Tuesday, January 13, 2009

Product Review: Silk Dupioni Skirt

Silk Dupioni Skirt
Click here for product page
Item 99975
Regular: $175.00
Now: $49.99

According to J.Crew's item page:
Our sweet party skirt is made of pure silk dupioni—it's graceful, fluid, and with just a subtle hint of sheen. Pure silk. Feminine, flowy, bell-shaped, gently pleated skirt. Sits at waist. Side zip. On-seam pockets. Fully lined. 21" long. Import. Dry clean.
I think this skirt is gorgeous! I l-o-v-e the design, which is noted as "flowy, bell-shaped, gently pleated skirt". The pure silk dupioni fabric with "just a subtle hint of sheen," is fantastic- it can be dressed up or dressed down (and still look great!) The only {minor} drawback I can think of (although I don't know for sure, since I have not tried it on in-person) is length. I might prefer the skirt to be a bit longer.

A big "thanks!" to JaneEsq. (in this post) again, who shared with us her great review of this {beautiful} skirt!

skirt: I ordered the golden cypress and its a truly stunning color-a golden green with a touch of yellow. This color is far more versatile than one would think, I am thinking of pairing it with pinks, ivories, grays. I am, however, waivering on my size choice.

I am generally a 4 in JC skirts (especially pencil skirts) but could definitly size down in this. I chose the 4 because I thought it would sit lower on the waist and be more conducive to layering. It doesn't look big or anything, but I definitly could have taken a 2 without a problem. I am going to pair it with other tops at home before I decide to size down or not.
"Thanks!" again to JaneEsq. (in this post) for her review! :)

What are your thoughts on the Silk Dupioni Skirt (do you like/dislike the style, design, fabric)? Are you considering or already have purchased this skirt? Have you seen this skirt in-person? If so, please share with us your reviews too! :)

43 comments:

  1. I have this skirt in the gold color ("champagne") and if anyone wants to see pictures of it, you can see pictures of me modeling it right here on my blog.

    I love it! It's such a gorgeous color and so light and swingy. I took it in a size 0p (I'm 5'2, 5'3" on a good day), but even a regular 0 would have been fine since the skirt is cut a little short (and would look fine a touch longer as well, as the reviewer stated).

    Great skirt, and thanks for the review JaneEsq! :D

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  2. Chloe - I wish I had seen that post you'd put up of the skirt earlier. :) It would have helped me pick between petite or not, I think! I bought it recently, but was unsure on whether to size down or not. :) Since it's final sale now, hope I made the right choice.

    Did you size down? Now I worry the regular will be too long. Thanks for any help!

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  3. I didn't like this skirt at all - it's so frumpy.

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  4. Melanie- It's kind of hard to say if I sized down. I find that if a skirt fits around my true waist, I'm a 0. If it is "low rise" (or is more around the hips), I'm a 2. I hope that helps some- since this skirt is supposed to be at the waist, a 0p fits fine. A 2p would have fit fine as well, it just would have hung a bit lower on me.

    I know they used to say that if you ordered in petite, you should size up...but I haven't found that to be very true lately with J Crew's petites.

    I'm not much of a help, gosh darnit. Sorry. :(

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  5. Thanks for the review JaneEsq.! Congratulations on the skirt! :)

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  6. I love this skirt but it doesn't really fit into my lifestyle. It's too cute/short to wear to work and too nice to just wear it to trudge through snow on my walk to school. I can't justify it even at the current $49.99 price!

    Thanks for the review and congrats to all who own and love it!

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  7. I love this skirt! I have it in champagne and light grey, and the golden cypress is due to arrive tomorrow. I took a size 4, which is my usual size in J.Crew a-line skirts. I am 5'4", and the skirt hits just below my knees; I can safely wear it to work. At the current price of $17 after all the discounts, it was hard to pass up! I might order the rest of them, haha.

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  8. i bought this in a black to be safe a couple of weeks ago and now i want all the colors! lol did anyone see this skirt in the stores?

    i called a store in PA i believe after reading a post and he said he never got them...i mean i asked him to look and he said he remembered some returns but they were all gone...i mean come on! how would you know without looking. psh.

    i also called the san diego store and they had it in 6 and 8 in the pink if ladies are looking!

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  10. Melanie....no worries about this skirt being on final sale. It does NOT show up on the invoice as being FS, so you would be able to return it if it doesn't fit.

    I also bought the golden cypress and it's such a gorgeous color! I really want to order another one, but I'm trying to be good before the new rollout.

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  11. Still to pricey for me for what little I would wear it...too short and doesn't fit my lifestyle like other poster said...maybe if it was around $20--25 I'd consider it.

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  12. I have to wear pencil/straight skirts in JC, I tried on the belle roses skirt (gray/white), in a size 2 (normal size is 4-6), and it was huge, and it made my hips look large, and they are not at all. It was an off effect on me. Pass on these types of skirts.

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  13. It's cute...but I just can't wear these types of skirts from JCrew. I always think that they make me look like I weigh at least 10 lbs more than I do. (And, honestly, I think they have that effect on many people.)

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  14. I actually tried this skirt on twice at the store and did not care for it. Even though the fabric is beautoful, it made even my size 2 butt look huge. I actually checked Chloe's pictures and sorry, I didn't think it looked flatterning on her either.. its really bulging in the hip area. What a shame... it could have been a great skirt.

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  16. The skirt looks cute. The silk makes it dressier too :)

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  17. The cut of this skirt is not a flattering fit for me, but congratulations to those that purchased and love it!

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  18. I think the tulip skirts are the worst offenders at adding weight...I am 5'10" and 133 lbs. and those things make me look like I gained 30 lbs. They do the same for petite figures as well.

    I have seen some IRL on blogs and they just make me cringe. Not flattering.

    I wish I could try this one on but no store and not going near final sale.

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  19. i just ordered one from the westport, ct store in the light grey...thanks tina m!

    has anyone seen any other colors, ie. bright fuschia, in a sz 0 in any other stores?? i don't think golden cypress or champagne ever made it into the stores...correct me if im wrong?

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  20. Suilove- glad you snagged one from Westport!

    The bright fuschia is almost neon in person. It looks more muted in the picture. I am not afraid of color, but combined with the fullness of the skirt the pink was too much.

    I actually think this skirt is LESS full than most skirts of this style. Chloe looks great in her pics, you don't always have to look like you have no hips and bum to look great.

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  21. I TOTALLY agree with everyone that has mentioned the fit and look of all these types of skirts at JC...not flattering at all.

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  22. suilove: I find that in general when I call a store and a man answers, they just don't try as hard as the women do to find what I'm looking for. I think it's because some men just don't get it ;) I have started calling back a few minutes later to see if I can get a female SA on the phone, and there have actually been times where the store ends up having the item I want! That's not to say that there haven't been awesome male SA's who have found what I was looking for without a problem (and female SA's who I *know* have not bothered to look) but I'm just talking about a general trend that I have observed over time. Either way, when I get the feeling someone isn't looking, I usually try again later. Sometimes it works :)

    I posted about some dupioni skirts in the Willow Grove PA store the other day, and if that's where you called, they were definitely there. There may have been only 1 or 2 left by the time you called, but I saw them I say! I looked at them, and even bought one myself. I am thinking about going back and ordering the dupioni skirt in black. I think it would be ultra-versatile!

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  23. classic style,

    omg i totally know what you're talking about. i'm definitely going to try again there at the PA store...for the bright fuschia...i have the black one and it goes with EEEVEERYTHING in my closet. you can dress it up or down with heels vs. flats and the fit is just beautiful in my opinion...im in love with the classic *poof* belle silhouettes this season and i know that it hasn't worked for some...but the dupioni is not as full as the belle and the fit is much lower on the waist...so definitely versatile!

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  24. Or come on, lets get real for a sec. Very few women want to look fatter than they actually are. This skirt is meant for those few of us.

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  25. I have the skirt and love it (for $17 on FS it was worth it). I have a size 2 regular and will need to hem it (I'm 5'5") since it's an awkward length, and I think that cutting the pockets out will reduce "hip pouf" too. At the regular price, or even the $49 online price, I wouldn't go to that trouble, but for $17 I'm fine with it.

    That said, it's not necessarily a slimming style, but I wasn't expecting a pencil skirt or anything. It's got lotsa pleats!

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  26. Great reviews, thank you ladies!
    I have to pipe up about the shape comments. Tulip and pleated swing skirts are suppose to be full. This skirt looks great on Chloe. I think it is a little insulting to assume that all women should be completely consumed with looking as stick thin as possible. Why not have fun with fashion and proportions and quit worrying about whether some snide cow at work will think you look a little hippy today lol.

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  27. If anyone sees this skirt in size 4 in champagne or golden cypress could you please let me know as I'm nowhere near a store. ryansjanetc(at)aol.com

    Thank you!

    PS. The Tyson's corner store has pink left in larger sizes per the SA in case anyone is interested.

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  28. I agree with Shannon. I'm tall and slim but I never dress with the intention of looking as thin as possible. I like the pouffy look of this skirt, very feminine and it is supposed to leave your figure up to one's imagination and not give anything away, which is why almost all skirts used to be this way, say back in the 1950's. It is modesty personified.

    Chloe does look wonderful in this skirt, especially with the belt. You can see from the definition in her legs that she is in great shape and I'm sure many people can get a mental picture of her hidden figure. I don't mean that in a crass way.

    I can imagine her walking and the silk catching the light and attracting a lot of attention. The swirl of a skirt can be much more flattering than something skin tight.

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  29. Shannon,

    I like full skirts and do own them BUT there are full skirts that do not make you look hippy and or "fat" and this one does in my opinion. Not a good cut over all...I am the tall anony. from earlier...

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  30. P.S.

    The school girl skirt with its fitted waist and full skirt is a MUCH better and figure flattering option...at least for me and many of my friends.

    Watercolor and cross hatch are two examples that are out now or have been.

    Fit and flare better than all flare

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  31. ^agree with anon 1:22. I have the schoolgirl skirt & love it. It's fitted at the waist/hips and then flares. This silk dupioni skirt is just such an unflattering cut, like the studio ball & other flared skirts.

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  32. I ended up sticking with the 4. I feel like having it sit lower on the waist gives less of a "cheerleader effect". The champagne color looked so pretty and I was really tempted, but my winter white legs would not look so hot against the champagne color. Oh well. I am happy with this purchase!

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  33. Anon at 1:21 PM, I completely agree with you! I love full skirts. For example, I have the claudine dress and I absolutely love it. It has a very full skirt which does not make me look fat at all. There is just something about this skirt that is not done right. I think its the pleats that are too wide, if the pleats were smaller, it would have been a lot more flattering.

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  34. P.S. I just realized that I have a dress from BR that has pleated skirt. This dress is soooo flattering and now I know why... there are no pleats on the sides, so they dont stick out! Thats it!

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  35. Anony@2:40 and 2:42

    Thanks for agreeing...there is something to be said for both our observations about pleated skirts!

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  36. I tried both the gold lame and silk versions of this skirt. I passed on the gold bc the stiff fabric gave the skirt more flare and was less flattering for my body. The silk had a nicer drape.

    I think the length of the skirt contributes to how "flared" at the hip it appears. The gold lame hit me at just above the knee, whereas the silk hit me mid-knee. The longer line definately helped make the silk flattering for me.

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  37. I received this skirt today both in champagne and green. I have to say that if you have hips...AVOID this skirt. The pleats make you look like youre Beyonce. I turned the skirt around clockwise and it alleviated the poofiness of the pleats so I guess I can work with it. I liked the fit of the taffetta skirt much better. I think the size 0-4 will enjoy this skirt. i got a 6 if that helps.

    CECE

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  38. I bought this skirt last week in champagne and I love it. It is such a classic style and will last for years. Plus, the lining is also silk and is of good quality. I am 5'4" and it hits right below the knee on me. It also hits low on the waist (I got a 6), which I like. I also can't complain about the fact that it was $17.50 (90% off!) after my teacher discount.

    I really don't understand why everyone is sniping at each other over the poofiness of this skirt. It works on some (like me), but not on others. To each her own! No need to be mean about it.

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