“But what do you want me to wear?”
By Never teh BrideI spent this morning watching my mother shimmy in and out of potential MOB dresses. Now, my wedding colors are pale gold and chocolate…yes, I know it’s a summertime wedding. The first words out of my father’s mouth were, “She’s going with an autumn theme?” This is why I’m steering very clear of anything even remotely orange or yellow or red. Let’s just get past that, shall we?
So to ensure that the photos look good — because I’m a sucker for a good photo — I asked my mom and her girlfriend and The Beard’s mom to wear something brownish, if they didn’t mind. The last bit is in there because I thought everyone would have more fun if they wore whatever made them comfortable. Instead of surprising me, however, everyone under the sun is asking me what I think they ought to wear…and “Whatever you want” is apparently not an option.
Here are some examples of suggestions I made:
I should note that my mom is kind of a ‘young mom,’ and is thus comfortable wearing dresses of this sort. YMMMV*. What sort of dresses are they, you ask? Going clockwise, we have a Twelfth St. By Cynthia Vincent brown semi-sheer wool-blend v-neck dress, a Nicole Miller light brown stretch silk slit back dress, an Acrobat brown linen crochet v-neck dress, and an Alexia Admor brown shimmer lace v-neck dress. All lovely choices for an afternoon garden party wedding where browns are an option.
*Your mom’s mileage may vary.
April 17th, 2007 at 11:34 am
I did the first round of MOB dress shopping over the weekend. It was fun but my mom is quite short in the torso region and it was hard to find dresses that did not make her look dumpy, which is not a good look for anyone. We’re working on it. I am loving that second dress option NtB! Lovely!
April 17th, 2007 at 2:20 pm
Those are some lovely options, NtB.
If they feel the need to be told what to wear, well, there’s not much you can do about that, is there?
Number one is so pretty I may look into getting that myself as a formal dress. The neckline is so lovely, and I hate showing off my flappy arms.
OTOH, at least you know none of the moms will do what my sister-in-law’s mother did to her. SILM came to the wedding in a lacy white dress and scowled in every single photograph. Humph.
Without realizing it, my SIL chose the one color in the world my mother truly hated - dusty rose. The only question my mother asked was ‘you’re not going to make me wear that color, are you?’ SIL said no, of course not. That was enough for my mother. She wore blue and smiled all day long.
April 17th, 2007 at 11:25 pm
My mother is just starting her MOB dress search now - although my sister isn’t getting married for a year, it will take that long to find her a dress. Like the C*, my mother has a short torso - C*, you may want to have your mother look at petites, because no matter how tall your mother may be, the truly good designers understand that petite is a question of proportion, not of height. (Petite MOB dresses abound, but my search for petite bridesmaids dresses? Sadly lacking.)
Could NtB consider creating a MOB tag? I was hoping to show my mother one of the dresses you had posted and had to search around for quite awhile to find it.
April 18th, 2007 at 10:16 am
That’s a good idea unfashionista…I’ll call around to the local shops and see who carries petites.
April 18th, 2007 at 10:17 am
Will do, the unfashionista. And great idea on the petites!
April 18th, 2007 at 1:07 pm
Hey! My colors are chocolate and light gold too! (With a smattering of light blue thrown in for good measure.) I mean, I guess those are what you’d call my colors, but since I’m not doing flowers or favors it’s really just the dress colors. I’m getting married next week, so bah on those who think those are fall colors.
April 18th, 2007 at 5:17 pm
I got the “no, just tell me what to wear,” too, from both my mom and my mother in law. So I did–anything they wanted, my only requirement was that they should not be the same colors as the bridesmaids who were wearing pewter with a pink accents. My MIL ordered a custom made grey and pink dress, and didn’t understand why I was ticked off.
My mother, however, looked absolutely lovely in an almost racerback shimmery gold dress that showed off her arms.
April 18th, 2007 at 6:15 pm
Congrats, Melissa!
April 19th, 2007 at 2:19 am
My mother has actually purchased two dresses, and now she begins to say she doesn’t want to wear either of them for the wedding (which is kind of ok, as she needed some new dresses and they are both lovely). The problem is that she doesn’t want to wear a “traditional” MOB dress…but she’s sort of shaped like a “traditional” mother: shortish and roundish.
April 19th, 2007 at 6:30 pm
At my wedding last spring, my mother wore a very pretty, flowy top / just-below-the-knee skirt set. Something like that might be a good option for C*’s mother, since it really is very difficult to find a dress that fits the entire body. My mother’s outfit had a little shine to it, which made it formal enough — and she was comfortable, which is of course very important!
April 20th, 2007 at 1:55 pm
Also a good idea penelope. My mom and I are planning to commence MOB Dress Shopping Round II next weekend.
Wish me luck!
April 27th, 2007 at 3:15 pm
Very belated, but those ARE lovely.
My mother, when told to wear something blue or purple, picked something, then proceeded to freak out when she discovered I’d told my bridesmaids to wear a navy blue dress. Fortunately, she got over it after many assurances that I did NOT care if she came close to matching them.