Serra Ladies Wrap Dress

I have had enough experience with Aldi clothing that I’m wary about some of it. Some things have been fine, while others don’t seem like they were made to fit actual human bodies with normal human proportions. Other things don’t last long, or the sizing runs small or just weird, or — in the case of certain leggings I once bought from Aldi for my teen — they don’t stay up on the waist like they’re supposed to.

There’s also the fact that you can’t try on Aldi clothes before you buy them, and they’re often packaged so that it’s difficult to try on the things that you actually could try on in store, such as dusters, cardigans, jackets, or pullovers.

So I feel like there’s a not-insignificant chance that I won’t like clothing I buy at Aldi, but I won’t know until I get home and actually try it on, and then there’s a good chance I’ll have to return it. Most of the time, I consider it to be too much of a hassle to bother with buying Aldi clothing.

But then Aldi recently advertised some wrap dresses. I’ve been wanting to buy a few more casual dresses for myself and some teen members of the household. The dresses looked very cute in the ad, and they were inexpensive, as Aldi clothing usually is. I also like the style of wrap dresses because they tend to be figure flattering. So I bought two dresses and brought them home to try.

The Serra Ladies Wrap Dresses (Product Code: 823449) are Aldi Finds, so they’re only in stores for a short time. Each store gets one shipment, and after that sells out, they’re gone until Aldi decides to bring them back, whenever that might be. Aldi does not offer online ordering for products not currently in stock at your local store.

The dresses cost $14.99 each at the time of publication. They’re sold in several colors and styles. I bought the 3/4 Sleeve Purple Dress and the Short Sleeve Blue Dress. I typically wear a size 8 or a medium, so I bought both in mediums. With several females in the family who are not all that different in size, I bought these knowing that more than one of us could potentially wear them. In fact, my teenager and I both tried on both of the dresses.

Here’s more information about the dresses, according to Aldi:

• Contains 92% polyester and 8% spandex
• Features a tie waist, above the knee fit, and form-flattering silhouette
• 3/4 Sleeve Purple in Sizes M–XL
• 3/4 Sleeve Print in Sizes S–XL
• Short Sleeve Blue in Sizes M–XL
• OEKO-TEX certified

In terms of care, the label says to machine wash these dresses in cold water with like colors, on the gentle cycle. It recommends removing the belts before washing. The dresses can be tumbled dry on low heat, but I often hang clothing up to dry.

Trying on the Purple Dress:

The 3/4 Sleeve Purple Dress.

The back of the package. (Click to enlarge.)

The purple dress features a tie waist, three-quarter sleeves, and a wrap front at the top portion. I really wanted to like this dress. The purple color suits me, and the dress looks great on the model. However, this one will be going back to Aldi.

Me in the purple dress. It looks cute in a posed photo, but it has a lot of practical problems.

The main problem for both me and my teen is that the top portion of the purple dress is cut very low. My daughter also described the neck opening as being too big.

I have a somewhat larger bust, and this dress reveals a good amount of cleavage. Just standing still while wearing this, I can look down and see … a lot. Even worse, the material shifts, sags, and gaps badly when I make normal movements, revealing my bra and more of my chest. Just getting it to look as modest as it does in the picture above took some careful pulling and tugging at the fabric.

For my daughter, who has an average-sized bust, the top of the dress sagged and gapped even worse when she was simply standing in place wearing it. It is not a dress made for small-busted people, but it’s definitely not a modest dress for larger-busted people either. It was a big enough problem that we didn’t even bother taking a picture of her.

Together, my daughter and I feel like this dress doesn’t fit anyone well.

The dress covers a lot more skin on the model on the package. I’m not sure what’s up with that. My daughter asked how it was even possible for the manufacturer to get a picture where the dress looks that good on the model. Call us suspicious.

It’s possible that someone with basic sewing skills might be able to sew up part of the wrap front so it doesn’t gap as much, but the whole top portion still feels like the manufacturer cut too big of a neck hole. When my daughter tried this on, I grabbed some of the material in the shoulder area and pulled it up slightly, and it made the whole dress look and fit better. Taking material out of the shoulder area doesn’t seem like a minor alteration that could be easily done, though. The neck hole is so big that I could see this falling off my shoulders if I was carrying a baby on my hip or doing some similar physical activity.

Overall, this is yet another example I’ve seen of Aldi clothing not fitting actual human body proportions.

I also thought the sleeves on this dress were a little on the tight side but not necessarily a problem.

Side view of me in the purple dress. The wrap portion in the lower bust area gaps when I move.

Trying on the Blue Dress:

The Short Sleeve Blue Dress.

The back of the package. (Click to enlarge.)

The blue dress features a tie waist, short sleeves, and a slightly scooped neck. The wrap feature is on the lower portion of the dress. This dress fit great on both me and my teen and it is figure flattering. Neither of us had any problems with the top being oversized or gapping.

Me in the blue dress.

One thing my daughter and I are concerned about with this dress, though, is the way the wrap skirt is designed. It feels a bit skimpy on coverage because there is nothing to keep the two wrapped sections from separating. If you’re walking outside on a windy day, it might not take much to reveal your undergarments, or at the very least a full leg might be revealed. Also, you’ll have to be more careful about how you sit while wearing this dress. I don’t think it would reveal underwear while you’re sitting, but you might end up showing off your entire leg. The skirt feels more like the coverage you might get wearing certain beach cover-ups than wearing a traditional dress or skirt.

The way the dress is sold, the two skirt sections are separate pieces all the way to the waist. Someone with some sewing skills might be able to sew part of the wrap portion so the two skirt sections stay together more, offering some added modesty. I have basic sewing skills and am going to try adding a few hand stitches to this dress to make it more functional and practical, and my daughter has claimed this dress for herself.

The Verdict:

The Serra Ladies Wrap Dress comes in several styles, colors, and prints. I bought a 3/4 sleeve purple dress with a wrap top and a short sleeved blue dress with a wrap skirt. I tried both dresses on, and so did my teen daughter. We each wear mediums but have different weights and bust sizes.

On a positive note, the dress material feels decent and doesn’t seem like it’s too thin.

However, the purple dress is both low cut and the neck hole feels too big in general. If you have a moderate to large bust, it reveals a lot of cleavage, and when you make normal movements it gaps and shows off your bra. Or if you’re average-to-smaller-chested, it simply droops and hangs open. The purple dress is an obvious no for both my daughter and me.

The blue dress fits well, but the two sections of the wrap skirt may separate and leave some people feeling more exposed than they prefer. We’re keeping this dress but are going to add some hand stitches to make it more functional and less prone to gaping open.

If you have some sewing skills, you might be able to alter these dresses to improve their fit and function. They’re cute dresses, but they’re not well executed in some of the details. For that reason, we can’t really recommend them unless you’re willing to do some DIY work.