If You Buy One Thing This Summer, Make It This SNDYS Dress from Revolve

• Style: 20/20
• Fit: 19/20
• Length: 19/20
• Quality: 20/20
• Comfort: 18/20

TOTAL: 96/100

If you know me, you know that I’m not an impulse buyer, especially when it comes to items at Revolve. (Too much want, too little money!) So, I surprised myself one mediocre day, scrolling through Instagram, when I stumbled across a Revolve ad for the SNDYS Tahlia Dress ($85) available in three colors: white, blue and a brown I couldn’t pass up.

It’s not that I’m frugal, per se, rather I’m the hesitant type of shopper who adds to cart and idles for hours—days even—before one of three things happen: I purchase the dang goods, I close out the window and see if I’m still thinking about it weeks later (I’m usually not) or I see an item go out of stock and I shed one meager tear and wonder why I didn’t check out sooner.

As my mom always said when I was growing up, “If it’s not ‘Ooh, ahh, gotta have it,’ then it’s not meant to be.” But against my better judgement, I ran as fast as I could to input my information for a dress that was on preorder (it still had months to be released at this point). PREORDER, people! I thought to myself, “Who is she?” But as they say in love, “When you know, you know,” and like magic, I knew we were meant to be.

To say I was nervous about the fit would be a gross understatement. Not only did this gorgeous dress seem too good to be true, but upon browsing the website, I found no evidence of a zipper closure. Yikes. When it arrived, my suspicions were confirmed and there was no hidden zipper anywhere on the dress, but that didn’t stop the chocolatey fabric from slipping over my head with ease. Thanks to the smocked paneling throughout the dress, it has an unbelievable amount of stretch and give—a huge win for when I’m going for that chocolate souffle after pasta. Plus, I found the ruching to be fantastic at disguising any insecurities I may have, like when it’s that time of the month and I’m extra bloated.

Having a smaller chest, cut-out bust cups can be hit or miss, as they tend to swallow me whole until I’m practically swimming in fabric. When it came down to it, I was relieved to discover that the fit was near flawless. It had enough material to cover my boobs without making them disappear, and the material was thick enough to make me forget that I was braless. As for that small cut-out at the center of the chest? Well, that was the spiciest way to tastefully turn up the sex appeal, IMO, and show some cleavage.

Speaking of the girls, the sexy crisscross back tie closure adjusts how the dress and bra cup sits. If the strings are pulled tight, my boobs feel the more secure and lifted, but if left loose, the fit is more relaxed. For that reason, the dress’s support is entirely customizable to your body type—a far cry from the ‘one size fits all’ fiasco of fixed straps.

How’s the Length?

If you’re looking for a midi or maxi length, then you found a winner. With the twill handkerchief hem, the bottom of the dress has a lot of bounce and falls at different parts of my bottom calf. For reference, I’m 5’7” and neither feel the need to pair the dress with heels nor take it in for tailoring.

In true sibling fashion, I found out that my sister bought the same exact dress, which turned into an ‘I bought it first’ competition. Proof of purchase confirmation emails were pulled, I won, inane arguments ensued, but I digress. *Just sister things.* Petite to her core, Samantha stands 5’2” tall and instead of an in-between midi-maxi hybrid, the dress is a proper maxi on her. If you’re hesitant to buy the longer length but adore the look of the dress, it’s also available in a mini version for only $60.

TLDR; You won’t need to see your tailor—tall, short, what have you.

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Stephanie Meraz is PureWow’s Associate Fashion Commerce Editor. She graduated with a bachelor of arts at the University of San Diego, where she majored in English literature and creative writing, and completed Columbia University’s intensive publishing course. Stephanie is a natural savant when it comes to pushing the boundaries in fashion, beauty, and dating & relationships. She has over 22+ years of experience as an avid shopper, securing a Limited Too personal stylist at four years old. You can count on her to test out the latest hair trends, suggest shopping tips, and spill the tea on her juicy dating experiences. No topic is off limits—however personal or embarrassing.

PureWow is the best friend you never had when it comes to finding the best, most useful lifestyle products online. Founded in 2010, our company’s editors and writers have spent more than a decade shopping online, digging through sales and putting our home goods, beauty finds, wellness picks and more through the wringer—all to help you determine which ones are actually worth your hard-earned cash. From our PureWow100 series, which sees each and every item we test being ranked on a 100-point scale of awesomeness, to the painstakingly curated lists our fashion, beauty, cooking, home and family editors create as vertical experts, you can trust that our recommendations include some of the greatest items you’ll find on the internet. Whether you're looking for travel-size hair dryers you can take on-the-go or women’s walking shoes that won’t hurt your feet, we’ve got you covered.