Modcloth Stylish Surprise September 2015

This is my first Modcloth purchase ever. I had zero expectations of what I'd receive, and my "stylish surprise" dress lived up to all of them. Take that statement how you will.I bought the "stylish surprise" on a whim when I saw that they hadn't sold out of the dresses several days after launching. In case you don't know (like I didn't before someone posted a link to it on Reddit...), sometimes during the changing of the seasons Modcloth will do some "stylish surprise" products where for a set price, you select your size and they send you a random item in that category. The shoes and general apparel categories had already sold out, but since there were dresses left I placed my order for one in a size Small for $20.

It looks so harmless just laying there....

What I received: A Tie-Dye Muumuu Minidress.It looks so deceivingly lovely laid out on my bed like that, under the soft glow of the lamp. Here is a picture of it on the model from Modcloth's website:

You know Modcloth has that thing taped and lit to look the best..and it still is only meh

The picture doesn't quite show the colors correctly; the peachy color is really a bit more of an orange sherbet shade and the blue doesn't 'pop' as much in person/kinda has more grey in it.

It seems like they decided to make a muumuu, but a rogue hippie came by and stole most of the fabric so they just decided to end it right below the butt. The sleeves can be worn long or bunched short, but either way if you lift your arm to wave hello someone is going to know exactly what underwear you are (or aren't) wearing. There's no definition to separate the batwing sleeves from the body of the dress, and when I first opened the package I was absolutely certain that Modcloth had accidentally sent me a funky skirt instead of a dress.

This is all I can think about when I see those sleeves

For what fabric it lacks down below, they made up by having it kinda balloon out the back and stomach area. On the bright side: I can pull my head and arms inside, tuck under my legs, and read a book in the privacy of my tie-dye mini-tent. I purchased a size small, but the dress appears to be cut for someone with a massive bosom. There is elastic gathers below what was intended to be the chest area, which I'm convinced is purely for decorative reasons.

The fabric is remarkably soft, but also strangely heavy. I assume that since I'm getting it discounted at the end of summer that the dress is intended as a warm weather garment. After less than 10 minutes of wearing it in my air-conditioned house, I was feeling muggy and worried I had sweat dripping down my back. Summertime I think not.

Downside: This dress is ugly as sin and I would never wear it in public unless I was dressing up as slutty Mimi from the Drew Carey Show. You look at the pictures and say "oh, it isn't that bad". Yes, yes it is. It fully earned those 1 star reviews on Modcloth. I wouldn't hate the fabric so much if they swapped the heavy sleeves and non-existent bottom style for a strappy maxi-dress. But that fit combined with the tie-dye is just unforgivable.

Yay? Nay?

Upside: It is really freakin' comfortable as lounge wear or a nightgown. I'm actually going to get some good wear out of this paired with some leggings in the winter. I still won't leave the house in it, but I foresee many a Netflix binge nights in this dress.

Would I buy a Modcloth "Stylish Surprise" again? Maybe, but I'm kind of a glutton for punishment when it comes to these sort of mystery packages.