Women's Oktoberfest Dirndl Dress - Traditional German Beer Festival Costume for Carnival, Halloween & Themed Parties

Okay, so I ordered roughly 15 dirndl trying to find one that would fit me right as a plus size woman. For reference I am a size 18 in pants and a 40DD in the bust and typically wear a 1X or size 16-18W in a sized dress. I ordered a 3X in this dirndl and the fit was perfect. Many dirndl run VERY small and I could not get them over my head. I had luck with another company that sold authentic dirndl but the price was almost $200. This dirndl was a fantastic compromise of price and quality since you will likely be buying other items to complete your outfit. I wanted something that was not costume quality that looked authentic since my husband ordered authentic leather lederhosen. The blouse that came with the dirndl was very tight in the arms and looked on the cheap side, so I ordered a more traditional cotton option with cotton lace that really flattered the style of both my body and the dress. The dress also has a single pocket on the right that is well made and can hold a cell phone. I also ordered a petticoat as this is how a dirndl should be worn and it really improved the look of the dress. Take the time to steam your dress before wearing. The bad. It's rayon. The fabric is lightweight but actually didn't wrinkle much in the heat of Tampa's Oktoberfest. The fabric did however bleed due to my sweating on the underarm area of my white blouse and on the skirt of my petticoat. Since it is rayon, I do not plan to wash the dirdl but rather have it drycleaned since it's rayon to prolong its life. After drycleaning the fabric may stop bleeding, that is not yet known. Also, I wish that the ribbon on the apron was about 1-2 feet longer on each end. I was unable to wrap the ribbon around to the front and tie a proper bow due to the length. I had to basically knot the ribbon to have a "tail" that would extend down the front of my apron (as pictured). It's like they forgot to make the apron for plus size. It is known that you tie the apron on the front side of your dirndl so they should take the waist sizing into account. Usually if married the ribbon is tied to your right and left if single. With all being said, the positive outweighs the few negatives and I hope to be able to reuse for years to come. I hope this review is helpful to my plus size ladies out there searching for the perfect dirndl!