Exhibit A

Exhibit B

Exhibit C

The easiest way to avoid falling into the mother of the bride dresses pit of despair is to go shopping at stores that carry frocks that don’t carry the words ‘mother of the bride’ anywhere on their labels. Because while you may be the mother of the bride and you do plan on wearing a dress, I highly recommend steering clear of mother of the bride dresses in general.

Brides: What’s your mom wearing? And where’d she find it?

Their newest little toy is a search that is designed with the mother-of-the-bride in mind. Shopping, when you’re the mother-of-the-bride is no picnic, so being able to see big bunches of mother of the bride dresses in one place is a boon to poor, overworked moms everywhere, as far as I’m concerned. Perhaps mom could treat herself to a fancy something or other from St. John. Or maybe something from Tadashi or J Kara, perhaps? The latter two are good choices for the MOB who’d rather not go into d-e-b-t.

Anyhool, when the nice people at Designer Apparel offered to help me do yet another giveaway, I said sure. For this latest contest, the prize is not a gift certificate but rather a pretty and feminine Nordstrom Bow Flap Silk Clutch. This luminous clutch could be a great gift for the mother-of-the-bride or a bridesmaid, and can be carried under the arm of by a delicate drop-in chain strap. It’s not the sort of bag you’d carry your life in, but it’s perfect for the kind of slim essentials you’d want to have with you when attending a wedding.

Win it!

Designer Apparel is offering Manolo for the Bride readers a chance to win a Nordstrom Bow Flap Silk Clutch. Love it! To enter, search Designer Apparel’s dress category in the “Sky’s The Limit” price range, and leave a comment on this post telling us which of the results you like best. Me? I am in lust with the Carolina Herrera floral jacquard ball gown, which is a mere $4,890. (And if that was the prize, I’d think long and hard about fixing the contest, so it’s a good thing it’s a clutch up for grabs instead).

For additional entries, do any of the following (and leave a comment for each):

1. As always, you can score one additional entry when you add Manolo for the Brides to your blogroll or let us know we’re already on your blogroll so we can link back to you

2. Score two additional entries when you sign up for the Designer Apparel My Sale newsletter

3. And you can pick up a whopping three additional entries when you tweet this giveaway or post about it on your own blog!

This giveaway will end at 11:59 p.m. EST on Sunday, June 13, and the winner – chosen via your friend and mine, the trusty random number generator – will be announced the next day. Good luck!

For your wedding, do not force your mother to wear a shapeless, moldy tablecloth.

Do not attempt to dress her like she’s starring in a tribute to Cher.
(Yes, this was actually designed to be a mother of the bride dress)

Let her choose what she would like to wear. Let her find something that makes her feel happy and beautiful. Love the outfit or hate it, the expression on this lady’s face is what you want to aim for.

Love your mother. Worry more about her feelings than whether her outfit will clash with the bridesmaid’s dresses in the pictures.

At some point in the not-too-distant past, Bluefly opened the Wedding 2.0 section of its web site. While I hate the whole ’2.0′ thing, I like the way you navigate it. First, you indicate whether you’re attending the wedding or in the wedding party, then you either choose what sort of wedding it is or your role in the wedding party. Finally, Wedding 2.0 presents you with a number of options. It’s not perfect, natch. I pretended to be a size 12 bridesmaid looking for a yellow dress and got two results. Slimming down didn’t help, either. And if you’re larger than a size 14, you’re out of luck all over the map, apparently.

All the same, it makes it a teeny bit easier to shop on Bluefly for wedding-wear. Not enough to get excited about, but that’s not going to stop me from featuring some lovely wedding-ready dresses and gowns later this week. Of course, I’d also love to hear about your favorite online shops that carry wedding appropriate gear for guests and members of the wedding party. Have at it in the comments!

I’m not saying that moms of all shapes and sizes shouldn’t consider wearing something that’s a little more slinky than it is boxy, but there is definitely a contingent of moms out there who’d rather keep their assets to themselves, thankyouverymuch.

Sydney’s Closet is a pretty reliable dress source if you’re looking to “size up glamour,” though their selection definitely features a staggering number of what I like to call MILF dresses. If mom doesn’t see anything she likes in the MOB section, point her toward the straight up formal wear area.

Get the jackets off, and these Fiorisimo numbers are pretty darned racy — bustieres, anyone? But that can be a post-wedding treat for the FOB or the FOG!

Then there’s the plain suit, which is all Beautifully Modest seems to sell when it comes to MOB/MOG wear. Of course, for something like this, you may as well head over to your nearest department store.

And in case you were wondering what some of my many moms chose to wear at my wedding, here are the MOBs and the MOG presented for a side-by-side comparison.

Now here’s a question for you, gentle reader: Did you care what the MOBs and MOGs were going to wear? Did you suggest particular outfits? Or did you leave it up to them only to discover that they desperately wanted your input?

…this is appropriate MOB/MOG garb.