Andie Denim Mini Dress - Heavyweight Denim Mini for OEM

A denim mini dress listed as 100% cotton for both the shell and the lining, fully lined, closed with an exposed zip at the back, with a tie waist, in a heavyweight denim fabric, machine wash cold, made in China, ranked fifteenth in the retailer's denim dress list, at 490 dollars. There are no reviews and no fit votes, so there is no score to quote. This is the first denim in this series, and denim carries a set of behaviours that no other cotton cloth has, which are worth setting out because they decide what happens after the first wash. There is also a fastening here described in a way that tells you something about the garment's intentions. The reference is the Andie Denim Mini Dress by Alemais in Multi. Dongguan Bafinasa Garments Co., Ltd. develops comparable denim dresses on OEM and ODM terms, from fabric and hardware sourcing to retail or FBA ready packing. We publish this as a development reference and build your own version of it, and we do not supply the branded original or reproduce anyone else's label.

Key Features

• Shell and lining both 100% cotton as stated
• Heavyweight denim fabric as stated
• Fully lined as stated
• Exposed zip closure at the back as stated
• Tie waist as stated
• Machine wash cold as stated
• Made in China as stated
• Five sizes from Aus 4/US 0 to Aus 12/US 8

Customisable Options

• Fabric: heavyweight cotton denim as the reference, with the weight in ounces set from a tested sample
• Wash: we would pre-shrink and state the wash, for the reason set out below
• Zip: exposed at the back as the reference, which is a design choice and should be specified
• Waist: tie as the reference, which adjusts rather than stretches and needs no elastane
• Length from mini to midi, denim weight and wash, size set, colour development, private label and care labelling

Specifications

Size Chart

The published size US 2 gives a 28 inch bust, a 26 inch waist and a 34 inch hip, with a 31 inch length. No model measurements are given on this listing, so these figures cannot be compared against the body wearing them, which is worth knowing before reading anything into them.

Occasions and Styling

Suits daytime, city, weekends and spring and autumn. A heavyweight denim mini is a cool weather piece rather than a summer one, which is worth saying, since denim is heavier than its appearance in a photograph suggests.

Production and Quality Control

There are no reviews and no fit votes on this listing, so there is no score to quote. There is denim here, which behaves unlike any other cotton cloth this series has looked at, a fastening whose description tells you what it is for, and a waist that works without any stretch at all.

Denim is cotton, and it behaves unlike any other cotton, and that is worth setting out, and that is the first thing. Denim is a cotton twill, usually with a coloured warp and a white weft, which is why it is blue on the face and pale on the reverse. That structure is where its behaviour comes from, and there are three things a customer meets that she would not meet in a cotton poplin or a cotton twill shirting. The first is shrinkage, and denim shrinks more than most cotton cloths, because it is woven tight and under high tension, and the first wash releases that tension. A heavyweight denim can lose several percent in length, which on a mini dress is enough to change where the hem sits, and it is why the instruction here says cold, which slows it rather than preventing it. This series has been consistent that a machine washable cotton garment must be pre shrunk before cutting, and we set that out on a cotton slip and on a cotton poplin mini, and it applies here more than anywhere, since the shrinkage is larger. The second is that denim softens with washing and does not return, so the garment she buys is stiffer than the one she will have in six months, and a heavyweight denim starts very stiff indeed. The third is crocking, which is the transfer of loose dye onto other surfaces, and it is worst on a dark indigo and on a new garment, so the first few washes should be alone. All three are worth a sentence on a listing, and none of them is a fault: the softening in particular is why people like denim. It is worth adding that this garment is lined in the same fibre, which we have argued for throughout this series on the grounds that two layers of the same fibre shrink by the same amount and stay in relation to each other. That matters more here than usual, because a denim that shrinks against a lining that does not would pucker along every seam.

An exposed zip is a decision and not an economy, and the word tells you which, and that is the second thing. Most listings in this series that mention a zip describe it as hidden or invisible or concealed, and the reason is that a concealed zip is what you use when the fastening is a necessity you would rather not show: it disappears into the seam and the garment reads as a continuous surface. This listing says exposed. That word is a positive choice, meaning the zip is meant to be seen, and it is usually a metal one with visible teeth, set with a topstitch around it so that the hardware reads as a feature. It is worth noting what that commits the maker to, because an exposed zip has nowhere to hide a defect: the tape has to be straight, the teeth have to be even, and the surrounding stitching has to be symmetrical, all of which a concealed zip forgives. So specifying an exposed zip raises the finishing standard rather than lowering it, and it costs more in making time. It is also worth saying where it is. This one is at the back, and this series has spent a long stretch on fastenings behind the wearer, running from a back zip, which can be managed alone, through a button behind the back and a tie that has to be knotted, to a hook at the back of the neck, which is hardest because the position is invisible and awkward. A back zip is at the easy end of that range, and it is the most common fastening in dressmaking for good reason. The combination here is worth noting: an exposed back zip for the entry and a tie at the waist, so the zip only has to get the garment past the shoulders and the tie does the shaping.

The tie waist does the fitting without any stretch, and the chart shows it, and that is the third thing. The bust is published at 28 inches and the waist at 26 for a size US 2, with no model measurements given anywhere on the listing. It is worth saying what that absence means before reading the figures, which is that these cannot be compared against the body wearing them, and this series has been consistent that reading measurements against the model only works when both are present, and that confirming the chart size matches the photographed size is the first check to make. So the absolute fit cannot be assessed here. The relative shape can be. The waist is two inches under the bust, which is a real suppression rather than the flat arrangement we have found repeatedly, where a bust and a waist published as the same figure meant a garment cut straight with no shaping. So this garment does have a waist in the cut, and it also has a tie, which means the waist can be drawn in further by the wearer. That is the useful point, and it is one this series has separated out before: stretch is passive, in that the garment takes the shape of whoever is in it, while a tie is active, in that the wearer sets it and the garment holds what she set. A tie therefore needs no elastane, and it works on a heavyweight denim that has none. It is also worth saying that a tie on a heavy cloth has to be substantial: a narrow tie on a stiff denim will not cinch, it will simply fold, so the tie width and the stiffness of the cloth have to be designed together. Every bulk shipment gets a measurement report against your approved chart.

Optional upgrades include the denim weight specified in ounces, pre-shrinking before cutting and the wash stated, crocking tested and a first-wash note given, the lining kept in the same fibre as the shell, the tie width designed for the stiffness of the cloth, an exposed zip specified with its finish and topstitch, alternative denim weights and washes, alternative lengths, extended sizing, colour development and private label, hangtag and care labelling.

Pre-production sample approval, in-line inspection during cutting and sewing, and a final AQL inspection before packing, with measurement reports and photos shared before shipment.

Send us your tech pack, a photo or a reference garment and we will quote within 24 hours. Contact bafinasa@bafinasa.com or WhatsApp +86 13827222469.