All Dressed Up

So you read my last post and wanted to know your options if you DO want to be a princess? Never fear, that post is here! Now, I could start talking about the ball gown version of yesterday's Badgley Mishka, but where's the fun in that when designer Alfred Angelo has teamed up with Disney to make REAL princess inspired dresses?! The collage is a little rough, but here you go...

1. Snow White, 2. Jasmine, 3. Belle,

4. Cinderella, 5. Ariel, 6. Tiana

No doubt about it, these dresses are everything a proper Princess Bride dreams about! From tulle and taffeta to sequins and silk to ruffles and rhinestones, Alfred Angelo delivers! Though I'm more of a purist on my Disney designs (Ariel and Jasmine are my least favorite of the above dresses, but two of my favorite princesses) I'm definitely in love with the designs and the feeling they must give when they're on! I'm dying to sneak in to one of the boutiques and try each of them on to review their weight and wear.

The look is fantastic and you're sure to turn heads and get that gasp you always dreamed of, but as a friend and consultant, I couldn't let you pick one of these princess dresses or any other without considering the following:

One of the nit picky things about big dresses is their weight. When watching "Say Yes to the Dress", you can look at the Kleinfeld's employees when they drag some of the ball gowns out and see how much those dresses weigh-- upwards of 30-40lbs! Can you imagine putting on a dress that weighs roughly a quarter to a third of your own weight? My sister in law had such a dress-- it was a third if not more of her body weight and bustled up in the back so she could dance. She was gorgeous and loved her dress until the week after her wedding when her back hurt so badly she had to lay down most days to stretch it out. Now, she's a pretty tiny girl, so I'm not saying this will happen to all of you, but if you have a big dress try it on for a half hour at the salon; dance around in it, practice sitting and standing and bustling (if necessary). The salon won't hold it against you, wherever you are, because they want you to be happy and comfortable in it-- a happy customer is one who will send her friends there after all!

Dressed Down

Last week, I talked a bit about bridesmaids dresses-- I want to do the same thing this week with wedding dresses!

Little girls of my generation grew up with big poofy gowns and silk and taffeta and all those lovely remnants of the 70's and 80's, not too different from the dress up clothes for girls of many generations, and between dress up and Disney movies (two of my favorite things, for the record) we grow up imagining the shoulder-tastic dresses of Ariel, Cinderella, and the real-life icon Diana Princess of Wales. But then we get older and we realize that the large number of us look a little bit silly in those dresses... in a fit of princess-inspired mania, I picked out this little number 

I don't know how well you can see, BUT the dress is eating my underarms. And I couldn't move. Or breathe very well for that matter. The skepticism is clear on my face... I skipped out on this one and opted for a dress in which I could sit, dance, and eat during my special day, and after meeting a large number of brides who were unable to do at least one of those things without at least minor discomfort I have to wonder WHAT we are thinking!

I'm telling you now-- you should look gorgeous on your wedding day, you should wear a dress that makes you feel like queen of the world, but you should also be able to eat because take it from me... two Krispy Kreme doughnuts at 10a are not going to last you through pictures, ceremony, more pictures, packing up, getting to the reception, first dance, toasts, hellos... well, you get the picture. On the other hand, what if you don't want to look like a princess? What if you want to look like you? There are plenty of options; who says you have to wear a full length dress?

Ladies Who Lunch Dress

First up is one from my favorite place, ModCloth. It's light and airy, casual but classic and classy, and with a fascinator and a beautiful bouquet could be the PERFECT dress for a summer wedding! I'm also in love with a few fabulous finds from Nordstroms, like this Sue Wong strapless dress with ostrich feathers 

Or, if you like the feathers and want more flow, check out this Badgley Mishka number from Neiman Marcus:

These are, for the most part, dresses that would be categorized as "reception dresses" which is a topic I'll tackle another time, but I see no reason why they wouldn't be just as at home walking down the aisle at a beach wedding, indie wedding, spring or summer wedding, or wherever you want to wear them!