I posted a few times about Bill Levkoff and Bari Jay BM dresses and wanted to share the results - we just came from the shop and ordered Bill Levkoff style #575 in plum! I'm so excited! I love the dark purple color and the style goes really well with our retro-style wedding.
My sister fit perfectly into the sample, which was an 8 (bigger than her street size) and, when she got measured, she measured into an 8. So I feel good about the size chart too.
Thanks to everyone for your advice and sharing your personal experiences.