Oh hey, it’s November. When did that happen? I should be reviewing sweaters, coats, and the like, but I have a backlog of items I’ve been meaning to review, things that I tried on and took notes on, so I might as well share my thoughts. So here goes my seasonally inappropriate post. Everlane released their Japanese GoWeave wrap dresses back in May. They have that minimalist thing going on and seem like they’d be easy to wear casually or dressed up with accessories for an event. I love the idea of being able to dress them up or down, so I went to try them on.
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The Japanese GoWeave Tank Wrap Dress
The dress retails for $100 and comes in six colors. I especially like this plum. There’s also some bright colors, like a lovely poppy.
Apologies for the fuzzy photo.
I tried on my regular size, a 4, and it was just a disaster around my bust area. I tied the ties as tightly as I could, but there was just too much material. It wouldn’t lay flat, exposing my bra on one side.
I don’t think I could have sized down; the way it wrapped around my rib cage felt like the right size. Perhaps the straps are too long for me; I bet shortening them would solve the bra exposure problem.
Overall, the proportions were wrong for me; it’s quite long for a petite. (I’m 5′ 4″ and the models in the first photo are 5′ 10″ and 5′ 8″ respectively.) If I had this dress, I’d not only have to alter the straps, but hem it by quite a bit. On me, the hem doesn’t land at a flattering spot. There’s a shorter version of this dress, the Japanese GoWeave Tank Mini Wrap Dress, which falls above the knee on the model, so it would fall at the knee on me probably and look better. Still, there’s the pesky strap/bust fit issue.
The Japanese GoWeave Short-Sleeve Wrap Dress
Next, I tried on the short sleeve version. This one ran big, so I went down a size.
It’s OK. Not bad, but nothing special. Again, on petite me, it’s too long and a bit overwhelming on my frame. There’s a mini version of this dress as well. This version of the wrap dress did have pockets, so at least there was that!
Both dresses are made in an 800-person factory in Suzhou, China. Both dresses have tie belts and inner ties that seem secure. I wouldn’t worry about either of these dresses accidentally unwrapping on you. The GoWeave fabric felt like a good weight; it was a medium to slightly heavy weight, didn’t cling, and draped nicely.
But what exactly is Japanese GoWeave?
So, what is this magical Japanese GoWeave that’s drapey and wrinkle-resistant? 100% triacetate as it turns out, a synthetic fiber that’s similar to acetate, but more heat-resistant because of acetylation. And what the heck is acetylation? According to Wikipedia, it’s “the process of introducing an acetyl group (resulting in an acetoxy group) into a compound, namely the substitution of an acetyl group for an active hydrogen atom.”
Err, I don’t really understand what that means, but I do know that these fabrics are derived from cellulose, which is wood pulp. Wood pulp undergoes a lot of chemical processing to make it into a fiber though. Through a chemical reaction, it becomes a flake. Then, the flakes are dissolved and filtered to make a solution. The solution is extruded through a machine with tiny pores to make yarn.
What chemicals do they use? Are they bad? I don’t know. This chemical engineer on Quora says no. Of course, chemicals are not absent from the making of natural fabrics too. Cotton, grown the conventional way, uses tons of pesticides. Conventional textiles-manufacturing is a dirty business, though some small companies are trying to change that.
I don’t know how I feel about this fabric. On the one hand, triacetate is durable, mildew-resistant, and doesn’t pill much so if you bought this dress and then wore it for decades instead of consuming other things that fell apart more quickly, well, that doesn’t seem like a bad thing. On the other hand, it’s synthetic. Trusted Clothes, an ethical and sustainable fashion organization, gives triacetate an F grade.
If one of these dresses looked amazing on me and I could see myself wearing it repeatedly for years to come then I’d be more willing to overlook the fabric. (I think the most sustainable approach to shopping is to stop consuming so much in the first place.) However, these dresses looked meh at best on me. So that’s a big pass from me.
Though these particular cuts didn’t work for me, I’m glad Everlane made wrap dresses since the style flatters many different body shapes, but I’d like to see them in natural fibers. (And shorter lengths!)
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