Cotton Rich Striped Tie Detail Shirt Dress

This dress will be ideal for hot summer days as it is linen with a short sleeve to protect your shoulders from the sun. The linen belt is a little bulky but all in all the dress is comfortable & an easy to wear item

I've not usually looked at this sort of dress but decided to try it as I liked the longer skirt length. I had to size down to get an acceptable fit, but the fabric is comfortable to wear in hot weather, has sleeves (hooray), looks reasonably smart, and washes and irons easily. I might have bought the larger size if I'd wanted to wear it for travel. The only drawback is that the self-belt is threaded through casing around the waist and takes ages to dry compared with the rest of the dress. It is stitched in at the centre back, so whilst this could be unpicked, and the belt removed for washing, it would be a tedious task to have to thread it back in every time.

Overall the dress looked very smart and equally on it looked smart until I studied the hem which dropped at the front and was like a ploughed field at the back. I could have straightened it myself without a problem but it would then have been too short on me. For someone shorter than my 5'6" to shorten by straightening would be OK or if someone is happy with the length on or slightly above the knee. However, I was sorry to have to return it.

Don't bother ordering this dress or others like it if you are only 5ft or so. Hardly anything to be had in the petite except something that is small all over and not comparable to size. The pockets of this dress I would have had to bend over to reach It is just hopeless to buy anything from M&S lately to enable the older smaller well rounded lady to look smart and not like Great Grandmama. So disappointed

Liked the style, but fabric poor, returned the dress

I liked this dress the moment I tried it on. Its comfortable and easy to wear. It does not have pockets at the breast which I think is a good thing as it does not feel like I am wearing an overall. Please M&S do more dresses like this and in different colours!!