I keep a Pinterest board of items that I'd love to add to my closet, but the chances of me doing so are slim to none (late to the game being the #1 reason). Among the ones on my board is this unique embellished tweed shift dress. It was love at first sight the second I saw it on Wendy.

The dress was sold out everywhere I looked, so imagine my elation when limited stock appeared on The Outnet a few months later. I literally squealed out loud, quickly put a hand over my mouth, then looked around to see if any of my co-workers heard. A vain attempt, no less. I knew a trip to the tailor was necessary because the smallest size available didn't look like it would fit based on measurements. I was hoping that the neckline and length will fit ok off the rack and I can just ask for the dress to be slimmed.

Though I didn't have much of a choice, I still wanted to familiarize myself with Danish sizing. This dress comes in sizes DK 32-44. I typically wear the same size or one smaller than the mannequin from Net-A-Porter/The Outnet, so DK 32 or 34 would probably fit me best. The size I bought and am wearing below is DK 38 (equivalent to US 8 according to Net-A-Porter's conversion chart).
It's kind of hard to spot the differences between pre- and post-alterations (photos above and below, respectively) because the style of the dress wasn't meant to be figure-hugging. The tailor took in about 1-2" along each side, so the difference in the dress felt more obvious when worn -- less billowy from the back being the most noticeable change. By slimming the sides, the armhole opening was also raised slightly (no complaints from me). I'm quite happy with the end results. I paid $105 total ($80 to slim the sides, $25 to retain the pockets). Ouch. If I could do it all over, I'd probably skip keeping the pockets because they sit lower now than before (if my pre-alterations memory serves me correctly), probably due to removing excess fabric.
My favorite part of the dress has to be the black tweed pattern from afar. Doesn't it look like a musical score? Which is surprising because it's been years since I've looked at one.

I was amazed when I saw and held the dress in person. The dress is heavy (3-4 lbs), with much of the weight coming from the gold chain trim, beadings, and sequins. The material itself is thick, but much needed to hold the embellishments in place. DH hated the dress on sight (his horrified expression is what I call his uncanny valley look), but has since come around a bit. Now he calls it my "warrior princess" dress due to the "chainmail." Pshhh, guys. He's also not a fan of my tweed jacket nor brocade dress, so I think he just has an aversion to textured materials in general.

Since the Callinga dress is sold out, if you're interested in similar items:
- By Malene Birger Rasminel dress is pretty much spot on minus the chain trim and in a black/white color scheme. It's on sale for $257 at Les Nouvelles or for full-price at Net-a-Porter
- By Malene Birger Sambiara tweed shorts with the same pattern is $115.01 at The Outnet

I'm embarrassed to say that I get flustered when pronouncing certain brand names. For example, I always pause for too long when I'm about to say Hermes (because I think of the Greek God first) and often times will stutter out "H" instead, lol. I can't seem to find a consensus on a pronunciation for Malene Birger -- can anyone help? It looks like mah-leen bur-jh-er to me. The less I make a fool of myself, the better.

An intricate dress like this speaks for itself, so accessories aren't really needed. I like how the gold, silver, and black embellishments allow for versatile jewelry pairings, if you like to match metal colors. I plan on wearing this dress to a couple summer weddings later on -- should be ok because there's enough pattern against the cream fabric, right? But since I'm impatient, I've already taken the dress out for a casual stroll.