Review: Stop Staring’s vintage-chic dresses

We don’t often stray from our obsessive coverage of luxury lingerie, but when Katie met the dress label Stop Staring! at a lingerie show, we knew we had to make an exception.

These dresses are made for the kind of women who love gorgeous lingerie – a quick peek through Stop Staring’s catalogue shows a huge variety retro-inspired designs, a perfect companion to the ever-popular retro and burlesque trend dominating lingerie. When we got the opportunity to try Stop Staring’s dresses for ourselves, we jumped at the chance – if these dresses made the grade, they would be a great recommendation for our readers.

Dressing the Knickers girls isn’t as easy as it first seems — the three of us are all very different body shapes and sizes, and thanks to our obsession with lingerie, we’re also very discriminating about fabric and fit. For one label to make all three of us happy is a tall order – did Stop Staring pull it off? We’ll give the verdict, girl by girl:

Katie’s Review

The Stop Staring! shopping experience was fantastic. Eva and Alicia took all of our measurements and picked out the dress best suited for each of us. I got the perfect little Hollywood black dress ($98).

At first I was a bit disappointed because it was a bit plain and it was an XL (not my regular size), but I hadn’t tried it on. Eva is a GENIUS! This dress was perfect for me. I am short, 5’2″ and relatively slim but busty — a 34H to be exact, which is a very difficult shape to fit. The dress, however, is made from a completely curve-hugging bengaline stretch fabric, which means it fits in the bust (I’m not popping out) but it’s not big or loose in the waist and hips. Perfect!

As soon as I tried it on I knew I wanted another Stop Staring! dress, they are so cute and such a wonderful fit – even my husband completely and immediately agreed! If there was any downside, it’s that most of the dresses are made for taller people. I cannot wear any of the kick pleat dresses because they are too long and cannot be hemmed, so it does limit my selection. Still, the Park Avenue may be in my very near future!

Katie’s Scores

Fit 5/5
Fabric 5/5
Style 5/5
Selection (for petites) 4/5

Alison’s Review

It’s not often I send my measurements to someone and get a dress selected in my absence; I was intrigued by the thought of what I would be sent and whether it would suit both my size and personality. I’m happy to report that my fears were unfounded: if the girls at Stop Staring! had known me for ten years, they still couldn’t have chosen a better dress!

As I excitedly unwrapped my dress (Linda, $150), my initial reaction was: It’s gorgeous, but it’s never going to fit! The dress looked tiny, and as I have a strange ‘no waist’ figure, I had my doubts about whether it would even zip up. My doubts were soon dispersed as I stepped into the dress and was zipped up without any difficulty – the dress fit like it was made for me! Looking in the mirror I was astounded as a very different person stood opposite me: the usual slim girl who needs the occasional bit of help to enhance her 32DD bust was now an all over curvy, sexy woman – with a waist! The fabric smoothed and pulled in all those bits I like to have pulled in, so it made me feel sleek, slim and sexy; at no time did I feel uncomfortable or squeezed in, which left me wondering why all dresses aren’t made of this fabric!

I’m a big fan of retro-style fashion and I loved Stop Staring the moment I saw their designs. What I loved about my ‘Linda’ dress first and foremost is its chic, glamorous style: even if ‘retro’ isn’t your thing, it certainly wouldn’t put you off this dress; anyone who loves to look gorgeous, would love Linda!

The dusky pink satin top has a subtle slit in the bust area, which is incredibly sexy as it just shows a peek of cleavage without overdoing it. Although I don’t like to go over the top to show off my bust, I do like a little accentuation and the satin top stopped exactly where it should in order to maximise my figure. This is one dreamy dress, and I can’t wait to try out more of the aptly-named Stop Staring Collection!

Alison’s Scores

Fit 5/5
Fabric 5/5
Style 5/5
Selection (for slim and tall) 5/5

Note: Alison recommends wearing a plunge bra with this dress

Danae’s Review

Like Alison and Katie, I was a little wary about sending off my measurements to have a dress chosen by strangers, but Alicia and Eva did a magnificent job with my choice as well. I got a beautifully-embroidered black Paris dress ($126, black is part of the upcoming collection), which features a gorgeous sweetheart neckline and the same stretch bengaline fabric that Katie and Alison have been raving about.

I had no idea how gorgeous this dress was going to look until I had zipped it up — on the hanger it just looks like a dress, but on the body the fabric goes to work, hugging and stretching in all the right places, nipping in the waist and accentuating all of my curves. The neckline was a little loose for me, but I blame that on my 10k training – in the time between sending off my measurements and receiving the dress I managed to lose a bit of weight, so I probably could have managed an XL instead of the XXL my original measurements dictated. Even so, I agree with Katie’s assessment that these dresses are great for larger-cup sizes – I still wasn’t popping out anywhere on the dress, and it managed to look fitted at the waist while still allowing for a larger chest.

What really struck me about this dress was how much I wanted to wear it — because I so rarely find a dress that actually fits my shape and makes me feel attractive, I rarely wear them at all. With this dress, I was inventing reasons to go out so I could have another shot in my little black dress. I’ve already gone through the Stop Staring! catalogue to pick out another one, and the only thing stopping me from buying is that I have picked out about five dresses that I can’t decide between!

Danae’s Scores

Fit 4/5
Fabric 5/5
Style 5/5
Selection (for curvy and big-busted) 5/5 — sizes also often go up to 3x, check the plus-size section

Note: Danae recommends wearing a plunge bra with this dress – she wore her Rigby and Peller plunge and it was perfect!

The Verdict

As you can see, all three of us are pretty crazy for Stop Staring! now. It’s very rare for a label to create a vintage-inspired look that’s also comfortable and wearable on a day-to-day basis, but these dresses really are. They have everything from evening wear to day dresses to ready-to-wear in their catalogue, and I think if the three of us could have our way, we’d buy one of each! We can’t recommend highly enough that you go check out their catalogue and find the perfect dress for yourself!