NYC to the rescue

must share the awesomeness

my sis in law maeve posted about the very difficult task of finding a modest dress to attend a wedding, i immediately thought of alyssa.  i hope she doesn't mind me posting her reply because good grief, it's great.

Sorry I'm so slow to respond. I wanted to find some time to hunt around for some suggestions but work has been crazier than usual this week plus I'm hosting a bridal shower tomorrow so my spare time has been spent looking at recipes online. Any good light salad suggestions?  

Anyway, I have a few places I always look and generally have luck with www.nordstrom.com, www.bananarepublic.com,  and www.bluefly.com.  I really do not like going shopping in stores because it is hard to get a feel for a dress in a dressing room. Both of these stores have great and simple return policies and come with pre-addressed return labels. Which means you can order some options, try them on when you feel good and send back the ones you don't want. Also, both bluefly and nordstrom have some great tools to narrow down the selection of dresses.

 

So I don't know your budget or how fancy/casual the wedding is so I just found a variety. Here you go:

 

From Bluefly: This one is pretty bold and a little pricier but if you google bluefly coupons you can sometimes find an extra discount. And they mark dresses down for one day periods at a time if you are on their mailing list they will tell you about that. This one might be a little sheer but could work for the right occasion. Another Nanette Lapore. This one is interesting but may be more of a work dress. This one intrigues me for some reason. This one is nice. The sort of drop waist on this might be weird but the color is great. This one is pricey but very unique pattern and a flattering cut.

 

From Nordstrom: I think this one is great, I love the color. This one is pretty sophisticated if the wedding is really fancy but the color is kind of dark for summer. This could be fun, it comes in a few colors but I like Cactus. If you are feeling bold, here is a bright red one I like. I may want to get married in thisone but that is clearly not the current exercise. I'm just a little obsessed with shutter pleats. There are lots of shutter pleat dresses but I assume they are a little too black tie for what you are looking for.

 

Found this dress on sale at Ralph Lauren, it could work by pinning or stiching the low v-neck up - something I've become really good at despite my lack of sewing skills.

 

From Banana: this is a great dress that could be livened up with some colorful shoes. I like  this one and think it could be amazing but it may be a bit tricky so you will need to try it on to figure out if the front is going to gape open when you sit or walk - sometimes those can be tacked down as well.  This one is pretty but the color is a bit bland to me. Satin is tricky but this could be great - especially since it is on sale. Here is one more Banana dress on sale - the brown would need to be livened up with some color I think for a wedding.

 

I also found this dress from J Crew which I think is pretty and very similar to something I own.

 

BCBG dresses are 15% off this weekend and I like this brightly colored one.

 

I kind of think of Coldwater Creek for the older 40/50 crowd but this is great dress.

 

If you can wear yellow, I think this is really pretty and bright - from Antrhopologie. Here is a tricky one, these sleeves may or may not work, you would have to try it on. 

 

I realize you aren't supposed to wear black or white to a wedding but this black AND white dress seems like it would be fine. Especially if you wore some bright jewelry/heels.

 

That may be a bit of overkill for you but it was a great way for me to entertain myself on a mostly dull conference call this morning. Good luck and let me know what you decide to wear!