Dresses and Technical Difficulties

Oh boo. I have a dozen half-drafted posts but my computer is being entirely uncooperative and refusing to put the letters I'm typing into the correct places on the page. So, instead of a post that requires lots of typing and editing, you're getting photos of some of those department store dresses I tried on.

However, I've decided not to share the dress I chose on the blog. (Yes, I chose a dress!) As the wedding gets more defined and real, I'm finding I want to keep certain details a surprise for the people who will be sharing the day with us in person. And, although you'll probably be able to figure out which dress I chose via the process of elimination, there's something different about seeing the right dress on the right person. It's how a white dress gets transformed into a wedding dress. And that's the part I've decided I don't want to share on the blog.

However, I also feel like it's important to show what these dresses look like on "real" people. I'm not saying that models aren't real people, but their body type isn't reflective of the majority of dress-buying women, making it hard to judge how a dress might look on you from an online picture. So I'm willing to share photos of my amazing-but-ultimately-rejected dresses. (Really, they were all pretty amazing. There's only one dress I didn't like at all and therefore refused to take photos of because I felt like a poofy ostrich princess which wasn't quite the wedding look I was aiming for.)  For reference, I'm 5'9" and a size 4 on top and 8 on the bottom, so this should be particularly helpful for tall pear-shaped women. And hopefully this series can help some shorter non-pear-shaped women too.

The Limited Romantic Dress

Model photos:

Me:

• Pros: Ruffles, gorgeous silk chiffon material, lightweight and lovely, and RUFFLES. Seriously, I was in love with the ruffles. They were even charming enough to win over my mother (and she is not easily charmed by things as flimsy as ruffles. But these were particularly pretty and well-made ruffles.)
• Cons: Um, you remember that bit where I mentioned I'm a size 4 on top? Yeah, I don't want a dress that somehow adds about four more sizes above that. The ruffles distracted me from the well-understood fashion truth that empire waists are appropriate for about two body types and pregnant ladies. The ruffles were devious. They called to me and then snuck in those extra sizes for the camera's benefit. Also, I could have used a bit more support in the bodice, but I could have added in some boning or cups during alterations without much cost or difficulty.

If you, however, have one of the two body types well-suited to empire waist dresses, I can absolutely vouch for the quality of this dress. And with the $298 price and decent return policy (60 days, mail returns only) it's absolutely worth trying it on.