Despite the fact that I’ve been looking for a dress for the last few months – my cousin is getting married in a week and I haven’t found one.
In general, I don’t mind weddings. But I do hate finding something to wear. Which makes them a pain in the ass. It probably doesn’t matter in the long run but I like to be “dressed appropriately”. I also have a tendency to cry (at the ceremony, not because of my dress drama) – I guess I’m a sucker for that kind of thing. Luckily I can get away with hiding my face behind a camera!
I have a week and I find myself needing a dress. Okay, okay. I have dresses but I wanted to find something new (which is looking less and less likely). So far, I haven’t really found anything in my closet that works. Like maybe something a little fancy and NOT black?
Unless you’re in the wedding party, what do you wear?
Technically I bought this dress in February, but it has been returned:
I absolutely loved it but I think a grey silk duponi dress was a little too fancy for this occasion. And it seemed inappropriate to wear to a family wedding, so I returned it – too much boob. It was difficult! I sat in the car for five minutes before taking it into the post office to mail back. How silly is that? But in reality, the chances I’d wear a dress like this again are slim to none. Which meant I was back where I started.
Here are a couple of other dresses I was considering:
#1-4 are from eshakti.com, #5 is from lucielu.com
The two I *almost* ordered were the purple and black dress from Eshakti and the lace party dress from Lucie Lu – but I wanted it in cobalt. I hesitated and it sold out in my size, waited again and the nude sold out as well… Sad times!
I think this wedding will be on the fancy side. The ceremony is in the afternoon at the reception/dinner is early evening in a hotel. I probably shouldn’t be too worried about it because even if I dress “appropriately” family will likely be commenting that I’m all “fancy” (which isn’t a bad thing). I wore the BD velvet dress to a family Christmas party… with red lipstick and the reactions were hilarious, to say the least. I guess I have lifetime of an “image” to overcome…
What are your requirements for wedding attire? This is my list:
- Not black.
- Not casual.
- Doesn’t match the wedding.
- Something I haven’t worn to a previous gathering with the same group of people.
- Reasonably comfortable.
Over the years, I’ve been to weddings and it is kind of hilarious but I always have a tendency to match on accident. I’m actually not sure what the exact wedding colors are but it is a peacock theme. The invitation was black and navy, with a few green/teal accents.
But, since I have a week – ordering something is out of the question. The only requirement I plan to follow is something I haven’t worn to other family weddings. Closet, here I come!
Tags: wedding
I have 2! weddings to attend in September this year (after 4 years of no weddings) & after finding eshakti a few months ago, I have to say I’m finally excited to buy 2!! dresses. Probably the first time since my prom that I’ve been excited to buy dresses & that’s including my wedding.
Online shopping has opened my eyes to a whole new world that’s for sure.
I think I might buy the birdcage dress for one; http://www.eshakti.com/popuppdpage.asp?catalog=Clothes&productid=CL0021919
But am undecided on my second choice. I definitely agree with your list of requirements though!
I love the birdcage dress. There is another graphic print dress that I wanted for regular wear – but that will have to wait. I’ve known about Eshakti for a couple of years and I’m still surprised that I haven’t ordered anything!
I do agree that online shopping presents a lot more options! Good luck finding your second dress.
I’ve never been to a wedding so I have no idea what I would actually do. I like that you try to intentionally avoid the color scheme of the actual wedding because who wants to blend in? :) I hope you find a killer outfit to wear, and I totally LOVE that lace dress by LucieLu, it’s just so gorgeous!
I’ve accidentally worn coordinating clothes and people mistake me for someone who actually knows stuff about the wedding. Yikes!
Thanks! I love the Lucie Lu dress, I hope it pops up on eBay or something in cobalt – I’ll snatch it up in a heartbeat!
Where, where, where, where is that beautiful grey silk dress from???!!!!
Oops! It is from Nordstrom by Suzi Chin.
You might check out the Nordstrom Rack in San Leandro – they tend to have dressy large size dresses (that sounded crazy) and the prices aren’t too bad. I was there yesterday (yes, I admit it’s a regular stop) and they had a kind of grass green dress with a ruffled v neick that I think would look nice on you – sadly, I don’t remember the price but it was certainly less than $60. You might also try the downtown SF Ross – they had a few dressy type selections including a Tahari cocktail dress with a matching white cropped jacked that I loved but the dress was black. It was I think around $60 or $70 – which is pretty good since Tahari tends to be a bit pricey. Push comes to shove, you can always get a dressy top to wear with a skirt you already have. Yeah, I wouldn’t want to do that either, I’m just sayin….
Good luck!
Nordstrom Rack – fantastic idea! I’ve actually never been there. If I’m in the area – I’m usually in a rush and don’t have time to stop. I really need to make trip and check it out. I’ve heard their wide calf boots and large size shoe selection is pretty awesome too.
Thanks for your suggestions!
I love the ruffly one! It’s so, so pretty.
Weddings are so varied these days, there is no cookie cutter approach for dressing for them. Personally I like to avoid black, prefer skirts or dresses, and try to keep pretty dressy, but I often turn up over-dressed or see people taking a whole different tack to choosing wedding attire.
I look forward to what you come up with though.
OMG, you’ve never been to the Rack!?! Please post some feedback, I’d be interested in what you think. Sadly, it’s a bit picked over right now – the lull between the seasons I think – but I hope you find something. I usually find at least one thing. If you have time, I also recommend the Talbots outlet across the way – pretty conservative styles but they have a good size plus section and there are lots of well made basics for really great prices. AND they often have leather plus size belts, usually marked down to $20 or less. I have metallic leather, 3 animal print ones – I recently bought a bright green patent belt there for $5. I usually wear a 3x in belts but at Talbots, I get a 2x because the 3 is usually too big.
I probably don’t need to say this but remember to ignore the numbers on the size tag and try things on freely with an open mind.I
Be careful with eShakti. Their clothes are decent, but their shipping time and customer service is horrendous. They advertise all over their site that you will receive your order in 7-10 days. I placed a previous order and it came within the time frame specified. However, they are currently “experiencing delays” (a fact I was NOT told when I placed my order on April 1). I STILL have not received a dress I ordered almost a month ago for an event this weekend.
I’ve sent several emails to customer service and repeatedly called, and still only heard “back” once – with a canned email offering a 10% refund on the order. Great, except I had to place a rush order from a different store last week for my event this weekend, and shipping cost me three times as much for that order as eShakti refunded me.
Conclusion? DON’T order anything time-sensitive from them (kinda defeats the purpose since they specialize in special-occasion dresses)!!!
Thanks for the heads up! I had originally planned on ordering from them in January/February but put it off. Then I felt it was too late because I was worried about the same issues that you’re having. With good reason it seems!
It is too bad you’re having such a hard time. I hope you get things sorted out!