EDIT - received the larger size and it's absolute perfection. Fits everywhere and the foofy fabric 'round the bum looks artfully draped. I am so thrilled to wear this thing. Included is a picture under incandescent bulbs and one with a flash to give you an idea of how this will look in photos. Very shiny! I rented this as part of my unlimited membership for a future wedding, so I have time to exchange it for a larger size. If you are renting this for a normal rental I would def size up as your backup size. I can normally wear a 2 if its fitted to the waist, or a 4 to fit around my muscular thighs and bum. In this dress I ordered the 38, equivalent of a size 4. It slinked around my bum just perfectly and I was sold until I tried to zip is up around my small-to-average ribcage. SO TIGHT. It's not apparent from the photo but there is a full corset/bustier sewn into the lining of this remarkable dress. You will NOT need a bra with it. The bustier is a zip-up affair, and stretchy. I was able to zip that part up with help from hubs but the outer fabric was impossible. It doesn't have stretch, and I was afraid I would damage the dress if I tried hard to zip it up! It wasn't worth photographing since I couldn't even get it on! I'll post a photo when I get the larger size and can (hopefully) actually put it on. In the meantime here's a close up of the beeeeautiful fabric. :)

Buy fashion tape. This dress is beautiful but a bit difficult to wear. Takes some practice with the draping to get right. Roomy through the hips and extremely fitted through the bust. I would order one to two sizes up on this dress.

This dress is SNUG. I am a size six and I ordered the corresponding size and I definitely had to suck it in but it was so worth it. My second size was a 42, one size up. Although it was more comfortable the draping started to lose its effect and became baggy, so I decided to just suck it in and wear the 40, which in the end was the right choice. TONS of complements. It does appear lighter in pictures it is a darker pink in real life but the gold balances beautifully. My one piece of advice is if you are busty this dress might not work for you. I am a a cup and could barely fit everything in, probably better for smaller chested girls. I did not want to give it back!! :)

Definitely an eye-catching dress; I wore this to a wedding in NYC and felt quite glamorous! It's got a bustier-type thing built in which looks great, but it feels pretty snug around the ribcage & I did get poked a bit by the boning. I weighed about 160 when I wore this dress.

This dress runs very small! There is a corset with very thick boning that holds you in together tightly! This dress is a great length too!

I wanted to love this dress! The fabric is gorgeous and I love the neckline! Unfortunately the bodice of the dress is extremely awkward and adds a lot of bulk around the hips.