I’ve wanted a full on leopard print dress for ages now, but –and this might shock long time readers– I’m just a teensy bit particular.
I LOVED this on Queen Latifah on whom I have an unabashed girlcrush way back in 2007.
This from the last Dior couture collection pushed me right to the edge:
while the coat from the Dior Resort 2010 show pushed me right over:
Good gravy Marie, that’s a hell of a coat. Is freelance organ harvesting still illegal? If not, does anyone have a bathtub and an ice machine? (uh, this was written before those folks in Jersey got arrested for trafficking in illegal organs. So, uh. Yeah. –ed.)
Anyway, I wanted to avoid the sheath because it’s one of my less successful shapes. The Queen is pretty much straight up and down for a big girl. Your pal Plummy, however, is shaped not unlike the butternut squash which makes sheaths a bit more difficult to style.
I wanted something with movement and volume, but no stretch and for the love of Gaultier, NO SHINE.
Thankfully, Speigel heard my plea and provided this delightful silk leopard print dress on sale for comfortably under a hundred dollars.
Love this so much; it’s an excellent silhouette for pears, especially for those of us with the travel-sized busoms. I’d guess that half of my dresses are some variation of this shape. If you want more va in you voom, take one of those super-wide elastic belts that were so popular a few seasons ago and wear it UNDER a dress like this. I call it –for absolutely no reason in particular– my “Well you should’ve thought about that before you left me for an East German amnesiac, now shouldn’t’ve you?” look.
The sheath isn’t bad, either.
I’d wear it under a fitted blazer, or with an alpaca net cardi and my enormous YSL belt.
There are lots of other leopard goodies on the Speigel site, so take your pick and happy hunting!
Love silk dress you picked out. Did you see how on the Spiegel site they show all these different looks with it? Love that – I’m going to have spend more time on their site!
Comment by Ozma — July 29, 2009 @ 5:19 pm
The silk dress is very, very much my style. I have a purple sort-of-leopard-print silk dress from Tadashi in an almost identical cut, and while purple leopard does sound awful, I guarantee you would like it, Plumcake. It’s the most exciting dress I own.
Comment by Chiken — July 29, 2009 @ 7:10 pm
Big girls always get tossed to the leopards–it’s the one print that shows up year after year, no matter the trends, in plus size clothes. I know it’s a classic, but I’m a little skittish of the Pebbles and Bam Bam look. Still, I must admit, that sheath is fantastic on the Queen.
Comment by emmme — July 29, 2009 @ 7:56 pm
Yeah, I have a problem with being over 50 (but looking 40s) and wearing leopard…but that silk Spiegel number….almost has me hitting CHECKOUT!
Comment by that redhead — July 29, 2009 @ 9:53 pm
Are you kidding me, Redhead? That’s when women should wear leopard CONSTANTLY. I mean our Patron Saint of Animal Prints, Miss Anne Bancroft, taught the WORLD how it’s done in The Graduate, where she wore nothing but. Where do you think the word “cougar” came from?
Comment by Plumcake — July 29, 2009 @ 10:13 pm
Oh my goodness. I love that first dress. With some lovely black (or red!) heels… Yum. I don’t know if I’d be able to leave the house in it, though, as the temptation to slink through corridors purring would be too great to be ignored.
me-OW!!
Comment by ChristianeF — July 29, 2009 @ 10:15 pm
I’ll admit it’s starting to grow on me…I’ve actually got two leopard-print scarves now in different styles. But I still maintain that, well, there’s a fine line…
Comment by B.S.A.G. — July 30, 2009 @ 6:35 pm
Rats, my picture didn’t show up. Link.
Comment by B.S.A.G. — July 30, 2009 @ 6:38 pm