I did it. After much procrastinating and dilly-dallying, I finally bought my mother of the bride dress! Maybe it was the sound of the clock ticking (just 3 months to go!) or maybe it was the ripple of panic I was sensing from friends and family who kept asking me if I’d done the deed yet, but whatever the final push responsible for my splurge, it’s done.
And I am BEYOND relieved to have found light at the end of my dark shopping tunnel.
It’s been “interesting”. As I mentioned in a previous post here (was that really 3 months ago?), for some unearthly reason, mother of the bride dresses are generally atrocious. Many of them are more suited to the grandmother of the bride (although I can’t see my own mother in such a creation!) I’ve struggled to see why this is the case— are all mothers so completely distraught at the thought of their little girls leaving the nest and getting married, that the industry figures they want to look as frumpy as possible for the event? An act of bizarre mourning perhaps? Or is the rule to cover a potentially lovely dress with a boxy, awkward length jacket in a gaudy color and uber-shiny fabric considered sacrificial for the bride? I’m confused. It’s a crime.
I’m fairly sure I’m not the only woman in her forties with a daughter getting married. The industry seems to assume we are all at least 60 years old with zero fashion sense. Maybe they are counting on the fact that we are so overcome with other wedding duties and responsibilities, we’ll shop for ourselves in a stupor and go for the Queen of England look (no offense— I’m utterly British and I actually love the Queen, but I’m not in my eighties!) There’s an open market out there, and someone needs to show the mother of the bride some love and jump all over it! Okay, rant over.
I found hope. To any potential m-o-b’s out there on the dress hunt, do not lose heart. If you have pawed through the racks at bridal shops and specialized m-o-b websites to no avail (as was the case for yours truly), there is an alternative. Enter the world of the classy cocktail dress/ trendy eveningwear store. In Kelowna, that would be BCBG in the mall. They have stores all over the globe, as well as an online shopping site: http://www.bcbg.com/
The dresses are gorgeous, every fit and color and length imaginable, staff who go above and beyond in helping you find the perfect one for your body type, and I struck gold! My wonderful sales assistant lady plucked this one from the rack (I hadn’t even noticed it), and insisted I give it a try. I liked the idea of full length, but being a vertically challenged 5’2”, I didn’t want to look dwarfed, so a high-low option seemed like a promising idea. Here’s a blurry little sneak peak from the changing room:
And I loved it!
Navy in colour, with an asymmetrical high-low hemline, a sequined sparkly short under-dress with a flowing chiffon over-dress reaching the floor- it’s perfect! Paired with a gorgeous belt, I was hooked. A quick photo and text was sent to my daughter in Montreal, I twirled and did the catwalk in-store for my husband, and gained approval from everyone! Yay!
And (thankfully) it’s a perfect look with the shoes and clutch I optimistically bought last summer in the U.K.
I was on a high for the rest of the day. Only other m-o-b’s can truly appreciate the relief. And to you, I encourage you lovely ladies to look outside the box. Don’t settle for a less-than-beautiful wedding outfit just because it’s in a bridal store. Let your daughter have the final say, because she’ll want you to look fabulous and feel comfortable for this momentous day. And don’t get stressed when everyone asks you if you’ve bought your frock yet…
With just 3 months to go, we still have some loose ends to tie up and a few more decisions to make, but at least now I will be wearing more than sparkly shoes and a clutch…
Exhaling (and then squealing with excitement!)
Mother Of The Bride with a dress.
