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W2W: 7 weddings, 1 graduation, 3.5 dresses

Charmian

Veteran

I mentioned in http://youlookfab.com/welookfa.....tiple-yuck that I have 4 dresses ... one of which is obviously a bridesmaid's dress (as it's blue silk chiffon) and may not be re-wearable.

I bought all of these dresses before I started paying attention to my personal style, my body type, etc, so I'd be ok with letting all of them go, if that's what y'all recommend. However, I thought it would be a fun exercise to try styling each dress a little differently and see how far I could stretch them. I've learned a lot! I've had to think about my accessories in a completely new way (to me) and, yes, there's been some accessory shopping: I don't think there's a single cardigan/scarf/pair of shoes/gloves in these photos that's older than 4 months!

So, two questions:
(1) How'd I do? Any suggestions for making the existing outfits better?
(2) What else can I try? I'm starting to run a little dry on ideas. The remaining events are: 1 black-tie evening wedding and 2 casual fall weddings on the west coast. Actually, I may have an 8th wedding, a winter wedding on the east coast (do they give punch cards for weddings, and if so, where do I sign up?)

Here's the unstyled dresses:
Photo 1: Dove-gray textured-cotton dress.
Photo 2: Navy-blue rayon dress (pattern is cream flowers). Comes with a collar which I can fold under the neckline.
Photo 3: Black-lace cocktail dress
Photo 4: Blue silk chiffon bridesmaid dress.

And here are the outfits, ordered by when they debuted:

Photo 5: Early spring wedding; navy blue scarf as a wrap. The scarf didn't photograph well at all, but it's got cream bunnies ... ON BICYCLES. I don't know a single person who didn't walk away smiling after they saw them. I also forgot to change my shoes for this photo; I wore a pair of cream Fluevog Viardots. This was my earliest attempt, and it shows.

Photo 6: Early summer graduation; scarf-as-belt plus cardigan.

Photo 7: Garden wedding; styled as a 1940s dress. I left the collar folded out, added scrunched gloves and costume pearls. Hair was pinned into a low chignon. It was SO MUCH FUN!

Photo 8: Evening wedding; cocktail dress + boots. I'm wearing a tiny silver tennis bracelet, and in retrospect, I should have gone bolder with accessories -- perhaps Angie's string of costume pearls would have been appropriate here?

Photo 9: Casual wedding, described by the couple as a "hootenany"; boots + lace camisole. I folded the collar under so the dress didn't feel as "retro", but I feel like I could have used one more "fun" accessory ... not sure what, though!

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Dressing

20 replies

Latest reply was from Charmian

Lynne

Veteran

I nominate you as the Captain of Team Most Invited Wedding Guest! I think the third and fourth dresses would be lovely for the black tie evening wedding....

rute

Veteran

I'm European and here those dresses would be too casual for weddings.

I like dress 8 but with shoes, the boots make the look more casual. Do you have more festive shoes? It would make all the difference, those black pumps are perfect for work, but for a wedding..

7 is cute, but skip the gloves!

modgrl

(website)

Veteran

I agree with Rute... as someone from Eastern Europe, I have a hard time thinking about weddings as casual events. You'd need to step up the bling factor and wear heels to make any of them wedding appropriate. I like #3, how about some bling, gold, pearls, a cocktail ring, or shiney clip ons for the shoes? Knee high boots make all of these outfits look much too casual. #2 is very pretty but it is very casual.

Queen Mum

Veteran

being American, I am usually the most dressed up at a wedding.... so depending on the dressiness of each individual wedding, I think any of these dresses could be a possibility.
I would find a dressy black pump or strappy sandal for dress 3. Dress 4 would be fab with a nude strappy sandal or metallic.
Dress 1 or 2 would actually be a common style of dress worn to a casual wedding around here.

Jamie

#7 makes my heart go pitter-patter. but the shoes could be brought up a notch.

Not loving the cardi in #6, it seems to distract from the dress, which is lovely.

Good dresses to work with.

Angie

(website)

Fashion Stylist

#3 gets my top vote hands down if this is a casual wedding event. It looks lovely! May I suggest lightening up the shoes? You need something more retro and refined.

Charmian

Veteran

@Lynne: it's weird, I don't even have that many friends! The cards just seemed line up between me and my husband's friends.

@Rute and @modgrl: We're pretty casual on the US's west coast. Many of my friends are also in technology, which makes things even MORE casual. I was not the most dressed-down guest in any of the weddings, and the bride herself was in distressed cowboy boots for #5! Thanks for the honest feedback about the black boots; I was definitely trying to make the dresses more casual with them (so I succeeded in the image I wanted, which is good), but it's also useful to know that they won't work for the more formal weddings I've got coming up.

@Queen Mum: That's really interesting, you see #4 as being workable for a wedding? Maybe it's because I've got previous associations in my head, but it totally screams REUSED BRIDESMAID DRESS to me. Is changing the shoe enough for you, or would you see other accessories too? Thanks for the feedback!

@Jamie: Thanks! #7 was the most fun I had putting together :).

@Angie: Ok, I'll try to squeeze one or two more wears out of #3, and consider shopping for something more formal for the rest (in particular, the black tie and east coast weddings). Thank you!

It seems unanimous that I need a different pair of black shoes (or shoe clips to bring up the bling) -- super useful! Keep the great feedback coming.

Anonymous

Wow! You have a great collection of dresses. I really love your styling too! My only suggestion is to maybe try a lighter weight/color sweater with #6, this one looks a tad heavy with the summery dress.

Great looks!

bran888

Dress # 3 is super flattering, love it!

rae

(website)

Veteran

You had me at bunnies on bicycles! !

How interesting that weddings are so casual here in the US... I thought I was giving everyone a break by saying, "suit up as much as possible/wear a cocktail dress," but maybe I am actually the high-maintenance one! Whoops! My excuse is that I work in Beverly Hills... o_0

Charmian

Veteran

rae, I think even within a geography like the west coast, there's a lot of variation. Keep in mind that I sling code for a living, as do many of my friends, so we're on the far end of the casual <-> formal spectrum.

HeleenH

Veteran

I am European too and would have no problem with your dresses at a wedding. Nr. 1 would probably need a little dressing up, the material looks a little un-dressy, but the others are just fine. I loooove dress nr 4. Over here bridesmaids are 2, 4, maybe anything up to 10 years old but that would be a very old bridesmaid so it doesn't screem bridesmaid to me Maybe it feels less 'I was a bridesmaid' if you add some red accessories (or another colour)?

MsMary

Veteran

I think Dress Number Four would be perfectly appropriate as a guest! I would definitely wear it to the upcoming black tie wedding! Maybe with some fun strappy metallic heeled sandals.

Michelle

(website)

Veteran

Wow, and I thought I had it bad with six weddings to attend. The crown is all yours, Charmian!
Blue silk chiffon sounds ideal for a formal wedding, and I echo Mary in suggesting metallic heeled sandals. How's your clutch situation? Perhaps that could be the piece you need in some ensembles? Wondering if you could find a fun python one?

lyn*

(website)

Veteran

Wow, I love dress #4. Amazingly love. Love love love. Maybe it looks so nice because it's on you

Steph

Veteran

I just had to chime in about dress number 4. It's the J. Crew Sophia dress, right? I wore it as a bridesmaid in a wedding as well (mine is green), but much of the appeal of those J. Crew bridesmaid dresses is that they are really occasion dresses that can be worn again, and can definitely be worn as a wedding guest. The idea is more that they are pretty party dresses that happen to do double duty as bridesmaid dresses with a flexible enough bride. In fact, I wore mine as a guest at a wedding before the wedding I was in even happened! I also know several people who have purchased that dress of their own accord, to wear to events where they are not bridesmaids.

So I will strongly say you don't have *anything* to worry about. Now, if you're planning on wearing it to a wedding that one of your fellow bridesmaids will be attending, you might want to make sure she isn't also wearing the dress. But other than that, you can definitely wear it. I wouldn't, however, wear it with the closed-toed black shoes. It just looks too heavy, and the shoes in general don't look dressy enough. But to me, something screams bridesmaid when it is satin, a very unusual color, and has details like a sash or a butt bow.

As for a black tie wedding, I'm not sure any of these are perfect. I personally prefer wearing floor-length for black tie, but I have recently seen several people wearing shorter dresses. If you really want to go short, I think the third dress or the J. Crew dress might be your best options, but with different shoes and a fancy evening purse.

Diana

Veteran

Another vote for the former bridesmaid dress for the black tie wedding! I think it looks gorgeous on you. I like Angie's suggestion of lightening up the shoes; I think I would go for something metallic and strappy. Add some jewelry and maybe a wrap and you're good to go. I think you could use this dress for a winter wedding too, maybe with darker shoes and heavier jewelry, and perhaps a velvet wrap or little jacket or something.

And I just have to say that I ADORE the 1940's style outfit! The white gloves, the pearls, the dress - just perfect!

Freckles

Veteran

Amazing collection of dresses. I also love number four, wouldn't have known it was a bridesmaid dress if you hadn't of said. Dress number three is also a top contender.

Do you have any other dressier shoes? How about accessories. I don't imagine you really want to go out and buy a bunch more if you never use them.

AJ

Veteran

How about a metallic strappy heel to use for both 3 and 4?

Charmian

Veteran

@HeleenH: thanks for chiming in about dress codes in Europe! My friend's husband grew up in France, and he actually gasped in horror when he came to a mutual friend's casual wedding (after he recovered, we all had a great laugh). Europe has as wide of a variation as we do on the US's west coast, apparently: I later went to that friend's wedding in dress #4 and was *over-dressed*.

@Mary, Michelle, Diana, Freckles, & AJ: metallic heeled sandals, check. Will start shopping, and thanks for the concrete suggestion! And, no, I don't have ANY clutches, so this will be a fun excuse to shop! I've spent most of my life in tees and jeans and, as I alluded to in my first post, I've had a blast trying to incorporate some of these newly-acquired items (eg, black cardigan, scarf, tennis bracelet) into my everyday wear.

I continue to be surprised at the positive reaction to #4 (and, OMG Steph, your eye is AMAZING! Right on the nail: J Crew Sophia from a few years back). Thanks to everyone for chiming in on that dress, and so strongly too: maybe I can finally get my head out of "bridesmaid dress" and into "party dress".