Name: Sea Shimmer Dress
Brand: Contrarian
SKU: CTN3
Price: 138 USD
Availability: InStock
Rating: 4.0 (55 reviews)

The swinging skirt was fun for dancing. The backless cut was super sexy. The color was perfect for New Years Eve. Make sure you have fashion tape if you’re going to be dancing

This dress is fabulous but required a lot of fashion tape. I wouldn't recommend it for a night of crazy dancing, but it's a comfortable fit. I wore the smaller size because I thought it held everything in a bit better and required less fashion tape. I wore it to an event in Las Vegas, and it couldn't have been more perfect. 

Dress is very true to size - I took a gamble and got my second size in a 2, along with my usual size 4. The 4 fit very well, however I am not blessed in the chest department and I was worried about the straps falling off my shoulders. The size 2 was PERFECT - I wasn't worried about the straps falling off, the waist line was natural and fit great(which helped keep the top part up!), and with a flow-y skirt(which helped with runners legs) I was free to drink, eat, and dance the night away!! 

LOVED this dress! Wore it for opening number/party at a pageant. Was flowy and fun and recieved tons of compliments all night!

The only negative side was that with my lack of a chest, the straps seemed long, making the bust sit lower on my chest. Needed lots of double sided tape to make sure there weren't any slips!

This dress is more beautiful in person! A woman we past on the street stopped me to tell me how beautiful I looked in the dress which brought her to tears ... I felt famous! 

I wore it to the NTOTB concert for my birthday. We were in a suite so getting dressed up was not an issue. The dress is a little scratchy to sit in but it was well worth it. Body tape is a must!!! 

Will definitely order again... And again... 

I wore it with a bright pink, matte lip stick and dark grey Charles David open toe shoe with matching clutch. 

This dress made me feel incredible! The cut was extremely flattering, and overall, it was much more comfortable than I thought an all-sequined dress would be :)

I was a bit nervous, as others had mentioned the straps being loose. However, I am fairly broad-shouldered, so I didn't have to tighten at all...just make sure you don't slouch too much...this is a dress you MUST wear with confidence!! I also had no issues going without a bra, but you could probably get away with a NuBra if you needed it.

This dress was actually my back-up  for a much safer dress I had previously ordered that ended up not fitting. My stylist found this dress at literally the 11th hour and I am so glad now that none of my other back-up choices were available! 
Though the dress fits true to size, it was slightly snug in the midsection. Because the neckline is (obviously) deeply plunging, and the straps are long and non-adjustable, double-sided tape is absolutely indispensable in order to wear this dress. Though many reviewers were unable to keep the dress closed, even with tape, I simply taped the entire neckline and the side-openings and didn't have any trouble the entire night (even though I do NOT have nearly enough chest to hold this dress up naturally). Just make sure you have very sturdy tape! The dress hit me at the knee, which tastefully softened the daring neckline and backless feature. In person, the sequins are more understated and the dress has a dark hue. 
I got so many compliments during the night and never wanted to take this dress off! It is daring, but feminine, attention-grabbing, but understated, and sexy, but elegant. Certainly, I would have been slightly more comfortable in a different dress. But this dress made me feel so beautiful it was worth every adjusted shoulder strap.  Perfect dress! 

Unlike a lot of other reviews for this dress - I thought this was perfectly fitting - for my body at least. Some said you need a lot of boob to make this work or fit right and an extraordinary amount of fashion tape but I really found I only needed a bit of tape just to keep the dress from showing too much and my small cup size was actually helpful! It fit awesome and I felt really great in the dress. Great length and the open back is so sexy! 

I wore the size 2 and it was comfortable all around! You can get a teeny bit irritated on your arm because the sequins are scratchy - especially if your dancing and swinging your arms around!

I originally ordered a 6 and the 4 as a back up, however because the top was to big for me I ended up wearing the 4 and it was perfect. I did have to use double sided garment tape on the top. Overall the dress was exactly as I imagined, and looks great in pictures!!

I was really worried about the size when I ordered it because other reviews say it ran small but the dress was perfect and true to size!! I already knew I would need dress tape so the top was not a problem! Probably could have worn without a bra but used an adhesive backless strapless and it worked out great! I felt beautiful and got many compliment on the dress all night if I could wear it again and again I would ! 5 stars!

I wore this dress to my sorority formal! The whole night I got tons of compliments and I felt gorgeous! The size was good especially if you have boobs! The only problem I had was the top was a bit loose and I kept having to adjust it all night so I wasn't falling out! But besides that I total recommend it, just get some tape to tape the sides of the top on and that'll help! :)

Amazingly beautiful dress with stunning craftsmanship, but not realistic for most people without risking serious wardrobe malfunctions. 

I wore this for my 30th birthday "Under the Sea" bash and never felt more like a million bucks in a dress. I loved how flattering and fitting the top was, but free and forgiving the skirt was so I could dance around all night long. 

I wore an U-shaped adhesive bra (from Target) which was great, but had a difficult time with using fashion tape (which you must use)--it just wouldn't hold my chest up and look flattering. Instead I had to get creative and used black string (similar width and look of the straps) to tie the back straps together. It ended up holding the top up all night and looked like it was part of the dress, and I didn't even have to use fashion tape! It was a hit all night! 

This dress is so pretty in person, I really loved the open back! It does run very true to size, and there is not any give, so make sure to order accordingly.  I had so many people come up to me all night to say that the loved the dress.  One thing I would say is make sure to have double-sided tape and watch how you bend over, the top can gap at times.  

Gorgeous gorgeous sexy but so classy. 

RTR customer service was unbelievable. Overnighted me two new dresses when my original order got tied up in a UpS truck due to an ice storm. I'm 100% renting again, maybe even for just a special date night it was so easy!

Buy double sided fashion tape!! Although my bf thought the fashion tape was no different than regular double sided tape, so u could save some money that way. I didn't wear a bra. I wear between a six and an eight in designer sizes.  in sizes that run large, like JCrew etc., I wear as low as a two. I'm so glad I got the size 8 though. It fit perfectly. The six was too small. I'm 38-29-40



The dress itself was actually really pretty. In person, the sequins are very small and not as shimmery as they appear in the photo, but it does photograph well. Unfortunately, I actually ended up unable to wear it at all! I read all the reviews before I rented it, ordered my normal size 0 (and a backup 2, in case of any issue with the back fitting too tightly.) The reviews all said double-sides tape was a must, so I had it ready when I received my dress (and RTR even included some with the dress!) As you can see in the photo though, no amount of double-sided tape was going to help me fill-out and keep that top up. The straps aren't adjustable at all and my 32-B cup boobs simply weren't enough for this dress. I have no problem going bra-less so I didn't consider how much of a problem that could be. Being completely backless, a padded bra was not an option. I considered the stick on bra cups, but with the V-front being so deep, the material didn't cover them completely. I didn't get to try on the dress until 7pm the night before my out-of-town event, so I ended up having to return it all together. I have no complaints about my entire process with RTR and can't wait to borrow another beautiful dress, but next time I'll be sure to get one with adjustable straps (or at least one I can wear a bra with!) Overall, really fun dress but having some natural cleavage is an absolute must!

This was a great dress for me but there is a lot to say about it. I have little boobs so it wasn't an issue of a lot showing for me but I tied the straps together across my back with thread because otherwise this would have just fallen off with any movement. I tied to tape it down but the dress wouldn't stick to my tape at all. Also I wouldn't rent this if you are going to be sitting down for any length of time. I just had to sit in the car for maybe 20 mins and the sequins were really uncomfortable. The waist was really small also and I normally find that dress that fit in the waist I can wear a size down and this was the opposite. So order a size up if you are unsure!! It did stretch out a little as I wore it though. Over all it was very festive and sexy! 

I loved this dress! I could've worn the two or the zero. Went with the two because the waist part has no give and wanted to be comfortable bc the top is so risky. Like the other reviews said, you need a lot of dress tape. I basically had to tape the entire top part to me. The only time it was an issue is when I started dancing.  But the weight and the uneven hem of the dress made it really pretty when I spun. It was heavier material than I expected. The easiest way to get the straps to stay were to tape them up. I had to fight with it a lot. But the color and the back is so pretty it was worth it! 

This is a beautiful dress, but I had to completely fasten the top to my body with fashion tape. The zipped up area ends right above the waist so the 4 was a little snug. I opted to wear the 6 for comfort but the top part was too big and the straps kept falling. I got a lot of compliments and it looked great in pictures, but it was a bit of a hassle to wear.

The fit is right on point which is true to size and the length compensates for the bare back. You will NEED fashion tape for this dress unless you plan on playing mannequin for a night.  I went so far as to re tape before dancing just in case. With tape the dress was comfortable and so much fun to dance in! I wore with a cream colored fur shurg and black t strap shoes. I must admit I felt a bit revealed when I took it off the shurg at the event but once the compliments began to roll in i felt just fine. 

I found that the waist runs a bit small in this one. Zipping myself into the 2 was a struggle. However, I have a small chest and the straps are long so it required a TON of boob tape and we eventually rigged a long necklace through the straps and across my back to keep everything in place for dancing. Still loved it and would recommend.

I got tons of compliments on this dress! I felt uncomfortable at first because I am not used to showing so much skin but as the night progressed it was so problem! The dress was awesome! I wanted to make a statement that night and I did! I had to take the straps up in the dress because they were soooo long but once shortened and A LOT of double sided tape it was perfect!  Once secured in, I danced all night, it was comfortable and a great length. My boyfriend said he was proud to have such a hot date on his arm that night.  

I am a 32 B bra size and that was not enough boob for the dress. The straps are not adjustable, but by making small knots in the strap it fit perfectly!! I was in love with this dress and got a ton of compliments

I wore this for a New Years Eve soiree, and it was a stunning dress! RTR was out of the size I would have normally ordered, so I took that next size up... and thank god I did, I don't know if I would have fit in a 6  but there is zero elastic. The 8 fit perfectly- This dress would be IMPOSSIBLE  to wear without fashion tape, which I planned for after reading the reviews before ordering, so that worked out. I recieved compliments all night.. I felt amazing! 

This dress was great! I got complements and definitely stood out at my work Holiday Party, I expected this dress to be a sequin dress and I was afraid that I would look like a blue disco ball. However, it was not, it looked more like scales. The dress was a little heavy.  This dress ran a little small for me on the top. On the waist where is was opened, it gave me a bit of a muffin top. Good thing it was a little dark at the party. Overall, I really liked the dress. I would recommend getting a dress in your size and a size up. If the top is too large in the larger size, double sided tape would fix that and you would not have that muffin top.  I would also say double sided tap is a must!! I forgot to take pictures so this is the only one I had

Wore for NYE, visually beautiful dress but needs tape so the top doesn't flare out. Fit is true to size. Once I taped myself in and felt secure it was a head turner for sure

Thanks for such specific advice!  I have never had luck w/ fashion tape but I am ordering topstick tape now!  :)


You'll definitely need the double stick tape with this one (big fan of topstick wig tape vs fashion tape so much stronger and cheaper!) and don't think about slouching!

I loved this dress, though the front of it dipped down weirdly, making the skirt feel a little like it was sown on backwards.  I got this dress for a Tango Date and think it would have worked lovely, but see the story below as to why I didn't get to wear it.  You must have terrific confidence to make this dress work.  It you don't love your breasts, go for something else.  You can't wear a bra, and it's very revealing, but great for a night of seduction.
 I've got one more Praise for RTR.  This was my first RTR order and unfortunately the UPS folk could not read my name on the directory, because it was listed 2nd (if you've ever shared an apartment you know exactly what I mean) and so the didn't deliver it in time and I missed wearing my other dresses to another event.  Obviously I wasn't happy, UPS had the gall to tell me it was my fault and because the next day was Sunday, the office closed early and I was completely unable to go get the dresses.  RTR was so professional and handled the situation as best they could and made sure I wasn't charged for dresses I wasn't able to use.  Tianwei was terrific.  They made the best out of a bad situation, keeping the customer happy.  RTR got bonus points in my book for that.

The dress was true to size and fit perfectly. However, I would definitely recommend getting some double-stick tape to make sure the top stays up. 

This dress was a true stunner. I ordered both a 4 and 6, but it ran true to size and I ended up wearing the 4. The dress beautifully highlighted my favorite features - back, waistline - and glossed over my more athletic lower body. The dress itself is made of a heavier material, so it drapes beautifully and did not cling at all. The sequins were gorgeous and very appropriate for the formal occasion. The open back adds serious drama and I got compliments all night long.

In the interest of full disclosure, this dress did require some body tape to hold it in place at the neckline and sides near the cutouts, but I was still able to dance all night and enjoy myself without worrying once the tape was in place. I will also say that the straps stay in place best with good posture; if you slouch, this might not be the dress for you.

Overall, this was my first rental from RTR, but given this experience, it certainly won't be my last!

It covers all the right areas and has a good length but the backless feature added a real wow factor. The straps only slipped once or twice but I used double sided tape as added security and it wasn't a problem at all.

This was a replacement dress. It's very flattering, but you will need a good supply of double sided tape. Even with a healthy supply of tape, the straps slid off of my shoulder a couple of times. I was a little hesitant, at first, to take off my cover-up, because this dress is completely backless and has a plunging neckline, but after a couple of shots, I felt more secure. :) I received endless compliments. 

How did it fit on top? I'm a 32D/size 0 and am curious if I will be falling out or not...

It was a bit loose up top on me because I'm so small there. I think you'll fill it in more and it would be a nice fit for you.

Double sided tape is a necessity, and there's a bit of a shark bite hem that the photos don't show. Sequins are slightly itchy near the underarms, but that's to be expected. It had a nice weight to it, which helped because the coverage is rather minimal. A shawl or scarf might catch on the sequins- it did for me. A leather jacket would work nicely.

The dress is very revealing in the back, make sure you have double stick tape!  I wore this dress for a NYC wedding, and needed to be taped in to make sure if I slouched or moved the wrong way, my chest wouldnt be on display.  The color is great, and it fits well and true to size if you have a smaller chest (I am an A cup w/o a bra).  I am 6ft tall so the dress hit above my knee but still looked like it fit correctly.  if you are shorter, it may be longer on you.

Sea Shimmer Dress

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