This tunic would look much better with skinny jeans, and a shoe with a bit of heel, instead of flip-flops (remember, I said it was hot, and I live in flip-flops all summer, and these even had little purple stripes on them, that matched the tunic skirt). The cargo pants are too baggy. Baggy on baggy looks, well...let's just say it's not the most flattering combination I could have picked.
The tunic itself works, although in looking at this picture, I think it would be even better if I had made it a bit shorter. As far as the back view goes, the tunic does cup my butt a little, but not as much as it appears in the photo. I had my hands on my hips, and it pulled the fabric in tighter. Also, the cargo pants are low-rise, and have pocket flaps on the back, so those and the waist band kinda push the tunic out a bit. Another reason why the cargo pants really, REALLY don't work with this tunic.
Rule of thumb for proportion is usually, if it's loose/baggy on top, it should be tighter on the bottom, and vise-versa. Also, don't chop up the vertical line of the body with a bunch of horizontal lines in your clothing. With this combination the bodice ornament, tunic waist band, tunic hem, and cargo pants ending mid-calf just make a hash-work of the vertical line. Hash = frumpy.
Needless to say, I will not be wearing this combination again. No matter how hot it gets.
BTW, there is not a big, ugly pleat in the back, it's just the way the shirt kinda bunched up because of where I have my hands, and also, this was after we got home from running errands all day, so the shirt was kinda wrinkly from me sitting in the car.
