Let me first say that, as a mom of five with the figure to match, I'm not normally a big fan of bodycon style dresses for myself. I'm 5'10 and usually wear a size 16, so I don't have the body type that typically looks good in a bodycon dress. But when I saw this one, I loved the design so much that I really wanted to try it anyway, and I'm glad I did! I ordered this dress in a size XXL (and in black in hopes of that magical slimming effect), and it fit wonderfully.

This dress IS quite form-fitting, as you'd expect with a dress of this type. However, the material is very stretchy (almost like a spandex blend), but doesn't have that shiny appearance you'd expect. The material is also quite thick so it stays a very dark matte black even at the stretchiest points, without any weird lines or see-through issues. The material is also very soft – it doesn’t dig in uncomfortably when you move around or sit down. As a tall girl, I was worried about the sleeves not being long enough; happily, they do in fact hit my wrists, which is unusual for me with long-sleeved tops. The length of the dress is pretty short on me (several inches above the knee), but not so short as to be obscene, and it wouldn't be as short on women of an average height.

The sequins that form the design aren't standard super-flashy sequins – they're shiny, but not to the point of being gaudy or too sparkly. They come across as classy instead of "LOOK AT ME!" And the pattern is designed to help camouflage flaws – like I mentioned, I'm a bigger girl; I also recently had a baby and haven't rediscovered my waist yet, but this dress helps to give some illusion of my former waistline with the "belt" design around the middle. (And also, the pattern and subtle shine are both very eye-catching, drawing attention away from my problem areas!) The design is on the front half of the dress only; the back is solid black. I'm not certain how the sequins are attached, as they don't poke through the back of the material (some sort of glue, I assume) – so far they've stayed put perfectly (after wearing the dress for several hours at a normal level of activity and then hand washing and drying). I'm also impressed that the zipper, which runs all the way from the lower back up, doesn't gap oddly around the waist as so many dresses (or even skirts) with longer zippers are prone to do. Also, you can't even tell that there's a zipper once it's zipped up - it looks just like the rest of the seam and lies very flat. Since I didn't have a helper to zip the dress for me, I tried putting it on with the zipper mostly zipped (over the head like a T-shirt) – it was a little bit awkward getting into it, but thanks to the stretchiness of the material, it was an achievable goal.

I chose to hand wash the dress and then hang it to dry – I did toss it in the dryer on the air (no heat) setting for a few minutes with a dryer sheet just to make it a little bit softer and make sure there would be no wrinkles. It can't be ironed, but the material really doesn't wrinkle anyway, even if it's left sort of haphazardly draped over a laundry basket.

Overall, this is a great dress, both comfortable and flattering even for fuller-figured women.