Head cropped out in the best tradition of women's bodies on book covers.
So my sister will…
So my sister will probably make the final decision on this (I've been instructed to bring both dresses with me to Philadelphia), but if you have an opinion as to which dress I should keep and wear to the rehearsal dinner, please feel free to weigh in. Also, if you'd like to guess which dress costs three times as much as the other one, you can play that game too. :-)
I usually like bright colors, but in this case the purple (lavender?) one is less attractive, in my opinion. The tan one is so much more elegant and sexy; this is a wonderful combination!
I love the violet one, myself. The V neckline is visually slimming, and I love the stunning color and self-ruffle on the edge of the skirt. The beige one isn’t bad, but it doesn’t work for you the way the violet one does. The purple is much more party/ fun, too (though that might be helped by your jazz hands in that picture 🙂
That said, I’m betting the beige one is the expensive dress. Curious to find out which is pricier and which you end up picking!
Which one do you like better?
I like them both a lot, actually. The taupe one seems a little classier to me; the violet is more fun. I’d be happy wearing either. I’m also drawn by the violet just because I’d finally have a dress that I can wear with the lovely Patricia Locke blue/purple jewelry set that Kevin got me a few years ago (to match earrings I already owned and adored). But I think the taupe dress would be a bit more flexible, able to be dressed up or down as needed.
I’m mostly just grateful that after a lot of hunting I found some fancy cocktail dresses that look decent on me — it’s not easy when you want to a) wear a bra, b) not have the bra straps show, c) avoid strapless bras (which are uncomfortable in my size after a few hours wear, I find), d) be conservative enough to please your parents, and e) not proclaim that much of the baby weight is still hanging out in your belly. These dresses are a size 14; I had hoped to be a 12 by now. Oh well. At least I’m not wearing maternity clothes anymore.
I’ll hold off on noting the price for a bit, so others can guess. 🙂 One dress is from Nordstrom, the other from Nordstrom Rack (the outlet). But the prices were pretty different even before one got marked down.
I vote for the tan one. It’s more flattering on you. You can always dress it up with jewelry or an elegant shawl.
I prefer the blue. It looks nicer against your skin. :o)
I think the violet is a little fancier and a little racier — the lower neckline shows off more of your boobs than the taupe one, and the v draws more attention that way. I like it better, but the taupe is more conservative (and otherwise more plain IMHO) if that’s more of a concern.
I love the eye-popping color of the purple one.
I’m betting the other one is more expensive, though.
I am not seeing a consensus emerging here. 🙂
Unfortunately, I think the arm positioning affects the reviewer’s opinion too much. We have the violet “Yippee! This dress is so exciting!” vs. the taupe “What the.. who put this thing on me?!” body language. 🙂
I love both. You are one hot mama.
As for which to wear to the rehearsal dinner *in particular*, go with the purple one. It’s more formal. If there is another casual event to attend – like, a day picnic or something – wear the taupe, which seems more like a day dress. Again, though, both look fantastic.
Heh. I am afraid I am too lazy to go take more photos with identical positioning. These were two out of a series of many dresses that didn’t make the cut — I was pretty tired and getting punchy by the time we did these, hence the jazz hands, etc. 🙂
I think the purple one works better with the shape of your tan, at least in that lighting.
I cannot shake the idea that the violet/purple/whatever one looks as though it were designed for a woman twice your age, Mary Anne.
Predictably, I like the violet more — but in this case, that’s not just because of the color; I like the shape of it on you better as well.
As for the hands, I think they’re ambiguous without a facial expression — the jazz hands position could go along with a gasp of surprise or shriek of terror, and the lowered hands could be a low-key “ta-da!” 🙂
My husband is basically your gay best friend. He is the guy who does updo’s better than any salon, applies makeup for any event or photo shoot, can select the best garment for your body, and, if you get your hair cut but he doesn’t comment on it, you would run home crying because, naturally, you assume Jason hates your hair which means you look like crap.
Okay. That said. Jason picked the ivory dress as you look cute in it and your breasts look better in that one.
I agree with him on this and, I think that while the purple dress is lively, it is your sister’s weekend. She is the bride and all eyes should be on her…not your cleavage.
I think the ivory cost more.
Also, I think you should go with different shoes on the ivory dress. Jason concurs (this is a record for us being in agreement, perhaps we will make it to 10 yrs of marriage after all). Jason thinks an ivory shoe with an open back would go nicely. It’s late, so he won’t go in to jewelry recommendations. Sorry. Maybe tomorrow. Call me.
Hope this was as helpful as it was long.
I like the purple one.
New shoes aren’t going to happen before tomorrow, Simone, but thanks for the suggestion. 🙂
So [drumroll] — the purple is more expensive. The taupe was originally around $130, found it on sale for $70. The purple, on the other hand, is $288. If I buy it, it’ll be the most I’ve paid, by far, for a dress.
The fabrics are not evident from the photo, I think — the violet is a silk chiffon, and the skirt has a doubled layer underneath with long slits, so as you walk you get little subtle flashes of legs. It’s by a designer named Tadashi; in general, I think his clothes are lovely, in a lush and fancy way. The taupe has a silky sheen to it that you can’t see in the photo, but it’s a cotton-rayon blend, which I think affects the price. I’m not sure who it’s by (and I packed it already, so can’t check).
You look great in both. Isn’t that a nice change of pace, for dress shopping? Especially since you did all your dress shopping online?
I like the purple a little better, though. The neckline looks a little more dressy, and the shape of it is very flattering on you.
Have fun at the wedding!
Heh. Sadly, the online dress shopping was only partially fruitful — I did find the violet online, but the taupe was from a shop. I think to find two dresses that work, I went through about 5 hours of shopping, including trying on roughly 60 dresses. Oof.
I like the purple one. For one thing, purple is in these days, second purple is the color of belief and thirdly it is brighter.
Which cost more? I’m betting on the beige one.
Best wishes,
Carol
One last thought…. I seriously doubt this is an issue for your sister’s wedding, but I have experienced a wedding at which the bride was ticked off if anyone wore white, off-white, ivory, etc. for the entire weekend. Because she was the bride, by gum, and white (and offshoots) were reserved for her!
😉
Thankfully, my sister is not that insane. 🙂 Sharmi’s actually wearing a long white dress for the rehearsal dinner — very simple, fresh, like a flower in spring. She’s a tiny size 0-2 or so and will look utterly adorable in it. I don’t think she’ll need to have any worries about anyone outshining her, but even better, she isn’t the type who would care.