Saturday, October 18, 2008

Why doesn't it come in white?

So I have spent another weekend on my quest to find the perfect dress. I actually already have a dress but decided a few weeks ago that I wanted something a little fancier. Since I plan on wearing my dress for all 3 events and will have oodles of photos in it I want something I just adore, is flattering, and is good quality. The dress I have is really simple and since it was from Isaac Mizrahi's party dress line at Target didn't cost me that much and was sort of bought on a whim. Even though it is ivory it isn't too "bridal" so I could wear it for other things. Anyway this leads me to my current quest with just a few simple criteria. Or so I thought. Why is it so hard to find something?!!?

My major criteria are:
1) Tea length (which doubles my selection since most bridesmaid dresses come ivory and white, and bridal gowns can always be altered)
2) Flowy skirt (not sure if that is the design term but is the major drawback of my current dress)
3) Flutter or flouncy sleeves (again probably not the right term?, but hello is there anything that is not strapless?!)
4) Empire waistline (think looks the most flattering for me and has the comfy factor)

My minor criteria is:
5) Lace incorporated somewhere (perhaps this can always come in with a mantilla style veil?)

I never really thought of myself as a picky person but seriously there is nothing out there. One problem is that in bridal salons the sample dresses are usually a size 8 or 10. For a curvy girl like me it is impossible to visualize what a dress would look like when you can't even zip it up or necessarily put it over my head. And even if I could visualize what it would look like in my size, most dresses are designed to look good on girls from 90210. The other major problem is that nearly everything out there is strapless or has spaghetti straps. I hate wearing clothes that are sleeveless. I have been working at the gym to buff up my arms (to no avail btw) but am still self conscious about showing them. I think it is more the the thought of exposing the armpit cleavage. Anyway, most stores there is a "modest" section (seriously that is what they call it) but these dresses are straight out of the 80's and I might as well feather my bangs for the full effect.

At this point it is more of a mission to find the right dress and I refuse to settle. I have sort of been exaggerating, there are some really pretty dresses out there and several that fit most of my criteria. But hey, it is my wedding. Shouldn't I get what I want? So next weekend will continue my quest and check out a few more alternatives.

In the meantime I am looking into hiring a talented someone to make my dress so it will be exactly like I want. Oh how I wish I could do this myself but this is the girl that gave an award winning speech in grade school titled "Why I am not meant for sewing." This dress from Kiyonna is getting really close to my ideal. But why do the pretty things seem to never come in white? I think going for black isn't exactly the tone we want to set...

1 comment:

Beverly said...

If you find the right dress in full length, it could be hemmed to tea length by a good seamstress...