J.Crew: Embossed-Cotton Aubrey Halter Dress Review

This is J.Crew's Embossed-Cotton Aubrey Halter Dress (item #10681), which is also available in petite (item #11124).  It was originally $98, and is marked down online for $78, and was marked down in-store for $49.99.  J.Crew describes the dress as such:

The perfect little dress for sun-filled days, on or off the beach. Beautifully textured cotton in a halter silhouette. Fitted bodice with boning and elastic along the top edge for added support. A-line skirt. Straight neckline. Ties start at center front, fasten at back neck. Side zip. Fully lined. Falls below knee; 26" from natural waist. Import. This dress is machine washable, but we suggest dry cleaning to keep it looking newer, longer.

I wasn't really interested in this dress (I had seen it around plenty of times), but my PS brought it to me to try on.  She originally brought me a size larger than my regular size, in orange, but it was too big, and they only had this yellow color in my size.  The yellow color is all right, and so was the orange - a little too bright for me.

I found that this dress fit true-to-size.  It has a cute, sort-of inverted triangle neckline, which I think is a pretty flattering cut, with a tie that creates the halter around your neck.  It has a flared skirt, which I think is also fairly flattering - it's voluminous enough to hide any trouble spots, but not so big that it overwhelms you or makes you look even bigger.

As for the fabric, I go back and forth on the embossed-cotton.  Part of me loves it, as it's nice and casual, but still nice enough so that you can dress it up.  The other part of me dislikes it, but that's more because of the way J.Crew styles it.  All of the embossed-cotton dresses I have/have tried on, including this one, kind of harshly bisects you.  I can say from experience that the waist on this dress is not always that flattering - at least not for me.

Either way, the fabric is a nice, light cotton that moves nicely.  It works well for spring and summer dresses.  I am not the biggest fan of the halter on this dress - it is a halter that you tie from the middle of the dress, so it makes an inverted teardrop shape with the halter ties.  I had a little trouble with the ties - in order to pull the top hem of the bodice up, I had to tie the halter pretty tight (uncomfortably tight), which I didn't like.

I left this dress behind for a few reasons - mainly the color and the bisecting waist.  As many of you know, I don't really need any more dresses anyway (although that won't stop me from getting any other cute ones that pop up in the future), and I didn't like this one nearly enough to spend even $38 on it.

What do you think?  Do you like the embossed-cotton fabric?  Do you like this halter style?  Do you like this shade of yellow?