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?
The Everywhere Belt Bag
My Black Friday Shopping List
Wearing Leggings as Pants
Lace Shorts for All Seasons
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.