Thursday 10 July 2014

THE JAYNA DRESS IN BLUE HAWAII / ABOUT TRASHY DIVA SIZING AND MORE


As you may know, one of my absolute favourite brands is Trashy Diva. I have many many TD dresses and they all have a great cut and as I’ve come to notice, will flatter your curves weather you have a lot or a little of them. So when Trashy Diva asked me to try out and review one of their dresses from their new Blue Hawaii collection I was not late to reply with a big and happy Yes!

As I have ordered from Trashy Diva numerous times - I think it’s the brand I own the most dresses from - I am more than often asked about the sizing, and ordering form there. So I thought I’d also do a brief on that here at the same time.

I chose the Jayna dress, which is also a brand new model. The dress is made out of rayon.

Then I stated thinking that I’ve done it again - added one more fancy dress to the collection of “good-if-I -manage-to-wear-it-once-per -summer”-dresses. I just can’t help myself, I am a sucker for all things pretty! (Well, one day when I do no longer have small children I shall strut around in my fancy dresses again and all of the time.)

But, turns out, this is one of those floral dresses than can be just anything! That goes with anything, you know. Basic monday or wedding wear -everything goes depending on how it is styled.

See, nice and everyday normal if you so like.
The kind of floral dress that is not too fancy for day wear and would look good both with flats and heels - that would probably look good even when worn with Birkenstock sandals.

And -ta da! -with fancier hair it turns into a fancy piece - especially with and up-do that will show the beautiful cut-out in the back of the dress. I also like that is has a more narrow skirt than most of my other dresses, a little variation is always nice.

I find the dress quite timeless with a touch of the forties at the neckline with it’s sweetheart shape and fabric-coated buttons. Which also can, if you want to and style it so, give a very trendy 90’s vibe. (Would I be young and trendy I might shorten this dress and wear it nineties style with heavy boots or those thick soled canvas shoes and a jacket to go along. But I’m not, so I won’t.)

I’ve never had any issues with my orders from Trashy Diva always received the right items ind the right sizes. (Do keep in mind that when ordering from the US to the EU customs will most likely apply. The first years I always had my parcels coming straight home to me without having to pay vat and import tax but nowadays everything seems to go via the customs automatically.)

The sizing of the dresses is very accurate to the size chart but measurements run a little bit different for each dress and cut so always check the charts (it is very easy to find next to every dress on the site). For exampe, I have dresses in size 8 and 10 but even some in size 6!

In general I’d say to choose the dress according to your waist size. For those dresses with stretch you can take the smallest size possible, but the cotton and rayon dresses won’t really stretch so remember that, although getting one or half an inch smaller than my waist size when that has been the closets has not been a problem for me. If it gets any smaller than that it won’t feel comfy when you sit down for example, even though you might still fit in the dress. As I have noticed from some of my old dresses thank you very much pregnancy.

Now with the Janya dress I was not sure weather to go for the bigger or smaller size, to leave some slight comfy room in the waist or go for a snug fit with perhaps half an inch more to long for. The bust measurement on the bigger size would have been to big for me so I went for snug which was the right choice, and it does not feel too tight at all! Ta-da again!

The dresses that consist of a waist section, like the Forties dress for example, are often rather roomy in the bust and fit up to big cups. Still, they don’t get bulky on a smaller bust either, but actually gives a very good shape. I’ve noticed that the dresses that have the top cut in just one piece - like the Americana, Day dress or Anette for example - have less room in the bust. For me with a big rib cage they come out as perhaps a bit flattening and tight on the chest. Going for a bigger size does not really help as the dress then will be too big all over. But all in all it’s not a disastrous thing, I stil love those styles and wear my dresses happily!


An issue I know others also have had is that the dresses with a waist band are sometimes hard to close; the dress is lined in the waist to keep a good shape and the invisible zipper is very thin. That can make it hard to close over the seams. For one of my dresses I didn’t manage it without a helping hand; it usually gets a bit easier with wear though. The Jayna dress here is of the same kind of cut, with a waist section, but it actually closes up pretty easily.

The only tricky thing with trashy Diva in general is that most of the dresses are dry clean only. Which can be an issue over here, where dry cleaning is expensive (for example SOL charges 30-50eur to clean a dress, and silk dresses will be over 50eur). I hang out my dresses to air after wear and “steam” them by hanging them in the bathroom when I shower. But, I *confess* I have washed quite many of them by hand and they have turned out fine, expect for one on which the colours ran a bit (which luckily does not show at all due to the pattern). My jersey knit dresses have even been washed in the machine on a gentle program without problems. BUT do bear in mind that clothes should always be cleaned according to their instructions, so I’m not going to recommend washing the dresses yourself even though it has worked for me.

Well, there you have the answers to the most asked TD-questions in a nutshell. So enough with that for now and time to let this new dress out in the strong sunshine!


Blue is one of those colours that go with a lot, and this dress was well paired with red shoes. I also happen to have shoes in both the same blue and the same white shade as in the dress . But this time I went for orange ones instead!











8 comments:

Marlene said...

Very pretty dress! You've made a very good choice.
blue evening dresses

Unknown said...

I have to say TD is tempting especially this style. Regards washing, I think rayon likes to shrink and it continues to shrink for a few washes so go careful and wash it cold always. Steaming is a great idea, or washing off dirty spots rather than the whole dress. I love the drape of this and the colour, lovely all round.

Anonymous said...

I would absolutely consider to buying some of those dresses, but the mentioning "only dry clean" reduces my buying desires a lot. What a pity! I wonder why they can't make the dresses (at least those that can be used every day) from some other material that can be washed safely.

Mama D said...

Lovely dress!

Paula said...

What a nice dress!
I ordered the Americana dress from trashy diva last year and was sorely disappointed as I found out the bodice section was way too short. Like inches, too short. I hoped the wide matching belt would allow me to wear the dress which otherwise fit perfectly, but no. The waist seam was still visible from over the top of the belt.
I'm 172cm and quite slim, my usual dress size is 36. Have you had any problems with length? I really love their styles but at the moment don't dare to purchase any with taxes and delivery being so high and the length being uncertain.

Unknown said...

so beautiful dress and so does you!
mind checking out my blog?

The Freelancer's FashionBlog said...

Anonymous :many dresses are in solid cotton so I washed them because I could not see why they could not be washed... but like I said, I can't officially recommend that :)

Paula : Hmm, I know what you mean! I actually think the bodice on the Americana is a bit shorter than the others! I think if you have a somewhat bigger bust it will shorten it even more. For me the waist is not too high up though. On the other dresses with the same style bodice the waist is not as high. I hate it when the waist line of a dress is not where you want it to, I have some that are both too high and too low...
I think the Sandy dress also had the waist section pretty high. But the halter dresses for example definitely have a longer bodice.

The TD dresses do lengthen in size I think, as I got the Streetcar dress in a size way to big to be on the safe side after pregnancy. The waist on that again is too low, I've been thinking of having someone lift it up a bit for me. Sadly that can't be done the other way around :/

If there is a style you covet you could just email them (or FB message) about the length of it's bodice? There's also this dangerous group on FB with TD fans (dangerous for your wallet as it will make you crave dresses...) called "desperately searching for Trashy Diva", you can try and ask there too.

Unknown said...

Great outfit! I love vintage style :D x

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