In my senior year of college I do not think I attended a single party where at least one girl did not have part of her dressing missing. No, she did not leave it at home – there was just a hole, sometimes just a sliver of skin peaking through and other times there was definitely more flesh than dress. Case and point, my friend Lauren and I both chose dresses with black cutouts for a swim team party my senior year in college. Excuse the solo cups and the bit of shine – you get the picture. When I left college though, this dress and two others with the cutouts remained on campus.
Fast forward a few years to last weekend where I was at a bar in Brooklyn with a 30-something in a cutout dress that verged on nonexistent and it reminded me of something I believe I heard a fashion critic on E! say – if a dress has a cutout it should not bigger than a slice of pizza. And in my mind that slice of pizza should not be big Artichoke-size slice, but the size of a medium size pie that is cut in 1/8ths.
I am going to go so far to say that now that I am out of college, cutout dresses should be banned but if you are in the “real world” a good rule of thumb is that all of the missing pieces should not add add up to more than a pizza slice. Personally I have send farewell to cutouts but that doesn not mean you can’t wear them – like my 8 fashion trends I won’t wear – it just means I won’t.
If you are going to rock the trend here are some of my favorite subtle cutouts on dresses perfect for summer:
ModCloth Save the Best for Sass Dress
Delia’s Heart Print Side Cutout Skater Dress
GUESS Embellished Cutout Fit & Flare Dress
Keepsake Day Dream Believe Dress
Delia’s Floral Side Cutout Skater Dress
GUESS Colorblocked Cutout Mini Dress in Jet Black and Ruby Red
Do you think this is a fair rule or should dresses not have missing pieces at al?
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Sophie says
Cut outs definitely have a time and place.. The ones you picked out are perfect! Love it! http://thecoruscation.blogspot.com/
Neatly-Packaged says
Crazy cute dresses!! Thank you for sharing 🙂
http://neatly-packaged.blogspot.com/
Caitlin Elizabeth says
I totally agree with this but I love even more that pizza is used as a size comparison! Brilliant! x
Shannon Jenkins says
I completely agree with you! If youre going to do the cut outs, youve got to keep it classy! I absolutely adore that Keepsake Day Dream dress though! So cute!!
<3 Shannon
upbeatsoles.blogspot.com
Helene says
haha i love how you say pizza slice cutout. i love these dresses! so cute!
Ellie says
I definitely like the front cut outs way better than the side ones. I agree with you. I think all slices should not exceed the size of a piece of pizza. You want people to be intrigued by a show of skin, not see it all at once then stop caring!
Elizabeth Lynn says
I can not pull off any kind of waist cutouts for the life of me but I do love ones on the neckline (3 is my favorite). And I definitely think cutouts can be cute if they’re tasteful!
Rachel says
I like cutouts on certain areas- some women pull them off like no other and some don’t. I like the simple waist cutouts on the top middle one!
Carmen Vecchio says
the 3 is my fav!
http://www.mrsnoone.it
kiss
Chelsea says
This is a great rule of thumb! I also think they’re cuter when they aren’t super low cut in the front.
Sharon says
I think cutouts are cute if they’re done tastefully. I have a dress with a cutout similar to that red dress…just shows a tiny bit of skin.
-Sharon
The Tiny Heart
Alyssa says
Haha I’ve never heard of the “pizza” rule before! Those E! hosts think of everything…
Michael says
I’m not a fan of cutouts either but I really like 3, 4, and 6. I think if they’re tasteful, like these ones, it’s more acceptable. When you’re just wearing what looks like mesh, no. Just no.