Review: Asos Petite Tailored Pencil Sheath Dress

**Update: Check your email today for a 20% off code! If you're not an email subscriber, sign up and possibly ask Customer Service if you can have a code (they've been great to me). The red dress is back in stock in Petite 0!**

I'll cut to the chase. I love this dress. It's not a high quality garment and the length on me requires hemming, but the silhouette makes me feel so ladylike. As soon as I zipped up the snug torso, I knew it was a keeper. I envision it with bold necklaces and cropped little jackets.

Dress: ASOS Tailored Pencil Dress in sz US Petite 0, Red (?)
Buy here in petite (also in black and cobalt) or here in regular (on sale).

When I saw that this dress was titled "in the style of Lady Gaga," I was apprehensive that there would be some whacky feature to it like an exaggerated poofy skirt. After careful inspection...I don't see anything Gaga-ish. I would see this more on someone polished like fellow petite Eva Longoria.

Sizing: Asos UK sz Petite 4 = US Petite 0 = H&M sz 2. The Petite 0 I ordered definitely fits smaller than sz 00P / XXSP from the typical petite favorite brands like Ann Taylor, LOFT, and BR.

Fit: This dress is cut narrow in the torso/waist, and has pleated full tulip hips. When zipped up, the US sz 1 on me has no room to spare at the chest and waist, but still a few inches of space at the hips. The bottom opening for the legs is narrow. Even with the slit, it's a snug fit past my hips when putting it on. Length on me hits right at the knee. I want to shorten it about 2 inches, but then the back slit would look funky and truncated. Woe is me.

Measurements: US sz Petite 0 measures 14.75" from armpit to armpit, 12" across the waist, 17.5" across the hips at the widest point, 13-14" across the bottom leg opening, 14" from top of shoulder to waistline, 33" total length down the back center.

 Front and back, inside out (click to enlarge):

Quality: The material feels like a thin, smooth suiting material with a tiny bit of stretch. It is 100% polyester (machine washable), unlined, and the zipper feels kind of cheap. I wore it for a few hours and it didn't wrinkle. Price seems steep for the quality, but to me it's a fair price for a pretty sheath dress that requires minimal alterations.

Shopping Experience: Free shipping and free returns = happy me. Shipping is now tracked, which is great because I know that used to be the main complaint with ASOS orders. My order this time came from Atlanta, GA (versus the UK, like last time) and took about 5 business days to get here.

Colors: Currently, this dress is only offered in Black, Blue, Cafe Creme, and Red for petite sizing. The Cafe Creme is a light blush pink and kind of looks nude on me because I'm so darn pale right now. The strange thing is, I also ordered Red (it looks like a vibrant cherry red on the website) but I was sent an entirely different color. The one I received is a burnt sienna-coral-ish color, and looks just like "Firebrick" from their regular sizing. I'm confused because I don't even see that color as an option for petite sizing! So if you order Red ... you may receive Red, or you may not.

Dress: ASOS Tailored Pencil Dress in sz US Petite 0, Cafe Creme
 Buy here in petite, here in regular (on sale), or here in linen. 

Verdict: Keeping both. A rarity for me at this price. I know many of you probably find the Cafe Creme to be terribly unflattering against my skin tone, but I'm going to save it for when I'm tan.

I highly recommend this dress, but it can definitely be hit or miss depending on your body shape. I want to emphasize the narrowly-cut torso and tulip-style hips. If your chest is any larger than mine (I'm wearing a 32A with this dress) then I'd recommend sizing up.

Readers - what do you think of this dress? Did any of you pick it up?