My Favorite Dance Dress + New Kiyonna Coupon

I'm not going to lie: dancewear can be a mixed lot. There's a lot of spandex and sequins and well, this:

 

On 1992 Jennifer Lopez: Sexy and fun
On 2013 Me: Mardi Gras stripper float officiating a Foxy Boxing tournament

All I want is a comfortable, attractive dress that moves, breathes, looks good on the dance floor, and doesn't require double-sided tape or a contract with the Devil to stay in place.

Is that so much to ask? You wouldn't think so.

Ultimate Valentine date dress, amirite?

Originally I took Kiyonna's Sweetheart Wrap dress for a spin.

It looks amazing on and has a very Carmen Jones/West Side Story feel to the bodice. Any dress that allows me to pretend I'm Dorothy Dandridge/Rita Moreno is a dress I want on my body.

It would be a natural for dancing, right? Well, kinda.

As a social dress it's aces. As a work dress it does desk-to-dinner admirably and as a date dress you can't beat it with a stick, especially if it's a date where you plan on getting naked for the first time. Since it's a true wrap you can do The Big Reveal in serious style. Presentation is everything.

As a dance dress: eh, it's okay.

Same thing with my Favorite Wrap Dress Ever. They look terrific and I own multiple colors of both, but they're polyester and although it doesn't feel clammy on my not-particulary-sensitive skin when I work up meaningful sweat, I'd much rather dance in a softer, more breathable fabric.

Enter the Winona.

I ordered this dress on a crapshoot. I wanted something a little longer to wear to chilly Europe and I liked that it wasn't polyester, but I was more than a little hesitant about the uneven hemline.

Awe. Some.

See, like most sensible tweens in the early 90's spent the majority of eighth grade convinced I'd marry Axl Rose and walk down the aisle in Stephanie Seymour's iconic November Rain wedding dress.

 I consider the puffy white mulletgown just one of many bullets I dodged when I gave up my rock and roll dream of becoming Mrs Axl Rose.

 Unlike La Seymour's, my legs aren't the greatest.

They're nicely shaped and I have the normal number of them, but they're short for someone my height. Since I can't compensate with towering heels when I'm dancing, I wasn't at all confident this hemline would be for me.

Luckily it was.

First, I love the fabrication. Although it's rayon with a bit of spandex, it acts and feels like a mid-weight cotton jersey knit. It moves beautifully and is heavy enough to give the skirt some swish and skim rather than cling over the rest of the body.

my beloved Winona in Green with Envy

Kiyonna's been releasing more dresses in this blend and I'm delighted.

I don't hate polyester, but it's not nearly as nice to dance in as a natural or even semi-synthetic, and unlike standard rayon twill that pills and gets shiny, this knit is more like modal or one of the so-called bamboo fabrics: Breathable, washable, minimally wrinkling heaven.

Yes Please.

Secondly, the hemline was far more successful than I thought it might be.

I remember a line from The Philadelphia Story where precocious schoolgirl Dinah announces it wasn't her fluffy new party dress that hitched up in back, but her own body that did. I feel her pain.

I can't tell you how many dresses I've had to put back on the rack because what looked great from the front was entirely too short in the back.

Thankfully my bounteous backside works in my favor this time. The hemline gracefully dips just a bit lower in the back than the front, showcasing my legs nicely without looking weird and mullety try-hard.

read more for a review and your 15% total purchase Kiyonna code

from Monif C.

For dancing, the movement is great.

Like all of Kiyonna's true wraps, the underwrap of the dress overlaps considerably with the over, which means I can spin and twirl without initiating a festival of oversharing.

That's important when you're staying in a country on a visa that could probably get revoked if you accidentally blind one of their citizens.

The slight tulip cut of the front flutters prettily without making that weird HELLO MAY I INTRODUCE YOU TO MY LADYPARTS peak in the center of the dress that makes 90% of tulip dresses look terrible in application.

I also like the extra long ties which wrap around fully and still hang down to meet the hem which creates more movement and a visually-helpful vertical line.

The only downsides I've found are these: the beltloop thingy (it's an advanced fashion term, don't worry about it) is cut just a teensy bit large, so you've got to take a bit of precaution to make sure the ties are threaded through properly and no skin is showing. Once it's arranged it stays, but when they revamp the dress, I hope they make the loop a bit smaller.

Secondly, it really does need to be worn with at least a tiny bit of a heel.

I can and do wear my Winonas with flats, but it's exponentially more successful with even a small heel. My dancing shoes are only 2" high, but the difference is immense.

If you're looking for a true wrap dress but don't want to futz with polyester, let me suggest this quick and dirty cheat. Buy the Winona, taking advantage of the 15% OFF COUPON CODE KIYONNALUV , take 15% off your total purchase over $100 and just have it hemmed.

Heck, I might do it myself just for variety.

Do you have a favorite dancing dress? Put it in the comments!