Hello! I am planning a dress for my son’s early September wedding. The wedding is rustic themed with the men wearing tuxedo jackets with jeans and the women wearing formal dresses with cowboy boots.
Ready to wear dresses that are appropriate for the event seem to be impossibly frumpy polyester sacks or ridiculously ornate polyester concoctions. September in Colorado can be very warm or surprisingly cold, so I am sort of at sea about what kind of fabric to choose. Synthetics such as polyester are out of the question. Also, I usually live in ultra casual clothes and have not had a dress on in ages.
Pattern-wise, I am hoping to find something that will flatter my apple shape, thinking about a wrap style dress like Vogue 8784 (attached). I am petite so I think tea length would be better than long but I have thick legs that I prefer not to attract attention to.
Could a nice medium to dark toned linen be trimmed with some lace or hand embroidery to be dressy enough? (I am thinking of something like a smoky blue or soft green, the bridesmaids are wearing a medium purple that leans a little pink.) Would underlining with silk organza help to keep it fresh looking without adding too much stiffness? Are there any nice knits that would work for this kind of occasion?
I would be grateful for any fabric suggestions and/or pattern suggestions.
Replies
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Linen would probably not be the right fabric choice for this dress. You want a softer drape. Rayon would be perfect. To dress it up, you could use lace for the cap sleeves and lace or even satin ribbon trim along the neckline and a satin tie. And a colorful warm wrap that complements the dress to accommodate possible chilly weather. A good excuse to splurge on a pashmina wrap!
I agree, linen would not drape well on an apple shape. it is too tightly constructed and would not fit right.
At my daughter in law's wedding, I made a jersey sleeveless sheath dress, with an open lace cardigan. It worked well to camouflage my apple shape. I finished the edges of the cardigan with grosgrain ribbon. The day was quite chilly, and it worked well.
I would get some ideas from Eve of Milady/ Mother of the bride dresses. What you described sounds too informal for a wedding. A popular and attractive color is taupe with a battenburg lenghted bolero jacket possibly. Then pick a pattern.
You want a dress that is cut on the bias so it drapes propular. There are various lighter satins and another color to consider is a muted green.
You sounded like you were describing me!
At my son's wedding, 2019, I wore a square necked princess seamed dress with a self fabric jacket that covered my bum. This entire outfit was made from a beautiful used sari. I was very pleased with how this outfit turned out. The princess lines camouflage our minor faults beautiful. I used a heavier plain silk for the lining and made a removable lining for the jacket that I was able to add later in the evening. Hope this helps. Enjoy.
This is a very special day. You need to look great. Before you make anything go shopping and bring your cell phone. Try on a variety of dress. Take pictures front and back (mirror reflection). Or buy a couple of dress and evaluate them at home. Then you will know what looks great and buy a similar pattern and adjust to you best look. I have often done this then copied the pattern and return the garment.
I have too often made something that realized I looked like one of the ugly stepsisters!
Good luck!
Thank you all for the helpful tips! I have been shopping a bit, but have not even found anything I wanted to try on! It’s probably time to hit some higher-end stores.