I'd nearly given up when I was browsing through Lane Bryant's website when I recognized a model as the same one wearing "the" dress. LB was featuring a few select items from Igigi, so I went to Igigi's website, and lo and behold, there it was.
I considered the dress for days and days. I searched online to see if I could find reviews of it anywhere or pictures of anyone else wearing the dress. I came across a post on blogger Nicole's A Well Rounded Venture, where she talks about visiting Igigi and trying on the Naomi dress along with several other Igigi dresses. There's a photo of her below modeling the gown, and you can read more about her experience with Igigi here.
The dress came four days later, and as I opened the package, I couldn't believe the quality of the sequin embroidery. Beautiful. I hung the dress on my closet door and realized the dress was made for women much taller than I. At 5'4". with four inch heels on, no go. But I wanted to be able to wear this thing with flats.
So I stood wearing the dress staring at myself in the mirror, wondering if I wanted to invest even more money into this thing. Because alterations to shorten this dress was not going to be easy. You can't just cut it at the bottom because it has beautiful lace scallops. So instead, you have to shorten it at the empire waist, and the fabric is gathered and folded along the waistline. Not going to be a cheap alteration...
So I had to weigh my pros and cons. Pros: super high quality. Looks vintage from the early 1900's meaning it'll still look vintage in a few years or in many years, so I should get wear out of the dress in the years to come. Very special, unique, and from a limited collection, meaning I won't likely see anyone wearing the same dress - ever. It has cap sleeves (con), but I find that the focus is so much on the skirt or waistline, that I don't really notice or feel self-conscious about my arms in it. I feel really pretty and feminine and dramatic in it. I imagine myself doing glamorous things in it, so it wins points for appealing to my imagination. Cons: price. I can't get the stupid (but lovely) sash to stay in place. Um...that it's maybe too much? Too much money, too much drama, too much fancy-schmancy-ness. But then, I also like it for its too-much-ness.
Two weeks later, my dress shortened and bust tacked, I donned it for a roaring 20's theme party my husband and I hosted to toast the engagement of his sister. We asked that everyone come dressed up or in costume for a cocktail party in our backyard. I wore the dress with 1/2" wedges through the grass and up and down the deck steps, and it came out just fine. Good thing it's a dark color on bottom.
And because of the great quality and fit, I'll be ordering from Igigi again. Something more practical this time...perhaps a dress that I can double for wearing to work and wearing out... :-)