taken a long time. I went with a regular length and I'm 5'3".

    Love the Cross-over back Striped dress, but was worried about the back not fitting right. I'll be interested to see if a petite size fixes the problem for you. I saw there is one review on JC site, she complains about the back not lying flat. Definitely a deal breaker.

  3. June 8, 2015 / 3:55 am

    You totally need to get the Linen Halter Maxi! I think it looks wonderful on you!!