Petite-friendly Swell paisley dress / beach cover up

Swell paisley dress sz S (also liked this print)
Goyard St. Louis PM tote, Bric's Bellagio 21" carry-on luggage, BR sunglasses c/o Talbots sandals (old, similar here for an extra 20% off, or here in wedge form)
Hello again finally! We decided to spend the last leg of our time off with friends in NYC this weekend. I'm a little nervous to return to Boston as I had been getting daily disgruntled texts from friends about snow snow and more snow ever since we left town. We've accepted our car's icy buried fate, but have fingers crossed for no frozen pipes or collapsed roof!

Last summer I got lots of requests for coverup and swim suggestions but rarely made it to the water (and when I did, resorted to college spring break garb that is well past its prime). So although beach/pool wear is probably the last thing on your minds now, I figured posting ideas earlier is better than never! And I actually think this particular dress can be re-styled with tights, booties and either a vest or sweater for winter.

I randomly came across Swell which was a beachwear jackpot for my last-minute packing scramble. They have cute items from a range of brands, and also their own line which is pretty affordable and mostly made in the USA. What sealed the deal for my first order was free 2-day express shipping returns for orders over $99 (and free standard shipping for orders over $39). I had two keepers (also got this off-shoulder dress which I'll upload pics of tomorrow) that worked nicely for transitioning from pool/beachside to resort restaurants.

I had wondered how winter vacationers go from negative 2 to 80 degree weather, and noticed fellow passengers simply changing on the plane. I followed suit and chose this long sleeve chiffon-y paisley dress that is very lightweight and comfy. It's not petite sizing so the sleeves were about an inch longer than I typically wear em. I actually think the fit of a Small was perfectly fine off the rack for a casual dress, similar to an H&M sz 4. Since I am a little nit-picky, as a temporary fix, I used a safety pin on each side of the interior shoulder seams to take in about 1", as shown below:

*you can also wear this reversed for a V-neck in the front! It's not too low even as a regular dress
This effectively raised the sleeve length and the hemline a tad too. It created little gathered pleats visible from the outside which weren't too conspicuous due to the dark print. The dress is fully lined in the torso and slightly sheer in the flowy sleeves. Material is poly which felt lightweight, traveled really well and didn't wrinkle on me. Care tags say hand wash cold and line dry, with dry cleaning as a suggested alternative (no thanks for me...not for beach wear!).

Whenever we were snapping blog photos, kind passersby would insist on helping us take a photo together. We figured by the end of the trip we'd have a plethora of good shots, but no such luck! PS - I just realized the blurry print on Nick's swim trunks looks like...erm, male genitalia, but they're actually cute little lobsters, I swear! I picked them up (Sperry sold at Nordstrom) to replace his tattered pair and they were a hit.
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