Jewel Tones // Fall Date Night or Holiday Party Dress

I know, I know – it feels too early to be talking about holiday party outfits, but it’s almost that time of year! And this little dress might be one of my favorite pieces to date from Express Petites (it’s great for a Fall date night too, if you want to delay thinking about the holidays). The wrap style with ruffle trim is flirty and feminine, while the deeper jewel-toned hues are sophisticated. It’s also available in regular sizing (XXS – XL) if you want a little longer length. As a bonus, all the colors pair easily with tights for winter – personally I’d do gray tights with the chrome yellow dress, and black tights with all the others!

Fit / Sizing

I tried on both my usual size xxs petite (see it on me in red, below) and xs petite, and ended up keeping the latter. They fit very similarly, but an xs petite had just a little more room for me to move around in, and about an inch longer in length (note: both sizes were a shorter “mini” length on me, and I’m under 5 feet tall). The fabric itself does not stretch, but the waist and the sleeve openings are elasticized for a comfortable fit. I did find the neckline clasp to be too low for my tastes on both sizes, so I secured it a little higher with a small safety pin.

Material

This dress is made of a machine-washable poly fabric, which has a slightly silky, satiny feel to it. It’s lightweight so the ruffles flow as you walk. Because of the shorter length and airiness of the fabric, I wore my usual bike shorts underneath…just in case I found myself caught in one of Boston’s notorious gusts of wind! If your dress has wrinkles coming out of the package, a quick steam did the trick for me (I use this portable steamer).

Thank you to Express for partnering on this post.