Dressing For Someone Else's Wedding

I did not manage to take a photo of every wedding outfit, but here are the ones I did get. 
Read more about them: Blue Floral Dress | Coat and Boots | Plum Dress| Tory Burch Top

As I've briefly mentioned here before, I have gone to a lot of weddings this year (including my own - but that outfit will get its own post, obvi). For those weddings, it is a rare opportunity to dress up and get out of my 9-to-5 comfort zone. I put a lot of time and effort into outfit planning, and thought I'd share some of my thoughts:

Variety: Taking a step back, if I had wanted to, I could have worn the same dress to every wedding I went to this year (baring inclement weather). I had a brief moment of thinking I shouldn't repeat outfits because "the same guests will be at Wedding X as at Wedding Y" but quickly realized I don't care. My family, friends and co-workers routinely see me in repeated outfits, so I'm not sure why it should matter for wedding guests. Also, I saw a lot of the same men at these weddings and they all wore the same suit, over and over, with no one saying a word about it. If having one go-to outfit is how you like to get dressed for weddings, you do you. 

Dress Code: For me, I think finding the right outfit for these events is something that should be planned out and mulled over. It's almost like a sport (or so I would imagine, not being particularly athletic). You've got to game-plan! I like looking at what the official dress code is (be it Cocktail Attire or Mountain Formal or You Have To Wear This Dress Because You Are a Bridesmaid) and combing through my closet to find something that will honor the theme, while keeping with my personal style.

New vs. Old: I don't think that just because you are going to an event, you have to buy something new. In fact, of the outfits shown above, all of them are entirely comprised of pieces that were already in my closet prior to the year 2017 (including shoes and accessories) except for the floral dress on the left, and the bridesmaid dress on the far right. That one might be easier for me than others, as I have a pretty deep closet and I hoard my clothes (so if you take nothing away from this post, it is keep all your clothes, forever...).

Preparedness: I managed to get through all my weddings with no fashion emergencies. The closest I got was with the plum dress. Something exploded in my suitcase, staining the dress. Thankfully it was water based and washed out once I lovingly blotted out each spot, but it would have been a stone cold bummer if my dress was spotted. In the future, I'd consider a garment bag, or wrapping my dresses in plastic. Other than that, I always carry bandaids, bring at least a few pieces of fashion tape and an extra hair-tie in my clutch (or on my wrist, if we are being honest).

Wearing White: This is an interesting topic, which I've discussed with a lot of ladies at weddings this year. It seems like people are still solidly in Camp Don't-Wear-White, but that peach and blush and other nude colors are creeping in. I often see multiple guests in something vaguely "bridal", and it seems like attitudes are definitely shifting here. I personally don't care about white (everyone wear white!), but nevertheless I take a conservative approach.  If I know the bride well, I can usually guess what she prefers (or she has told me), and if I don't know the bride very well, I stay away from white/blush/cream/ivory. 

Do you have any wedding outfit tips? What is the most befuddling dress code you have ever seen?

Eureka

Tunic | Tory Burch
Dress | Derek Lam 10 Crosby
Shoes | Paul Green

     I am in the middle of a few months of almost back to back wedding weekends, which has been amazing and lovely as I am so excited to celebrate all of these unions, but it is also secretly great because I get to dress up more than I usually do. I plan to do a comprehensive post of all of the outfits and how I game-planned them once I attend the last wedding in October. 
     For a recent wedding, I was really struggling with what to wear. It was outdoors, would most likely be quite warm, and it was important to me that I was colorfully and joyfully dressed. That was of particular importance because this absolutely resplendent lady was the bride:

     She wanted something bright and joyful to wear on her wedding day, and I think she nailed it. It fits her perfectly, and the color really popped against the wooded backdrop. I actually helped find the dress, and I was so happy I could help her achieve her vision. When she asked for my input, I took the job very seriously, haha - it is one thing to dress yourself, but quite another to help dress another person, especially for such an important event.  The actual shopping was pretty painless though, and it only took us one mall, two and a half hours and one Wetzel's Pretzel to find it, although I did do hours of heavy scouring of the interwebs before then.  
     In regards to my own outfit - bright and early, in the middle of a stressful work morning, it hit me. I have this insane Tory Burch embellished linen tunic that I purchased at a heavy discount late last year, and have been very much wanting to wear, but that I was unsure of how/when to wear it. It is a more casual fabric (linen) but heavily beaded, and also it isn't quite a top but also isn't a dress by any means. I always pictured it paired with black cigarette pants, and high stiletto heels, but up until now, I have been unable to find the ideal pants. Also, for this wedding, as you can see from the photos, I couldn't really wear stilettos, unless I was trying to aerate the grounds.  

     What finally dawned on me, that morning, was to layer the tunic over a dress! I wanted a dress that had a little more volume in the skirt, but that was otherwise pretty simple, since this top has a lot happening. After trying it on with a few different dresses, I remembered the one I ended up wearing, which is actually the slip of this dress. I loved the color pairing and thought the pleats fit in well. Not only that, but since the slip had a low v-neck, I ended up flipping the tunic front to back, and wearing it backward! You can see what was supposed to be the front, in one of the images below. I also had to remove the tag, as it otherwise kept sticking out and gave away my secret. I was pretty pleased with myself, and am glad my subconscious was working on this issue while my conscious was hard at work. I also received some valuable input at the wedding on how else I can wear this top.

     If you are curious as to what the embellishment looks like up close - be curious no more:

This is the front. 

Have you had a recent eureka fashion moment? Where or to whom do you turn to help you sort out fashion questions?

Sweet Pleat

Dress | Derek Lam 10 Crosby

I talked previously about my ideal work outfit, and I think that this might be my ideal dress. It was another amazing find at my go-to Nordstrom Rack, which also brought me this dress and these shoes (the Tory Burch ones).  This dress checks all the boxes; it is:

Monotone:

I've started wearing more and more print, but at heart, I am someone who loves a singular color palette.  It is really easy to wear and then I can always add a statement bag or shoe.

Navy:

Black is obviously a classic, but it can be a little harsh, so I usually gravitate towards navy. It matches easily with accessories or jackets of every color, and I like the way it looks with my skin-tone. 

Comfortable:

Obviously, if this was going to be the ideal dress I could wear everyday, if I had to, it has to be comfortable. This one is so soft and easy to move it. The pleats also catch the breeze in a pleasing way.

Unique:

I have enjoyed discovering my personal style over the years, and a small part of what makes up my personal style is a joy in finding pieces that are unusual, and not worn by everyone. That is part of the reason, other than thriftiness, that I like thrift and consignment stores. I love finding something that isn't for everyone, with an unusual detail or element. (Also, Derek Lam is sold all over the world, so I guess take "unique" with a grain of salt, there.) In this case, it is two fold. First, this is actually two pieces, there is a pleated under-dress, and then the sweater part goes on top, but you an also wear them separately. I've worn the top as a tunic w/ leggings, for example. Additionally, I love the pleated bottom - it isn't pleated all the way across, with the uneven hem, allowing little triangles of pleats to pop out at the bottom of the dress. 

What are the necessary elements of your ideal dress?