It seems that many designers think ladies all fit into one mold and can wear whatever style they say is the trend of the season. Even us plus-sized ladies. I know for a fact that’s not true. I cannot wear belted dresses, I cannot wear the current faux wraps either. That rules out a good 75 percent of the dresses available right now.
Having multiple parties this spring that require dressing up, I was dreading finding a dress to wear. I searched catalogs, perused online, doing whatever I could to avoid going to a store and trying on dress after dress after dress.
When award-winning American label IGIGI by Yuliya Raquel contacted TheCelebrityCafe.com about doing a review, I said sure. It really couldn’t be any worse than any other experience I’ve had before.
I’m not going to make you wait. IGIGI is simply amazing and I cannot wait to shop there more!
Why? I know you’re leaning in to know why! Honestly, it was the easiest shopping experience of my life. I’d go even back to shopping as a kid - I started hating it from age 12 - so 20 some odd years of hating dress shopping.
How’d it work you ask?
First, you have to go to their Shape Stylist. I know, it’s such a pain and these things never give you a good answer. Do it! I promise it’ll be okay. Answer the questions and they will give you an accurate body shape from diamond, to hourglass, to inverted triangle, they have a fit for your body because they break down everything from shoulders to waist to the baby belly that never went away. No need to fudge your answers, this is not saved in any way.
Once you have that, you can sort dresses by that shape, with a variety of styles, not just the ones you think you look good in. I think you’ll be surprised at the variety of items you can actually wear, at prices that you can afford.
After I got my body shape, I started looking around. I saw 6-7 dresses that I liked. I ruled some out by color, that’s always easy. Then length, I didn’t want a maxi dress. Finally,versatility. I needed something that went day to night, casual to dressy all in one dress - VERY tall order!
I got down to two, the Mariella dress and the Hayleigh dress (in midnight blue, they currently have it in black).
I went with the Hayleigh dress, because the pleats in the Mariella made me nervous even though I love the colors. I cleared my choice with my children. They agreed on the pleats too.
I put in my order and waited for it to come.
The day of arrival I was nervous to open the box. With my luck, I was sure the dress would be awful on me.
I waited a whole day to try it on too! And then I sucked it up (and in) and put it on. Perfection. Absolute perfection. This dress is super comfortable, covers enough, but shows enough. And no Spanx necessary!
Oh, and it twirls.
Now the next part of getting a new dress is shoes and jewelry. IGIGI has that handled too.
They offer suggestions on color of shoes, kinds of jewelry, but aren’t pushy about you buying from them even though they do have a great selection of accessories. My dress had the suggestion of pearls and tan shoes. I am going with the suggestions.
The other thing I really liked about the site are the customer photos. In their Curve Connection there is a gallery of submitted photos of every-day women wearing IGIGI clothing. No photoshop here! And each unique entry you send gets you 10% off and a chance for a $500 e-gift card in that month’s drawing.
I have two weeks until I have to wear my dress, but I am excited to have finally found a dress that makes me feel good about myself. That was Yuliya Raquel’s goal when she started IGIGI in 2000. Total success there!
And IGIGI ships to over 70 countries, so no matter where in the world you are, if you're sized 12-32, you can find the joy in shopping that I have found.