Mother and Grandmother of the Bride
Finally I got around to posting a picture of my outfit. I even found one that shows the shoes.
BTW, most of the grandmothers of the bride wore pants. I realize that isn’t the globally correct term for that article of clothing, but I just can’t bring myself to call them trousers unless they are of a certain quality of both fabric and fabrication (that is, construction). Although, I would never have considered wearing “trousers” to a spring wedding, it didn’t seem out of place. We are, after all, in The Great Northwest. 
So, do you think we look alike? If so, what is your reason, coloring or something else?
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Tube Tops for Modesty
No, I haven’t lost my mind. The following suggestion was sent in by new reader Amanda:
… going back (or forward?) to the “V-necks are out” post, I agree, except in the case of white V-necks. Last year, all I could find in the way of basic tops were tube tops (I bought four or five from American Eagle for a total of $20) and have started wearing them under a white V-neck. The tube top provides a little more coverage than a regular tank or cami, but it’s still a cute pop of color.
My younger daughter has worn a variation of this theme: a mid-thigh length strapless dress, topped by a belted white blouse, with leggings under. Ordinarily I would just pass by short strapless dress when thrifting, but combined with the other pieces - she’s fully dressed!
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Are You a Blue Person or a Green Person?
I’m reading this lovely little book on home decorating and came across the following statements by author Sharon Hanby-Robie:
“My personal color theory is that the world is divided into two kinds of people - people who prefer green tones and people who prefer blue tones.
A green person, of whom I am one, can be irritated by certain colors of blue.”
That last statement was diagnostic for me: while I like some blues - aqua, periwinkle, and even navy - there are blues, particularly some used in interiors, that irritate me. And it’s nothing personal against anybody who prefers blue.
Totally aside from what colors look good on you, thinking mainly in terms of environment, would you consider yourself a blue person or a green person?
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Save Money on Alterations
I’m not so brilliant that I figured this out myself, but it worked so well I wanted to share it with you.
In selecting which size dress to order, the normal procedure is this: take measurements, compare to manufacturer’s sizing, and if measurements correspond to two different sizes, order the larger size and have the rest taken in. But the brilliant owner of the bridal shop where we ordered the dress for the maid of honor noticed that, because the hips are loose in this style, we could order the size down and avoid alterations altogether! The same trick worked for the bride.
Typically, alterations are expected. In this wedding, only one of the bridesmaids had to have her dress shortened; the rest of the dresses fit “off the rack”. (Well, as with the bridal gown, I did hooks, etc, myself.) Choosing to have the bridesmaids in floor-length gowns, in this case, also saved money, simply because those were the dresses they found.
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An Elegant and Affordable Bridal Gown
Where would you look for bridal gowns if the consignment shops, thrift stores, and craigslist all turned up nothing?
My daughter, who had every intention of buying her own wedding dress for around $200, thought to head to David’s Bridal. When asked the upper limit of her budget, she truthfully told the consultant that she would not go over $400. And look what she got!
Now a word on modesty. See the little cap sleeves? This dress came with them, but it’s good to know they can be added to any strapless dress!
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Do the Bustle
I’m back! Now I can begin sharing, in random order, all this stuff we learned about doing a wedding. Oh my!
Starting with this: I saved us at least $60 by being willing to sew on three sets of hooks and eyes myself. How hard could it be? Thankfully, my daughter’s dress was an easy style, requiring an under-bustle, but that didn’t stop me from sewing on several of the pieces upside down, oh wait, no that was right, uh … you get the idea. Still confused? Maybe, like my husband, you aren’t quite certain what a bustle is: it’s where you hook the train of the wedding dress up to get it out of the way for the reception. (He kept trying to make it some dance from the 1970s.)
The caveat: before you take your dress home to bustle it yourself, make certain the bridal shop will take it back to steam it. We nearly had a disaster.
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What’s Peace of Mind Worth?
I am re-running this post today, because
- I’m beyond ready to get back into the swing of blogging, but not to tackle writing an entirely new post.
- Sadly, when I dropped by the most awesome eyewear shop to get my glasses adjusted, I discovered they are gone. A victim of the economy, supposedly. Yet, in the back of my little know-it-all mind, I wonder if there’s a connection with the fact that they had no online presence. Nor interest in obtaining one. Had they taken me up on my offer to blog them, at least when someone googled, “________, Spokane” something positive would have come up.
- On a happier note, the first retailer I mentioned in this post has sold their shop to someone who is planning on offering even more classes, etc.
I’ll be back next week.
Freshly off my hunt for the new (reading/computer) glasses, I had lunch with a friend, a small retail shop operator. If her shop didn’t exist, people would have no one local to help them understand what to buy or to teach them skills in this particular arena.
Similarly, there is no eyewear shop locally that surpasses the one I ordered through in both stylish selection and the knowledge necessary to fit a pair of glasses on a person’s face and into their lifestyle.
When I found the frames I wanted, I made my buying decision without asking the price. Price wasn’t the point. I had received help that is almost unheard of these days, with a level of expertise that has virtually disappeared. What is the peace of mind of being done shopping and the confidence that my choice supports my goals worth to me?
I suppose I may be stepping on some well-manicured toes when I say that it would not only be unethical but absolutely foolish of me to have written down the style number of those frames and gone home and bought them online more cheaply. If our local retailers provide a service, we should be compensating them for that service. If we don’t, we may come to find that service unavailable at any price. Or we will be forced to replace their service with highly paid consultants.
Thinking about what I value enough to pay for above the lowest possible price reminds me of the idea, from the 1993 book The Overworked American by Juliet Schor,
So my question to you is this: for you, what values trump frugality?
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April Fools Us
It snowed today. Most of the day. And it’s spring break here, so no regular activities; the irregular activities we had thought of didn’t work out. So, in an effort to break the grip of lethargy, I decided to clean out my drawers, switch over to spring, and take inventory of what I need.
Cleaning out my drawers was the easy part. Actually, switching over to spring took nearly no effort whatsoever; the trouble is I have almost no spring clothes. What I’m really hurting for is “just get dressed” stuff. And inspiration.
What are you wearing around the house this spring? Or whatever time of year it’s 50 and raining where you live.
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