A Little Before/After To Correct An Annoying Lilly Pulitzer Dress Sleeve Issue

Welcome to the 857th Metamorphosis Monday! I have a little Before/After to share that you may find helpful if you’ve ever run into a similar issue (that I did) with the sleeves of a dress or shirt. One of my favorite styles from Lilly Pulitzer is their Pilar Tunic. This dress is so cool and comfortable! I enjoy wearing it so much that over the past two years, I’ve added it to my summer wardrobe in three designs. I’ve never done that with another Lilly dress before!

I first purchased the Pilar Tunic in this pink and green design. Both the blue/white and pink/green versions are huge compliment getters. Last week, I wore the pink/green dress on an errand to UPS, and the ladies behind the counter were admiring it and asking if it was a Lilly dress. Lilly’s clothes have a way of putting a smile on everyone’s face. They are just the happiest clothes!

Though I love this dress, there was one thing about this dress that I found annoying, and that was how the cuffs of the three-quarter length sleeves would not stay turned up. You can see in this photo of the same dress that I just repurchased in a smaller size, how they tend to flop over. I normally buy LP dresses in size Small, but this dress is definitely oversized, something I didn’t realize the first time I purchased it. Plus, I’ve lost a few pounds this spring, so my already oversized Small had become even bigger on me. Since I just repurchased it in a smaller size, I thought this would be a good time to show you how I fixed the floppy cuffs on my original dresses, and how I plan to do the same for this one.

Here’s a close-up of the new dress. I’ve only worn it once, and of course, the cuffs have started doing their flopping-over thing. Argh!

To fix this issue on my original dress, after ironing the cuff in place where I wanted it, I secured it with a small amount of thread from the underside. Today I plan to do the same thing to the cuffs of the new dress.

Here’s another view from the front. So far, this has worked out great for my original dress. It’s so nice not having to worry about the cuffs flopping over.

I’ve also done this for the original pink and green version of this dress. It’s worked great for that one, too. Fortunately,  I have this dress in a smaller size back in Ohio, purchased last summer when I realized how oversized this dress is cut.

Here’s a close-up of one of the pinned-back cuffs on the pink/green dress.

This dress must have been a big seller for Lilly since they’ve made it available for 2-3 years in a row now. I’m glad they did since it gave me a chance to repurchase it in a different size. The sizes that are still left can be found here: Lilly Pulitzer Pilar Tunic in Amalfi Blue By The Seashore. Note: Based on my experience, I recommend sizing down one size since this dress is so generously cut. Or, you may want to order it in two different sizes and return the one that doesn’t work if you’re worried that it will sell out in the size you need.

A little fashion eye candy…I purchased this eyelet Lilly P dress two summers back, and it’s still a favorite.

I try to add at least one or two Lilly dresses to my wardrobe each summer, and this is the one I added this year. I’ve already worn it a couple of times, and I was surprised by how little it wrinkled. The tag states, “Lagoon Linen.” I’m not sure if that’s a new type of linen that LP is using, but it’s incredibly soft and doesn’t seem to wrinkle very much. I honestly do not mind the wrinkles since that’s the nature of linen. The comfort and coolness of linen is worth any amount of wrinkles in our hot and humid weather!

For this dress, Lilly went with number sizing. They like to keep us guessing, don’t they?! I ordered a 6, half expecting I would need to exchange it for an 8, but the 6 fits great. Again, I’ve lost a few pounds since being back home in Georgia, probably because I can ride my Peloton bike again. I love these LP linen dresses! Normally for summer, I live in my Talbots, scallop-edged shorts, but I have a feeling this is going to be the summer I live in linen dresses. I find linen/cotton dresses feel so much cooler than shorts, not to mention how comfortable they are since there’s no annoying waistband. You’ll find this dress available here: Lilly Pulitzer Mialeigh Linen Dress. Based on my experience, I’d recommend going with your normal size for this one, but returns are free if you find you need a different size.

Hope this little hack helps if anyone else has encountered the sleeve issue! Looking forward to all the wonderful Before and Afters linked for this week’s Met Monday! Like to know when a new blog post is up? Subscribe for email updates (it’s free) and your email will never be shared. Subscribe for free email post updates here: Subscribe.

Metamorphosis Monday: Metamorphosis Monday is a party that’s all about Before and Afters. Please link up your Before and After projects like DIY projects, room makeovers, craft projects even recipes. Please do not link up Table Settings; save those for our Tablescape Thursday party on Thursday. If you are participating in Met Monday, link your post to the party using the “permalink” to your MM post and not your general blog address. To get your permalink, click on the name of your post, then copy and paste the address (that shows in the address bar at the top of your blog) into the “url” box for InLinkz when prompted.