Cute Salute sailor - costume discontinued by DreamGirl - review by ~LaUr3n~

As I mentioned in my other costume review this year, I love options and I had three. This costume ended up being the runner up. You don't often see sexy sailors. I love pinups and I planned on pairing this with vintage heels and red lipstick. My partner was also in the Navy and I'd hoped we could match. The sad thing about this costume is that it doesn't really double as bedroom attire like other costumes sometimes do, so in the end, it wasn't used as a costume. When it came down to it, I chose something else because of needing to be warmer. The sizing is pretty good and the costume is super detailed and cute! It just might be the pick for next year. And good news for the BBW ladies, it comes in plus sizes too!

*Contents/overview: four pieces
* Dress with adjustable hem line
* Pair of gloves
* Hat
This doesn't come with undergarments so you'll need panties and a bra. For the larger frames, you might want to get a torso shaper with attached bra and possibly garters. It also doesnt come with stockings. I had gotten stockings to go with and had bought a new pair of red heels.

*Material:

The dress and gloves are made of micro-fiber- 90% polyester and 10% spandex blend. It has a nice satiny feel and it stretches very well. The material is a gorgeous deep navy blue and white. It is not very thick and if it is stretched too much it will become semi-see through. Some parts, like the straps and back flap piece with the anchor on it barely stretch. The hat is made of a thick 100% cotton, similar to what jeans feel like. It also has sequin pieces. The fabric of all pieces is very comfortable.

*Design/craftsmanship: very good

The dress is a solid shape and design length. It didn't make me worry about being exposed in the back and I'm 5'6". The cool this is that it has ribbon sewn into each side of the dress that will rouche and pull the hem length up. So if you want it shorter, you can hike it up and tie the ribbons. The bottom is lined with a soft and ruffled mesh. At the top of the dress the bust is cut low with a scallop demi cup. It has no underwire, but as I mentioned before, this outfit requires the proper under garments. Between the breasts is a quarter sized silver anchor charm as an accent. It is attached by a few pieces of thread.

The bust isn't padded either. Each has four stripes of vibrant blue sequins. The bottom is rouched very slightly. The thick straps fan out as they go over the shoulder and attach in the back. They start at about 1" in width and reach a thickness of 2". They easily hide bra straps. The straps also have a blue line of sequins running up them that attaches to a line of sequins in the back.

The back is completely solid. Not even any of the back is seen at the top. Attached to the straps is a square piece of fabric that is like a mini cape for lack of the proper term. This is where a large blue sequin anchor is sewn. It looks awesome! I know that the real uniform did have this piece in the back...sans sequins of course. I wish it could turn into a hood for when the October breeze kicks up!

The accessories are great. The gloves are super cute! They are solid white and very stretchy. They each have a navy blue ribbon on them. The hat does not fit like a baseball cap would because it more or less just sits on top of the head. A nice feature is that it has loop holes on both sides to fit bobby pins through. The front of it has a blue anchor out of sequins. It is done a bit sloppy and there are plenty of stray threads, but they can be cut.

All the pieces are made very well. With the exception of the sloppy anchor on the hat, the seams and stitching are great.

CARE/WASHING: dry clean only

Unfortunately, this it dry clean only for all the pieces. You can spot clean otherwise, but be careful of the sequins. When storing you can put all the pieces back in the thick plastic bag it comes in. The material doesn't wrinkle. The bag also has an insert with pictures of a model wearing it on the front. This makes it good for finding if you have a lot of costumes like I do.

Experience
*Sizing: pretty good

I chose the large. I thought maybe since this was going to be worn in public that I should get a XL to cover all the necessary areas, but a large ended up being perfect. It should fit 10-14 dress, C-D cup, 36-40" bust, 28-32" waist, 38-42" hips, and weight 140-150 pounds. I weight about 150 curvy but fit and typically wear a 10 dress size. It fit me nicely but the chart is a bit off because it fit me like a glove and I'm on the lower parts of the ranges. The only part that I wish was a tad larger was in the hips so that my underwear could not be seen as easily. If you don't like things to be form fit, you might find this to be too revealing for you. It will not hide rolls, tummy pouches, etc so if you want this and want to cover those, get a size up or wear a body shaper underneath. This is a good idea for the cold weather anyways.

The bust might pose a problem for women with large breasts. I don't like when the bottom of a bust line lays anywhere but at the bottom of my breast. If I pull this down to where that would be, it shows a lot of cleavage. This didn't bother me for Halloween, but it might bother some and definitely doesn't do small breasts any favors. The side rouching is awesome! I actually preferred to hike it up a bit because it did my waist line and hips more justice. The length also looked better on my legs.

Re-done Sizing Chart: runs a bit small
I had to lower the high end for all measurements.
Dress: 10-12
Cup: C-D
Band: 36-38"
Waist: 28-32"
Hips: 37-39"
Good for most heights too! Just remember that if you are on the high end of the chart to order up a size.

*Experience/Conclusion:

I am giving this 5 stars. It is made really well and is super fucking cute! The rouching is an excellent feature. My biggest complaint is that the material is really easy to snag! I was going to return this but a piece of velcro got stuck to the dress and pulled fibers. I also broke the anchor off when it got caught in my hair while pulling it over my head. So...I guess I'll keep it for next year!

I was able to repair the anchor I pulled off of this and have only worn it one more time. Since it was not my choice for Halloween, it was hard to find a time to wear it.

It has been a pain to hand wash since the fabric is fairly thick in spots. It takes a long time to dry! If you plan on getting this I would make sure you have the time and money to deal with dry cleaning only because it is a hassle for sure.