Happy hump day my amazing blogger family, I hope your week is going well! And yeah for those of you who are not an accountant like me who are hopefully heading into a long weekend! Easter is a long forgotten holiday in my books but that’s doesn’t mean I don’t accept chocolate lol. We are officially at Day 12 of my 30 Days of Dresses series and I have been overwhelmed by the love and support you have shown and how much you love the idea! I may just have to make it an annual event, what do you think? Should I?
For those of you that follow along with me on Instagram, you may remember that I did an in the dressing room series at the end of March just after Anthropologie launched their plus size collection. There are only 10 stores that have the plus size collection and we are fortunate enough to have one of those stores here in Toronto. So of course you know that I had to go and see for myself what it was like. Because honestly I had never set foot in an Anthropologie store before that.
Now I am sure some of you might read that last sentence and be shocked but honestly I am someone who has never bothered to go into straight size stores when I know the clothes won’t fit me. I guess I just don’t need the disappointment. And while they have adorable accessories and home goods, I still dismissed it. It’s not like when you are a size 14 or 16 and hopefully something may fit you. As a size 26/28 I just know that isn’t an option.
My initial impression of the collection when I saw it online was one of excitement mixed with anxiety. The styles and photography were absolutely beautiful and definitely appealed to my personal sense of style. But I was immediately nervous knowing that the sizing only went up to a size 26 or 3x. A quick look at the size chart showed me that the sizing look pretty true to size and that gave me some hope. So when I took my trip to the store I was really hoping that they would have some styles that would work for me. I didn’t want to be disappointed that yet again another brand had introduced plus sizes and I was still left out of the mix.
Well Anthropologie you have officially won this skeptic over! And its just not because the clothes actually fit but for so many different reasons. As someone who does about 90% of their shopping online, the experience of going into a store to find clothes has not been a very positive one for me. But when I walked up to the Anthropologie store I couldn’t believe how beautiful it was inside and out. And much to my excitement you could see the plus size section right when you walked in the store and it was huge! Like I literally did a double take I couldn’t believe it.
One of the things I like is that on the website you can check to see if the store has the item in stock and you can then call and they will put it aside for you. I didn’t want to waste the time driving there if they didn’t have certain pieces available in my size. The associate I spoke to was very helpful and then told me that they had most of the collection available in the store in the full size range. I mean this was huge – they launched with almost 160 pieces and a full size range? I mean there are plus size brands that don’t carry their full size range in store.
I remember when I first started walking through the section of the store and touching and feeling all the beautiful clothes on the racks. It was such an amazing feeling to know that I was going to be able to try some of these pieces on. And I only got more excited as I started to look more closely at the pieces because I could tell on the hanger that the fit was pretty generous and that made me more adventurous to try different pieces and not just stick with ones that had stretch, I mean I even grabbed a pair of pants.
After I was done I had selected 23 pieces that I wanted to try on. And out of everything that I looked at there was only 1 thing that wasn’t available in my size. I eagerly went to the change room where the sales associates were again super helpful and welcoming. I got a chance to talk to a few of them about the launch and I learned a lot about how much effort Anthropologie had put into designing this collection. It takes a lot to impress me and I have to say I was impressed. They had a group of sales associates involved in the process. They were even sent to shop at a plus size store to see what it was like. The one that went from the Toronto store who is quite thin was shocked at what an awful experience it was so we bonded over that.
If you watched my try on videos then you know that the dressing room experience for me was a pretty good one. I knew there were pieces that weren’t going to fit me and I was okay with that. But overall there were so many more that did fit me than I ever imagined that I was ecstatic. I also took the time to come out in every piece I tried on and show the associates how it fit and what changes I would make. They took down notes and were really genuinely interested in my feedback. So what are my suggestions for improvement? I do think that expanding their sizing to a 30 and a 4x is very doable and would attract so many more potential customers. There were a few pieces where I had issues with the linings so I do think they need to make the fit of them more generous especially taking into consideration the fabrics they are using. On some tops they could definitely make the length longer to accommodate for those of us who carry more weight in our mid sections. So let’s talk about what made it home with me…
This first dress was something I actually tried on a whim. I didn’t think much of it on the hanger but I was like there is no harm in trying it. Well as luck would have it, it turned out to be one of my favourite pieces that I tried on. This is the perfect dress for those hot summer days where you would quite frankly rather be naked. The outer layer is made of a sheer chiffon with such a beautiful middle eastern inspired print. I love the neutral base of the overall colour palette with the vivid pops of colour in the print. And the lining is made of a soft light weight material that is totally breathable and a welcome change from the typical polyester lining we are used to.
Anthropologie overall tried to stay true to their original designs and did not make the plus size versions vastly different from the straight sizes which I really appreciate. But there are little things that I did appreciate, like they made the straps wider on this dress so that it was bra friendly. They are also adjustable which is a must have for me. I am wearing the size 26W in this dress and the fit is perfect. I know that this dress will be on heavy rotation all summer. Some of you might be wondering about the price point on this collection. This dress retails for $190 US which is definitely a higher price point then we are used to but for the majority of the pieces I tried I think the quality and the thoughtfulness of the design are worth it. You have to remember that this is not fast fashion. And we are not paying anymore for a size 26 than a size 0 does! And if you live in the Toronto area then I highly recommend you shop in store because the mark up is well below the US conversion you would pay on your credit card if you ordered off of the website. You can also make a return to any store even if they don’t carry plus sizes.
To style this look I wanted to stick to the natural colour palette so I chose these rose gold wedges from my current shoe collection and this cute little square rattan clutch that I got on Amazon. The one pop of colour that I chose was these teal statement earrings. Overall I love the boho vibe of this look.
Now this second dress might be a surprise for you because I didn’t share a try on video of it. I know, a little sneaky of me right? This was the dress that was number one on my must have pieces to try and it certainly didn’t disappoint. As much as I like to try new things and experiment with fashion, I also love my tried and true wardrobe staples that I know I can easily throw on and instantly look and feel polished. A jersey maxi dress is exactly one of those pieces. The jersey material of this dress is beyond soft and you can see how good the quality is just by looking at it. Not only that but this dress is fully lined in jersey. Its not very often that I see a jersey dress that is lined let alone with high quality fabric. And the trim on the lining even matches one of the colours in the print.
I am wearing the 3x in this dress and I am pleased with the fit. The neckline isn’t too low for the office and its sleeveless but otherwise still provides great coverage. If you aren’t a fan of prints this also comes in solid blue and black. The price point on this is $150 US which is pretty fair I would say. It is a piece that will give you a lot of mileage and it could easily be dressed up or down.
For this look I decided to play off of the different colours in the print by adding a teal woven wedge shoe from my collection, an energetic pop of yellow with my new favourite bag from ModCloth and soft pink earrings from a lovely new online accessory brand in the UK – Rococo Valentina. They reached out to me and offered to send me a pair of earrings which was such a nice gesture. I love that these are dramatic but not too heavy. To keep the whole look on the casual side I added this denim jacket from Torrid. This particular style is sold out but I gave you a link to another equally cute option.
Overall, my experience at Anthropologie was exceptional. I will definitely be going back and I will absolutely spend my hard earned money there. I want to give a special shout out to the amazing team at the Don Mills location here in Toronto. They were so helpful and gave me the best in store shopping experience that I think I have ever had, at least in the last 10 years anyways! So tell me – have you tried Anthropologie yet? If so what did you think? And stay tuned because I did buy one more outfit but its not a dress so you have to wait a bit lol.
Special thanks to Rebecca of Rebecca Northcott Photography for capturing these images.
Shop look #1 here:
Dress by ANTHROPOLOGIE | Bag by AMAZON | Sandals by AVENUE (alternative here) | Earrings alternative here | Bracelet alternative here |
Shop look #2 here:
Dress by ANTHROPOLOGIE | Jacket by TORRID (alternative here) | Earrings by ROCOCO VALENTINA | Bag by MODCLOTH | Bangles by TORRID (alternative here) |
