Dress options & musings from Brides.com

I just spent a few hours (no joke!) looking on Brides.com doing dress research in the hopes that I can find the right dress without getting to the expense/ risk of getting something custom made, and I spotted a few interesting things.

I love this dress, the beading is gorgeous!  If I was a fan of my arms/ legs, this would maybe be the dress for me!

This dress I LOVE!  It's by Y and Kei, I'm not sure how far back/ if it's still available but I want it, if not for the wedding then for my day to day life (& the mini-moon we're planning on doing in Europe in September - I just want to insert myself in this picture!!).  If it was longer I think it would make a gorgeous wedding dress and it looks so comfortable!

I love this shot, so stunning, and I like the crocheted material the dress is made out of too.

This gorgeous coat is by Claire Pettibone ($5,000).  It's an interesting idea to do a full length coat rather than a bolero, but perhaps not for a summer wedding...

Here is a similar coat, this one by Monique Lhuillier, which costs a mere $9, 240!!

I've blogged about this Oscar de la Renta dress before, but I hadn't seen any close up photos of it till now.  I didn't realize it's made of guipure, which is one of the fabrics I'm trying to track down, but it's a little pricey and hard to find.  The tailor I met with has a similar fabric that I like, that I could maybe afford to get a little bolero made of of, but she's not sure she can get any more of it.  Did I mention this dress costs $20,900?!

I love the material used for this dress by Cynthia Rose:

Loving this kaftan dress by Temperley London, not sure I would wear it as a wedding dress, but I would definitely wear it!

When I spotted this Rivini dress from the same photo shoot I thought I might have finally found a dress that I could make work with minimal modifications (basically chopping off the sleeves to make them elbow length), at about the right price point... except that Andy doesn't like it!  I even like how it's styled, maybe not the hat, but the necklaces are awesome, and I was thinking a few turquoise accents would be pretty!

The Galina Dress from David's Bridal

I also spotted this dress a while back and I like how soft and flowing it looks in this picture, not to mention comfortable and pot belly friendly!  Perfect for a garden or beach wedding!  Turns out it's the Galina dress from David's Bridal and it's only $399!!! Hello recession wedding dress!  

I do definitely want a dress with sleeves, and I'm not convinced this is a dress you could easily add sleeves to, plus it's crinkle chiffon, not chiffon chiffon, which I'm not a fan of.  But it is only $399!  I'm going to have to investigate further and see if i like it in person!

Jason Wu Flutter Sleeve Dress

Just spotted today this yellow "flutter sleeve" chiffon Jason Wu Dress as featured in the March issue of Elle Magazine and it's making me think that an all white chiffon dress much like this might be the way to go!  

  

Irish Lace

So I am of course currently researching different kinds of lace, and I've realized that I also really like Irish lace, which can look quite similar to Venice Lace.  It's not exactly easy to find, but here are some beautiful examples from the The Sheelin Antique Irish Lace Museum & Shop in, naturally, Ireland:

Wedding Dress Dilemmas

I'm having a few dilemmas with the dress!  

I met with a dressmaker the other day and it seems that I am so picky with my lace that she thinks I have almost no chance of finding lace that I like that's also in my price range.  Apparently I have very expensive taste!  So... at her suggestion I am visiting all of the local fabric stores, and I'll do a trip to the downtown fabric district, but I might have to re-think my original dress concept, and not have a dress made entirely of lace.

To review, the below is basically my dream dress.  It's the "Melissa" by Monique Lhuillier.  I would need alterations however to give it a more open neck and elbow length "flutter" sleeves).  It costs $4,800.  Plus alterations.  So it's basically not an option!!

I'm obsessed with the lace used for the "Melissa" dress and have been trying to track it down but it seems as though it might be custom lace designed by and made exclusively for Monique (possibly by a company called Solstice), and even if I could find it, it's unlikely I could afford enough of it to make an entire dress.  So that's out!

Driving past Les Habitudes (on Robinson next to the Ivy) I spotted a very sweet little bolero made from a very soft what I'm calling Venice Lace (but I'm not totally sure that's what it is) with layered chiffon sleeves.  I tried it on and it actually looked lovely, very simple and elegant but not too bridal-y.. but it's $1,400, and I'd want the sleeves longer, and they don't think the designer in Paris would be very accommodating about that!  Did I mention it's $1,400?!

I go back to the dressmaker to inspect some more lace samples she got in that were affordable, but unfortunately I didn't like, and I asked about Venice Lace (although again, not really sure what it is and my dressmaker calls it "guipure" though I think that's something else?).  Turns out it's even more expensive and hard to get (it's all from France or Italy, of course).  BUT that I might be able to find enough at a reasonable price to make a little bolero.  She just can't help me find it.  Ahh!!!

So, my current thought, what about the J Crew Genevieve dress, pictured below, with a little lace bolero over it, made of either the Monique Lhuillier lace or Venice lace that I find myself?  It's completely different from the original idea, but I kind of like the idea of a big full dress, you do only get one day to wear one!!   And it has pockets!  I love a dress with pockets!

Here is the J Crew dress below, it's unfortunately one of their more expensive ones, AND you can only buy it online!  But I'm thinking of giving it a go, providing I can return it, as I do need to sort it out soon in order to avoid rush alteration fees down the track.  My gosh they make this wedding stuff unnecessarily expensive, stressful and complicated!!!

This week I'm also going to visit a famous store called Paris 1900 in Santa Monica just in case they have a fabulous vintage or vintage inspired wedding dress that I love.  All of this is making me realize just how picky I am.  Very very picky!

Wish me luck and let me know what you think!