J.Crew: Printed Silk Chiffon Whitney Short Dress Review

This is J.Crew's Printed Silk Chiffon Whitney Short Dress (item #11440), which originally retailed for $225, and has been on promotion for $159.99 for quite awhile now. This dress is numerically-sized, and is available in this one color, sweet cantaloupe. J.Crew describes the dress as such:

Whether it's for a wedding or a warm-weather getaway, this dress is a sensational choice for any special occasion. Crafted from lightweight silk chiffon with a delicate crinkled texture, its strapless silhouette features a fitted bodice with knot detail at the center front, a slight sweetheart neckline and a pretty lettuce edged hem at the waist. A-line skirt. Back zip. Interior corset for added support. Fully lined. Falls to knee; 25" from natural waist. Import. Dry clean. Catalog/jcrew.com only.

I picked up this dress in a size 4, which is my normal size in J.Crew dresses. The dress fits true-to-size, and is a nice, comfortable fit. The fit is based on your bust and waist measurements.

The dress is fairly straight. From the bust to the waist is a straight line, then the skirt flares out a bit in an A-line shape. I wouldn't say that the dress creates a lot of waist definition, but I think it's a nice silhouette overall. I like the length, but wouldn't have minded if it were a couple of inches shorter, so that it didn't go past the knees as much.

Brief tangent on sizing: Normally I might say that I wish it had been offered in petites, but lately I've noticed that I've had some issues with the petite "equivalent" size dresses being a tad bit smaller than the regular sizes. For example, a P6 strapless dress will be just a tad bit tighter around the bust than the regular 4, and can potentially lead to the dreaded bust/armpit bulge (yuck).

The dress is lined in white, with a really nice silk chiffon overlay with a pretty light orange and white floral print. The silk chiffon is a really nice fabric - it's light, thin, and really soft. It moves and flows incredibly well, and is a really pretty spring and summer dress. There is some nice crinkly detail at the bust and waistline.

I'm not sure how casual you could make this dress, as it seems pretty dressy. I think you could wear it in a lot of different places, but I think for the most part, it'd be for more dressy occasions. I also think it would have been nice to see this dress offered in other spring or summer colors, like a light purple, pink, light green, or even a red or cobalt blue.

What do you think? Do you like this dress? Have you seen it or tried it on? Do you own it? Are there any other colors you would have liked to see it in? Do you prefer the short dress or the longer version?