The Ana....understated, undersold and not just a tall girl's dress

There is a dress in the Lularoe lineup that is one of the most undersold but best dresses that they manufacture, and it is the Ana.  Quite simply, the Ana is the long version of the Nicole. It's exactly the same in every way except for the fact that it is a full floor-length dress and the skirt does not flare and twirl. Sorry, no Katniss Everdeen stage twirling with Ana. 

If I had a semi-formal event to go to, such as being asked to be a reader in a wedding, or a chaperone at a prom, or a guest at a wedding, this would be the one. This would be the dress I pulled from my closet. It is gorgeous, it it slinky, it pools perfectly around your ankles but doesn't sweep the floor....it's just absolutely beautiful and no other Lularoe dress has ever made me feel like a princess when I put it on like this one does. That being said, however...I don't think I would have any problem wearing this for a casual event either. In fact, I dressed up for Halloween as a devil, and it was a close tie between wearing my red Ana or my red Nicole as my costume with some devil accessories. I only picked the Nicole because it was very warm that day.

The only thing about this dress that I would caution you about is to definitely find your exact size. The dress that I am wearing is a 3XL and I can not wear a 2XL in it which is my true size (same with the Nicole) because of how fitted the sleeves are and how fitted the bust is. The first time I tried on a 2XL Ana, I felt like I was wearing a straitjacket, but then again, I have guns and a D cup. If your arms are either a problem area or just a little on the large size because of muscle (like mine), size up. If you are big-busted, size up. It's a fitted dress from the waist up without a doubt, but once you find your size, it's a dress that you can take anywhere, wear anywhere and do anything in. 

Unfortunately, you're not going to find this dress at a lot of vendor events or even in-home sales because it very much teeters in no man's land between the best sellers of Lularoe and the specialty items such as Lola, Lucy and Jill. And it's long. I think a lot of consultants shy away from carrying a large inventory of them because they look deceivingly long on the rack and a lot of people don't want to give them a try, which is such a shame because they are so gorgeous. I think that Ana looks on the hanger like a tall girl's dress, which is true, but the smaller it is, the shorter it is. For me at 5'7, the Ana falls RIGHT at my ankles even though it looks ten miles long on the rack. It hangs flat as a board, but since it has enough meat to it to accommodate all of your curves without being skin-tight, your bust and booty will lift it up and take some of that length up so that it falls just perfect. 

My first suggestion would be, of course, to try one on at a local event and make sure that you are happy with the length before purchasing one. However, if you are dying for this dress and can't find one (like I was), then try a Nicole and find your true size FIRST. THEN ask the consultant who has the Ana that you want to measure the skirt length between your size in the Nicole and the same size in the Ana. I didn't do this because I'm on the taller side and felt confident that it would not be too long since I often have to get tall in jeans, but if you are say, 5'5 and shorter, I would check this with the consultant. As I have done in the photo, all you have to do is hang a Nicole on the same type of hanger in front of the Ana and measure from hem to hem. In this example, I have placed a patterned Nicole over a royal blue Ana and used a Fat Max to measure. The difference is approximately 17" so I would assume it's probably proportionately the same in all of the other sizes as well since the dresses do get shorter the smaller they go. However, once you figure out your sizes in Nicole and Ana, it is SO game on! You can even tie the hem up at the side in the Ana as a cute way to shorten it.

If you get the chance and find an Ana on a rack in your size, slip it on and see how the fit is, because you just never know where she might be lurking! You might find that this is YOUR DRESS. 

The minimum advertised price (MAP) set by Lularoe for the Ana dress is $60.00. 

If there are any questions about the Ana dress, please post them below. Make it a great Lularoe day!

Day #4: Get Rhythm When You Get The Blues

Seriously, you would think that no one in Dallas had ever seen snow or ice before. But I digress. I teased my coworkers enough at the office for standing at the window watching our parking lot get covered in white yesterday. I know a lot of people were excited about the snow, and I know I should be too, but I guess in Dallas it's more of a hassle than pretty. But at least the city is preparing better.

Since it was going to be COOOOOOLD yesterday, I decided to take advantage and wear an Ana which I hardly ever get to wear! I know it looks purple in the photographs because of the flash, but it is actually a mix of navy blue and royal blue. I paired it with an Aztec-style turquoise and royal blue Lindsay and turquoise leggings. Accessories? Denim blue Skecher ballet flats (let's face it, after my shattered foot, I don't have a lot of options for footwear), an aqua agate faced Fossil watch with a stainless steel band, turquoise headband, blue topaz cocktail ring and a pair of turquoise and teal beaded earrings. As my coworker said, "look at you in all that blue!" If you picked my favorite colors dependent on what the predominant color is in my closet, blues and turquoise would be it. 

The Mimi was nice to have on with the cold in the morning. I didn't take a picture of me wearing it because I have a few pictures up already with me wearing it and the Mimi, really, doesn't look any different worn over different dresses. I wish I was all stylish and fashionist and wore it all scarfed and everything but I just like to wear mine poncho-style with the buttons in the front or pulled to the side so that the bottom hem of the Mimi drapes at an angle. I will be honest that it did not do a thing for me in the afternoon when I walked out at six pm when it was 23 degrees with a wind chill factor of 9 degrees, but fortunately my car warms up fast, and once the heat was going, the Mimi kept me snug as a bug in a rug. 

The Ana dress is a fantastic dress and if you know your Nicole size, this is the same as the dresses are identical, it's just a longer skirt that doesn't twirl. However, as you can see, it is rather clingy. I didn't wear a Spanx under mine since I was wearing leggings and you can tell for sure!

Wearing leggings under an Ana is something that a lot of people don't think about doing because it's such a long, formal dress, but I have done it now on two occasions and no one has noticed my leggings either time. Both times that I did it, it was on really cold nights and I don't think I would have been warm enough either way. The Ana is a fantastic dress and I am so excited to get to wear the ones that I have this winter with leggings as an accompaniment. For this dress, the blue is so vibrant and vivid and beautiful, it is perfect for winter, and the Lindsay that I selected is in a combination of so many shades of blues and turquoise that it was the perfect compliment to this perfect dress. And the flash of turquoise as the skirt of the Ana swished matched the Lindsay. 

The Lindsay, a hard to find one, is available in S for purchase from Deborah Shute. She also has the turquoise leggings in OS and TC.

Make it a great Lula day and stay warm!