Here's a sponsored post on something I had not yet stopped to consider: the moms. The moms around here are already planning their wedding outfits, and I mean, all four of them.* Mama Mouse came to town last week to take me to my first dress fitting (about which I have more news, real soon!), and we did some recreational mother of the bride dress shopping. This is tricky territory, because Mama Mouse has style. Apparently this is not something people who make mother of the bride dresses are expecting. Because these people are all about the sequins, crinkly fabrics, and all that.
At the same time, Mama Mouse is having a difficult time at department stores, because she wants something long. She and I are basically carbon copies of each other and wear the same size, but the cute empire-waisted long dresses that I love don't work on her. She wants to cover up her shoulders and chest, and by the time that's done, we've entered the territory of BUNCHY. Which is silly. Because the woman is still a very tall size six.
So I think what she's looking for is something more fitted, with a cover-up on the top that won't be ridiculously hot in the desert. I've been looking around at some ideas. I think something like these might work for mother of the bride dresses (top left, although in a brighter color) would be good, or maybe the black bolero jacket approach (bottom row, second from right)?
Have you guys found any good resources for mother of the bride dresses that don't make your eyes bleed?
* This is what happens with the divorced parents. We have four mothers of the bride/groom.
(Sponsored by David's Bridal.)
11 comments:
Macy's, Nordstrom, and Dillards all have Mother of the Bride sections within their Dress Shops.
I like the one you found at David's Bridal. Are you sure Mama Mouse wants long? It's gonna be so hot... something like this would be pretty and non-bunchy:
http://shop.nordstrom.com/S/2997922/0~2376776~2374327~2374331~6014165?mediumthumbnail=Y&origin=category&searchtype=&pbo=6014165&P=1
Good luck! xo.
Why do dress companies hate our mothers? Seriously. My mom wants sleeves and we can't find anything pretty with sleeves, she also kind of wants longer because of perceived old lady knees. J. Crew suiting dresses with sleeves are very pretty but not really long enough. Le sigh.
gah. my mother made me watch her try on five dresses. Then she wouldn't even look at a picture of my dress.
I fired my mom from the dress search after she tried to buy herself a dress, and bought her one from Nordstrom.com. She didn't trust online shopping/in-store returns, but I had had great experience with them in the past. Was this bridezilla-ish of me? Maybe, but it was my sister's wedding, and my sister was stressed out, and the only thing I could do to reduce my sister's stress about my mom's dress was buy a dress my sister liked and strongarm my mother into wearing it.
She hated the color but liked the design. She resented the fact she couldn't wear purple. Every single guest at the wedding told her how fantastic she looked though, so I think she came around.
Moral of the story: I recommend Nordstrom.com and asking forgiveness instead of permission.
Yikes. I have never liked the dress and matching jacket look. I'd be tempted to do something like this, http://www.bluefly.com/Marc-Bouwer-GlamIt-spruce-stretch-charmeuse-and-organza-strapless-dress-with-shrug/cat20112/303777701/detail.fly. If we're talking style.
(this is going to sound so lame, and I don't watch Wheel of Fortune normally, but...) I was really impressed by Vanna White's dress last night. The first thing I thought when I saw it was that it would be a great MOB dress, because it covers the shoulders as many older women prefer, but doesn't look gaudy.
You can check it out at http://www.vannastyle.com/ ... and click on thursday.
The bolero jacket is another option that can be rather stylish, but may also be quite warm.
As far as inspiration, check out the Oscars this Sunday- that will likely provide her with lots of ideas. Do you remember the gorgeous red dress that Hellen Mirren wore? Something that was reminiscent of the (top half) of that dress might be very pretty and classic.
Ugh, the dress and wedding industry have totally stripped our mothers of any dignity or style. Horrific. These are women who grew up and came of age in the 60's and 70's-- since WHEN do they not care about how they look?
Personally, my mother is my maid of honor, so I kind of limited her dress choices (black dresses, knee length), but she took it in stride. We found her dress (on sale!) at Nordstrom's, with at least a couple other excellent options (and those were short dresses), so I strongly suggest starting there. I also wanted my mom to look into the J Crew bridesmaid dresses, which might be a good option for your mom-- they have long dresses, and you could certainly wear one with a bolero or shrug.
Good luck!
Thanks, guys, you all have great suggestions--from Nordy's to BlueFly to Vanna, I love it!
It sounds like Mama Mouse has been thinking about this, too, because she went out and bought some red satin open-toed pumps with bows on em, and now wants the dress to match. HOW COOL IS MY MOM?!
Red satin pumps with bows! Damn, your mom does have style. I have a strong suspicion I will be dressing my mother, because unfortunately, mine does not have any sense of fashion. If it was up to her, she might show up with 80s shoulder pads. Seriously.
Ugh, I'm having the same problem with finding my mother's dress. She also wants something with style that isn't going to age her twenty years. We've been looking at shirt-dresses with 3/4 sleeves as an option.
Now that she has beautiful shoes, your mom might want to rethink the long dress and go with a tea length or shorter. Gotta show them off!
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