*I apologize right off the bat. This one is gonna be a little long and perhaps not a little tedious. Crazy takes awhile to tell.
I have two weddings to attend this summer. Two very important weddings. The first is the wedding of the completely lovely daughter of my BFF in late June, and the second the marriage of my son and his beloved (yay!) in late July in Vegas (baby). The first wedding is a fancy schmancy affair in the Chicago suburbs. This may come as a shock to all reading, but I am not exactly a fancy sort of woman. Not that an excuse to get dolled up isn't a grand thing, it's only choosing the ensemble that takes some consideration. The second wedding is less in the fancy, but more in the life milestone/picture taking variety and the mother of the groom needs to not embarrass said groom. Clearly some shopping must take place. And so begins the drama of the dresses.
Dress number one I found a couple of months ago. Of course, I can't find an online reference anywhere, but trust me, it's fabulous. Perfect for Karl's Vegas wedding. It's well fitted, just a little flowy and all sorts of fantastic color. It has only one fatal flaw....no sleeves. Why I have issues with my arms, I have no idea, but I would prefer them covered. But wait! I knit! I can knit a short shrug/sweater sort of thing, right? I spend hours on Ravelry and decided on this pattern. Nifty little sweater with a nice lacy texture for hot Vegas days. I can make the sleeves a little longer. During a trip to Ruhamas in Milwakee I find the perfect purple Cascade 220 Ultra Pima, which, btw, is fantastic cotton yarn to work with. I cast on and away we go.
There is a better than average chance I will finish on time because I'm in the groove now. Dress one crossed off the list.
On to dress two. In case you're wondering, yes I probably do have something in my closet that would have worked. The dress I wore for Kysa's wedding, for instance. It's a little tight across the shoulders (I saw a funny mug the other day that said "chocolate makes my clothes shrink") which might impede dancing, and I intend to do a great deal of dancing with my honey. And, let's face it, I want a new dress. I start to scan the internets and come upon a dress I love at Nordstrom. (love me some Nordstrom) I show it to Kysa and Santa and get a double thumbs down. I am discouraged, but determined. I try Kiyonna and find this:
I have a previous relationship with this dress, but in brown. Black is much more slimming, right? I order it. Well, not horrible, but unlike the beautiful model, I have no discernible waist and even black can't make me look all houchy mamma sexy in this dress. Bye, bye dress.
Next up I give Overstock a try. I've never had the Overstock experience before, but their customer service is impressive. I find three dresses at extremely reasonable prices and they arrive at my door two days later, free shipping. I think the big O and I may have the beginnings of a good thing going here. Dress one, which I admit romanced me with the purple, made me look like a fluttery purple sausage, or perhaps some sort of sea creature. Dress two, was all kinds of chiffoniness and very comfortable, but the top was, um, let's just say the girls were not adequate to the task of filling it out. The top looked like something that had once been
inflated and met with a sad end. Dress three, now we're talking. I love this dress. Even the lack of sleeves cannot deter my affection. I have a shawl that will work. It's not fancy enough for Meghan's wedding, but it matters not. Dress one and two head back to Overstock and now I think maybe I might like dress three enough to wear it to Karl's wedding instead of the first pick. I even have hot shoes that will work. WHY does life have to be so complicated? (Answer - because I make it so. ergh.)
Between the Overstsock return and the final product (yes, this will all end well) there was a bit more drama. A lavender and black number that was a contender for about 5 seconds and a glorious teal, sleeveless again, that was so wrong I try not to even think about it. The people at the post office now laugh when they see me coming. I have become a dress joke and one of my own making. Santa picked her wedding dress in like 4 minutes and I'm spending weeks agonizing. Of course she is young and thin and gorgeous. Whatever. :-)
As promised, this tale has a happy ending and can you guess which dress I finally decided on? The very first dress from Nordstrom.
Don't I always say "go with your first instinct"? Once the real thing arrived and the girls saw it they agreed that it was fab. I love it like crazy. I love that it has a little ethnic feel to it, that is flows away from my body so there is no need for the tortuous under garments, and it has sleeves. It makes me feel pretty. I'm still working on the shoes. Silver, don't you think? Some great earrings and I'm set. Finally. Hallelujah.
In case you're wondering, I'm still knitting on the sweater because I haven't decided on the multicolor dress or the black/white dress for Karl's wedding. What's life without a little drama? :-)