Buying for Christmas party & wedding, cluelessness & low funds. Halp!

I have to bite the bullet and spend money on clothes that won't give me daily wear. I have very little money to do this with, and I could use your advice on the best way to do it.

I am needing to buy for a "dressy but not formal" evening Christmas party and a 4:00 springtime wedding with no dress code specified. Some questions I have:

1. Is there any way I can get one dress/outfit that does double duty for both? This is the dress I ordered for the party, and I'm afraid it will be utterly wrong for a wedding: http://www.jcpenney.com/dotcom.....rchResults

2. If not, would a bright blue, cotton, empire waist dress be appropriate for the wedding? Here's a pic of the general feel of the dress I own, though the neckline is different and the waistline lower than mine: http://d1n0t8embjb5t8.cloudfro....._dress.jpg

3. Shoes and tights. I'm still figuring this out. I must wear heels below 1", and I'm embarrassed to show my legs (white, deconditioned, sometimes bruised or bumpy). I was going to wear black opaque tights and buy a pair of nicer knee-high boots for the black dress, but I'm pretty sure boots are not okay for a wedding. I'm not even sure tights are okay for a wedding. I don't have any dressy shoes at the moment.

Other wardrobe items I own that might participate, maybe?: Express editor pants in black, gray slacks, long floral semi-ruffled romantic boho skirt in lightest browns with mauve (sheer material over an opaque lining), nicely draped sleeveless knit tops X3 in purple, magenta, teal.

I'm hoping to do this while holiday sales are still happening, for ~$150 if possible. The JC Penney dress is returnable for a full refund, if I need to.

I'm tall (5'10) and relatively slender with an hourglass figure. My height is in my legs, and apparently ALL the dresses are ultra-short these days.

I hesitated to post because of my inactivity and my inability to reciprocate (cluelessness not being very helpful). I'm especially grateful for your help!

13 years ago

Thistle

Veteran

This is gling to be all anout accessories. dress a plain dress up with high sparkle and shine for the Holiday party, and then softened it for the wedding. no need to buy two dresses.

Here is one at Old Navy for $30 in blue. This is before the current 30% off going on. Pop on some high heels and tights for the party, add some sparkle through jewelry, belts, etc.

Mix it with a light patterned scared perhaps a white blazer for the wedding.

http://oldnavy.gap.com/browse/.....=332796022

Another option, also $30 before the 30% off

http://oldnavy.gap.com/browse/.....=383988012

Old Navy also has some sequin tops in a variety of colors. They could be worn over a skirt of slacks you already have and then paired with a jacket or pretty cardigan.

MoiraBlue

Active Member

And if I do stick with the black dress/tights/boots, would somewhat casual boots work? I'm guessing tough, edgy, casual is right out, but what about something like this: http://www.modcloth.com/shop/s.....lace-boot#

Oops, I didn't preview before posting. Thanks for the advice so far.

Keix

The Modcloth boots seem to be a bit too edgy for a holiday party. I would go with sleek black riding boots. Or, consider buying one pair of black dress shoes that you could wear to both events.

The style of the first dress seems OK to me for a wedding, but the color is a little dark for spring... though I may be biased because I wouldn't wear black or white/cream to a wedding. The second dress sounds like it might work well if you dress it up with nice accessories, e.g., a pearl or tastefully shiny necklace and a sparkly belt. And you could still pair it with black dress heels, if you acquire a pair now for the holiday party.

ironkurtin

I don't know what size you are, but for both events I would do this:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/EILEEN.....484c09be3f

and then buy a pair of very basic black boots with the highest heel you can manage.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Michae.....3a7c1c88b2

For the Xmas party, a sparkly scarf or even a strip of Xmas tree tinsel strip worn as a scarf will work.

For the wedding, pick a bright wrap with a little bit of black in it.

For the record, I wear black to weddings all the time - and for all events, you cannot go wrong with a very classic basic silhouette, ever.

I can't wear high heels at all. I know that tidbit got buried in all the info. I could probably get away with 1". Again, thanks for all the helpful info.

Sveta

(website)

I have seen a lovely lace dress in Long Tall Sally (which means it should be long enough for you) and it should work both for wedding and for Christmas party:
http://us.longtallsally.com/ta.....3_dresses#

If you can't wear heels, try to find a flat boot with a pointier toe in black, or patent leather. It looks dressier.

Krista

I don't have time to check out all of the links because I'm getting ready for work, but I'm just chiming in to say that I'm watching my budget very carefully as well but also needed some holiday wear. I just picked up a bright pink sequined top for about $50 on Saturday that will carry me through several holiday events:
- paired with black pencil skirt and black cardi for my husband's Christmas party
- paired with skinny jeans and flats for any casual get together
- paired with black skinny pants and cute black flats (with black or plum cardi) for Christmas dinner
- paired with white skirt or capris on New Year's as we're going South for a holiday
- I also have charcoal skinnies to wear it with

I was a bit skeptical about buying a sequined top but it's turned out that it's given me many more options than I thought I would have. Good luck in your search!

cjh

The dress Sveta linked is gorgeous and sophisticated, and I can see it at both occasions. If it's too long, you could have it shortened a bit. It would go with some black patent ballet flats or strappy little heels, and would be a pretty dress for several years.

I don't know your age or other life activities, so please take my comments gently. The black one shoulder you linked looks very young, a bit too revealing for either event to my eye. If the party is at a club/disco, or the wedding is a typical hotel buffet with DJ entertainment, and there will be lots of crazy young people dancing, it might fly. Otherwise, more festive yet more grow up, like Sveta's lace, would be my preference.

A little more info about the bright blue dress I have that I have been considering for the wedding: it's a-line with an empire waist, hits just below the knee, and the neckline looks almost exactly like this: http://www.modcloth.com/shop/d.....look-dress

cjh, regarding the black bloussant dress, everything on my body would be covered with opaque black except for my one shoulder, and it would be far less shape-revealing than the daily jeans-and-tank uniform in these parts. Are you saying specifically that a one-shouldered dress would be inappropriate outside of a club, or is there something else about that dress that you feel is inappropriate?

To everyone, thanks for your opinions. I found a dress in dark teal at Marshall's that would work for both occasions, somewhat like this: http://www.jny.com/Side-Seam-D.....ny-catalog

When the black dress from JC Penney's comes, I'll decide either to:

1. keep that for the Christmas party and wear the bright blue cotton dress for the wedding, or

2. return it and use the Marshall's dress for both occasions.

If you have an opinion between the two, I'd definitely be grateful for it!

Not necessarily inappropriate at all, but there are such differences in weddings, I hardly think you can lump them into one huge category any more. The same can be said about christmas parties. The time of day, location, group of people, main activity (dancing, eating, family get together, games, drinks, etc.), local customs, all play a part in defining what to wear to any event now days. It's just that my personal preference leans more toward dressier and suitable for more than one event, so it has to be a bit more conservative to me. Since you asked about wearing the same dress to two different events, in two seasons, I favored the lace dress, and described the two types of Christmas party and wedding that i thought could be covered by the little black dress you showed.

I think that if the wedding is an afternoon garden party in hot summer, the black dress would not work, but for some weddings, it might be fine. If your christmas party is for a bunch of college friends or young marrieds, it works, but perhaps not for an office or work party, or a gathering including kids and grandparents.

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