Wedding fashion

[heavenly_pearl]

So it's official: I'm going to be my sister's maid of honor. Yay, so excited! We're going to look at dresses when she visits for Thanksgiving, but I couldn't resist doing a little pre-browsing on my own.

After looking at quite a few bridesmaid dresses, I have something to get off my chest. (Or arms, as the case may be.)

Dear designers of bridal gowns and bridesmaids dresses,

Sleeves -- they exist. Really, they do. I know nowadays the in-fashion is to go sleeveless or strapless, and I can see the appeal. If I was size 6 with nice toned arms, I would probably love to wear a beautiful strapless gown, but I'm not, and I can't be the only woman out there who hates showing her arms in public.

Besides, sleeves provide variety! Yeah, none of the dresses I saw were particularly ugly, but they were, for the most part, boring and pretty much looked the same. There's so much you can do with sleeves. Short sleeves! Long sleeves! Three-quarter sleeves! Cap sleeves! Flutter sleeves! Bell sleeves! Puffy sleeves! One-shoulder sleeves! Off-the-shoulder sleeves! Lace sleeves! Sheer sleeves! Cut-out sleeves! Slit sleeves! The possibilities are endless, and I'm sure you can design perfectly lovely dresses with sleeves if you just put you mind to it instead of just recreating the same tired looks. (Okay, so it would probably take a miracle worker to make puffy sleeves work and not look utterly ridiculous, but it could happen... Maybe.)

Sincerely,

An annoyed Maid of Honor

Not that any of this matters anyway, since Laura apparently wants strapless. *sigh* I'm hoping she'll let me wear a jacket or a shrug or something over it. If not, I may just have to decline her offer. As much as I would love to be her maid of honor, I am just not comfortable with the idea of showing off my arms.

Well, anyway, I do have my eye on one certain dress (and a bolero jacket to wear with it, of course).
 

This dress:



http://www.davidsbridal.com/Product_Satin-Strapless-Ballgown-with-Sweetheart-Neckline-84066_Bridal-Party-Bridesmaids-All-Bridesmaid-Dresses

With this jacket:



http://www.davidsbridal.com/Product_Cropped-Satin-Bolero-83968_Bridal-Party-Bridesmaids-Personalize-Your-Party-Coverage-Options

My biggest concern -- other than if Laura will like it or not, of course -- is the color. I know she wants purple, but I don't know what shade of purple yet. The dress itself comes in a variety of different purples, but the jacket only comes in two: Sangria and Wisteria. These pics are in Sangria, because it's the shade I personally prefer between the two (so gorgeous!) and it's going to be a winter wedding (February 2012), so the darker shade seems more appropriate. If she doesn't like Sangria or Wisteria, though, I'm going to be so disappointed. I really love that dress!

Edit: Oh, the jacket comes in a third shade of purple called Lapis! I don't know why they're using that name for a purple color instead of a blue, but, eh, whatever. It's also a really pretty shade. I can't decide which I like better: Sangria or Lapis. Guess it doesn't really matter, though, since it's Laura's decision. I'm just glad to have at least one more option to show her.

Here are the pics in Lapis: