I Found The Perfect Birthday Dress At Miss Circle New York

Source: @shamika_sanders / @Shamika_Sanders

There are a handful of dresses that live rent free in my mind – dresses that made me feel like a glam goddess or the ultimate baddie. There’s the dress I wore to present an award at the Pow(H)er Awards in NYC, the gowns I wore on the red carpet at the BET and NAACP Image Awards, and now, my 35th birthday dress from Miss Circle New York.

I celebrated my 35th birthday, on June 14th, with friends at lit brunch, where we listened to smooth R&B jams, drank Dusse, and danced at the New Jersey hotspot Lit 21. I had a clear vision how I wanted to look on my big day, it was just about finding the dress to bring that look to life. I came across Miss Circle New York, where I discovered their “Irisa Black Draping Off-Shoulder Corset Dress” ($175). It was like Jesus had personally designed it for me – with a mesh corset bodice, off-the-shoulder design and added train for drama- it was exactly what I pictured.

What Size Do I Order?

I spent about a week deciding which size to order. Because I have a larger bust (DDD), which usually requires a L to XL, and waist to hip ratio that is a Medium, I knew I only had one chance to get it right. I spent hours on the website and Instagram searching for women with similar shapes who also wore the dress. I carefully examined the fabric – stretch velvet which means it had room to give. I found these particular reviews to be most helpful:

Brittaney D said, “This dress was amazing for my 35th bday. I wish I would’ve gotten a small instead of medium but it still looked great. So pretty!”

Khadija C wrote, “I am so impressed with how this dress looked on me and made me feel like an ultimate baddie. I do say size down if you want it to be tight fitting more like bodycon. I’m usually a size 4, but luckily I got a size 2. The dress was perfect and received so much compliments!! I had no problems at with the dress.”

At 5′ 8″ and two children later, I usually wear a size 10/12, but since I wanted the dress to fit tight enough to support my boobs and also give me a shape, I went with a Medium. Like the above ladies mentioned, the dress arrived in a jiffy. The pristine white packaging with gold foil Miss Circle New York logo was a clear indicator of the dress’ quality. I felt a tingle as I ripped the gold seal and peeled back the tissue paper to reveal the neatly folded LBD. But would it fit? I carefully slipped into the dress, careful not to rip the mesh on the corset and viola! She fit like a glove and even covered my boobs with a hint of exposed underboob.

The stiff boning in the corset sucked in my waist and the velvet had enough stretch in the bust to keep my boobs up without wearing a bra (which I think would have completely taken away from the look).

I complete the look with a HD Lace Front Brazilian Yaki Straight Wig by Mayvenn ($379.99), styled by Naira West.

For my shoes, I opted forbedazzled strappy sandals off the sale rack at Macys ($47.70).

So if you’re looking for a show-stopping birthday dress, look no further than Miss Circle New York.

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