I’m 5’1” and This Abercrombie & Fitch Dress Makes Me Feel Like I’m in ‘Bridgerton’

I first came across the frock last year at the beginning of summer, as I was diligently doing my duty as PureWow’s senior commerce editor and scrolling through Abercrombie & Fitch’s new offerings to write about. (It’s a tough job, but someone’s gotta do it.) This puff-sleeved beauty immediately caught my eye—and, apparently, the eyes of hundreds of other shoppers who quickly turned it into one of the brand’s best sellers. I’ll be honest, I was hesitant to make an impulse purchase that came with an over-$100 price tag, but after salivating over it for weeks, I happened to catch the dress on sale and didn’t think twice about running it to checkout. And I am so glad I did.

To paraphrase my favorite SNL character, Stefon: This dress has everything. Princess sleeves. A ruched bodice. Back smocking. Pockets! But I can confirm that its biggest draw is just how freakin’ flattering it is. It lifts and supports the girls (no bra required), whittles in the waist and flows out into a swingy skirt at just the right spot to allow for plenty of dining and imbibing without the risk of feeling stuffed (one of the most important features of any wedding guest dress, IMO). So yes, it’s comfortable, too.

In fact, I love this dress *so* much that it is presently the only article of clothing I have two of hanging in my closet. (Full disclosure: I purchased the floral-patterned one last year, but since that exact print is no longer available, I requested the blue one from the brand for the purposes of this review.) 

I’m wearing a size medium in both iterations of the dress pictured here, and I do find it to be true-to-size, save for one caveat: That boob support I mentioned above is made possible by the snugger fit at the top. While it works to hug and lift my 36C bust, and the back smocking does allow for some stretch, you might want to size up if you’re more filled out in the chest area.

Given that I am a grand total of 5-feet, 1-inch tall, one of things I love most about this dress, and about shopping at Abercrombie & Fitch in general, is that it’s offered in petite lengths, as well as standard and tall sizes (from XXS to XXL)—as are most other items at the retailer. For most of my life, I’ve had to accept that any flowy dress I bought for an event automatically came with a trip to the tailor’s for hemming. But not so with this beauty.

Although it’s touted as a midi dress, however, even the petite length hits a little lower on me—as you can see in my photos, the hem of the tiered skirt grazes my ankles. Personally, I don’t mind this; I can show off my shoes, and it still saves me the time and cost of alterations. If anything, I think the length may even help to elongate my stature.