The Budget Babe | Affordable Fashion & Style Blog

Look for Less: The Dotted Swiss Dress




Designers are breathing new life into old-school fabrics, textures and trims, including lace, eyelet, embroidery, fringe, crochet, and one of my favorites, dotted swiss. One variation of dotted swiss - which is typically a sheer, lightweight fabric with a dotted motif - is flocked fabric, or flocked dots, which means the tiny little dots are raised. Leave it to Marc Jacobs, who's always reinventing retro with beautiful results, to utilize flocked chiffon in a fresh, new way.

Sadly, the pricetag on the Marc by Marc Jacob's creation has also kept up with the times, and costs a hefty $235 on sale. But thanks to, ahem, modern technology, stores like Forever 21 carry similar styles at a fraction of the price. For a summery little black dress, scoop up Forever 21's dotted swiss wrap on the right. It's got all of the flock, none of the fat.

Left: Marc by Marc Jacobs Flocked Silk Chiffon Dress at eLuxury.com, Was $388.00 Now $235.00
Right: Forever 21 Dotted Swiss Wrap Dress, $37.80

Comments
This is nice, only thing about forever21 is that their dresses are always too short? They never give you enough fabric.
#1 budget chic (Homepage) on 2008-06-18 06:07 (Reply)
What a fabulous find! I must say, too, that I actually like Forever 21's version better, at least in the online pictures. It has a more modern silhouette and looks a bit more versatile than the Marc Jacobs frock. (Although, I wouldn't say "No." if someone gave me a Marc Jacobs dress!)
#2 Katie on 2008-06-18 10:33 (Reply)
Great find! F21 always has great affordable alternatives to designer pieces, especially Marc Jacobs.
#3 danz (Homepage) on 2008-06-18 11:56 (Reply)
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