I went to the Americana yesterday with a mission – to find a dress to wear to a rehearsal dinner this Friday. Really, everything had been looking a little blah online, I’m fed up with J. Crew’s redesign (still!), and with less than a week to find the right dress… it was time to hit the streets.
I’m an overachiever. I found two. And bought both. They were on sale, plus an additional 20% off in store, AND I wear dresses to church almost weekly. Totally worth it.
I would never have ordered either of these dresses after seeing the pictures online – they look kind of boring. But on a real person? Adorable. This is why I love real-shopping. If I can’t touch it, turn it around and try it on, I have no idea if I’ll like it. Weird lighting and grumpy models can totally ruin the online-shopping experience. And the salesperson at the store was incredibly helpful, which is more than I can say for most online “customer service.”
It was tempting to just leave this post until later, when I could take pictures of myself IN the dresses – but I don’t have time to do that today, and I could really use the internet’s advice. So without further blathering on…
Matte jersey dress in frost combo, from BCBGMaxAzria
An empire waist dress that shows off your waist and doesn’t make you look pregnant. I promise. CM said it looked like a “princess dress”, which I translated as male for “lovely blue color with a pretty neckline.” This fabric is amazing and absolutely refused to wrinkle when I wore it to church this morning, which makes this a great piece for travel. It’s cool and comfy and I think I could wear it every day. Oh, and a twiggy little girl working at Gilly Hicks complimented me on it today. (Seriously, I could have put her in my pocket. She was tiny.)
Cotton poplin dress with colorblocked cummerbund, from BCBGMaxAzria
Crisp and pretty, and the waist is low enough that it actually accentuates your waist, instead of making it appear that your ribcage is your narrowest part like some dresses I’ve tried (ahem). The cummerbund is super flattering; that dark color really narrows the waist. I felt like I had dropped 5 pounds just by putting it on. And the pleated skirt makes me feel like a girly-girl.
So? Opinions? I need to have a verdict by Friday! Which do you think I should wear for the rehearsal?
I love the second one!
Oh My… aren’t they both fabulous?!
But I’m with Miss Nautical, the second seems the better of the two. Maybe it just appears to have a little more oomph than the first.
And for heaven’s sake, if you want to wear Payless every day of the week 24/7, no one should care. That isn’t you, it’s merely your shoes.
Loving all of the posts,
TP
I vote for the second dress! The first dress is pretty, but I agree with PreppyPrincess…the second just has a little extra something!