My Quest for the Perfect White Summer Dress
My Quest for the Perfect White Summer Dress
Or, How TheRealReal Ruined my Life.
It all started with a dress by Sea New York. On one of my nightly trawls through TheRealReal, I came across a dress so viciously perfect, I could not get it out of my head. The “Square Neckline Long Dress” was pristine white with, you guessed it, midi-length with a square neckline, Slender man-thin spaghetti straps, a tight, ruched waist and a hem that ended in delicate eyelet lace. The skirt was so voluminous looked like it could have been designed by Givenchy for Audrey Hepburn sometime in the 1950s. I yearned to make it mine. however it was over $200 US, and between the abysmal exchange rate, the $50 RealReal shipping charge, and the duties I’d have to pay on top of the price of the dress, probably would have set me back closer to $400 CAD. So, I watched the dress like it was my part-time job, opening the app even few days to check in and see if the price had gone down. I told myself I was allowed to buy it if the pride dipped down to $100, but one day I checked only to see the price had turned red. It had sold to some other lucky soul for the grand total of $222.99.
Normally I’m pretty happy prioritizing frugality over owning a piece of clothing but losing out on this dress ignited something in me. I needed it with a fury that, frankly, alarmed me. I spent hours on TheRealReal stalking every possible iteration of a spaghetti strap white midi dress with a gathered waist, but everything felt like a poor facsimile. I was waiting for The One. Finally, I pulled the trigger on a gorgeous Christopher Kane eyelet dress that felt right, but when it came, the fit was off. It was weirdly loose in the straps yet tight in the bust and wearing it made me feel like a caged animal. My desire for The Dress remained unquenched.
This year, I started to notice that just about every mainstream retailer had caught on and was doing their own version of The Dress. I spotted one on the racks at Uniqlo but the colour looked like dirty dishwater and the bodice was loose and unflattering, a definite no. I saw one in the window at Aritzia, but I find that store scary and refuse to go inside. Gap has one that ticks all the boxes but is just..too simple without the extra curved yoke or lace details of the the original.
Then it struck me: Reformation. If I couldn’t find it at the ultimate emporium of wedding guest dresses, then I may as well give up on the dream altogether. As I browsed the site, I was struck in the face by dozen of dresses that more or less fit the bill. The Bucatini, the Naella, the Serene….had someone on the design team hacked into my mind? I narrowed it down to two options: the Percy and the Balia, which Reformation kindly sent over for me to try.
The Percy was easily my favourite option, but on my body it just wasn’t quite right. It was too long, and while that’s an easy fix, something about the sexy open back made me feel very self-conscious. The clear winner was the Balia. While the straps were slightly thicker than I envisioned—more fettuccine than spaghetti—the ruched milkmaid vibes of the bodice and volume of the skirt were spot on. So! The search for my perfect white summer dress is now complete. It makes me feel like an ethereal princess whose only purpose in life is to flit around from honeysuckle to honeysuckle, sampling the morning dewdrops. This does exactly what I want, nay, need it to do, and I can finally sleep soundly at night.
Although if I ever see that Sea New York dress again in my size, all bets are off.
Despite my qualms about Ref’s marketing emails, I will admit they make an excellent summer dress. The Balia is a bit like a sisterhood-of-the-travelling-dress with its smocked back - it looks good on SO many people (you included!)