My daughter’s roommate got married a couple of weeks ago. Cue mother-daughter texting and phone calls, and texting and emailing, and texting and online shopping. Because, what does one wear to a summer afternoon wedding in a “country club” setting? A mother should know.
I use those quotation marks because we’re talking about a deconstructed “country club.” Peel off the membership, a possible legacy of exclusion and privilege. Keep the sunlit ceremony with cocktails and dinner outside, the nice indoor reception and rain default room. Add a layer of community and access because this is probably in fact a community center.
But it’s not a barn or a farm. And it’s not a winery, so, just a tick to the right on the rural-to-urban scale. Oh, add this: the coastal location is going to be hot.
Parameters?
- Stay cool
- Look pretty
- Adhere to daytime suburban wedding conventions; not too white, not too black, not too naked including not too far off-the-shoulder
- No connotations of lingerie – not sheer, no lace panels
- Be “fun” (it took me a while to figure out that fun meant danceable, with movement, maybe a flounce, a non-sedate color)
She and I looked at dresses like these.
In the end, due to budget constraints, she ended up wearing a sleeveless pink cotton dress with a flounced skirt that I’d given her a couple of years ago, with these sandals in black patent I ordered in the heat of the hunt.
I couldn’t help wondering what I would have worn if the bride had been a daughter of a friend, or if I’d known the bride well enough myself to attend.
Parameters? (Note the higher budget, because I suspect that as the next generation’s weddings start to roll through, it will get a lot of use.)
Same is for my daughter, except, my idea of “fun” has changed over the years.
- A color that I’ve learned always looks good on me
- A silhouette that keeps me comfortable
- A dress that makes a style statement I can endorse – simple, sophisticated, understated, elegant, a little edgy, unfussy
Possibilities. BTW that silk DVF also comes in a blue version that is very fetching. Size 12 on sale.
Oh and I might still want to dance. What would you wear to a similar occasion?
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