I mentioned in a recent This + That post that I ordered this dress in green from Amazon after seeing a longtime favorite style blogger feature it on her site. A few of you asked for my thoughts on it — the dress is making the rounds on Pinterest and other style blogs because it’s less than $20 — and I promised a follow-up when it arrived.

Well, it arrived late last week. I’ll just get right to it: don’t bother. It’s cheap for a reason, and the reason is it’s terrible.

I can’t understand how 49% of the reviews on this dress are 5 star! The only thing I can figure is the listing contains 26 colors/styles and I chose the worst one. Or perhaps my expectations for a $20 dress are unrealistic? I wasn’t anticipating designer quality, but considering you can find cute day dresses for the same price at Forever21, H&M or Target — like this striped mini dress I wore on repeat this summer — I expected it to be, um, wearable.

The tag says the dress is 100% cotton, but it looks like linen and feels like paper: imagine crumpling up a newspaper, smoothing it back out with your hands, sewing a dress from it, and putting it on your body. It’s an itch fest, y’all. The overall fit is okay — besides the stiff butterfly cap sleeves that stick out from the shoulders — but it’s not ideal if you’re busty; I had some pulling in the buttons across my chest. (I probably should’ve sized up to accommodate, but then it would’ve swallowed me through the waist and hips.)

It’s such a bummer, because I love the idea of the style, but the weird sleeves and awful fabric are deal-breakers. Why, Amazon, why?

Needless to say, I’m returning it. And reading 5-star reviews with a healthy dose of skepticism from now on. *insert side-eye emoji*

(This rant brought to you by Monday and hangry-ness. Ha!)