musing

[dragonlady7]

One of Z's high school buddies is getting married at the end of June. He is a groomsman. I am expected to attend this thing.
I am confronted with the dilemma of not knowing what the fuck to wear.

It's in the afternoon, I believe. The reception is at six-thirty at a fancy hall-place-thing. Z will be wearing a tux.

I also have the rehearsal dinner to go to, I think, at a fancy restaurant-- although I am not sure I'm invited to that (I'm not in the wedding; Z is), it is another evening affair, and it's one of the best restaurants in Buffalo. (A famous old one, anyway.)

What to wear???!!!
I have the dress from my sister's wedding, but I don't like how I look in it. I also have the cash to buy myself a new one. But I don't know what to buy. Or where I would go to shop for such a thing.

Anyone sensible, help?!!?!

You'd never know that I attended not one but two prestigious boarding schools.

Comments

[jennnlee.livejournal.com]

You should be invited to the rehearsal dinner, since you're the date of a groomsman. To exclude you from that would be odd. Generally, it's for the wedding party and spouses/dates.

If the reception starts at 6:30, it's probably on the fancy side. Cocktail dress? Don't worry so much about matching him, his tux is more like a "costume" for this kind of thing. What would you normally wear for a wedding reception that starts at this time? If it's an outdoor afternoon wedding, it might be a little more casual. (Ours was in the morning with a brunch reception, so although people dressed up, it wasn't an evening gown affair. It was at Chautauqua though, which was nice.)

Don't know Buffalo well enough to recommend anything. If you really don't know, I can ask my mother-in-law and grandmother-in-law if they know of anywhere, since they're near there and go into Buffalo fairly often.

[dragonlady7.livejournal.com]

I don't think I have any idea what the difference is between a cocktail dress, an evening gown, a formal gown, and a semiformal gown is. I'm such a dork.

Thank you for the suggestions. I don't suppose it does matter if I match Z. Last wedding he was in, I saw him for about ten seconds the entire evening. Which was kind of funny, actually-- I spent the entire evening helping the groom's college buddies get wasted. We were The Rowdy Table. (Of course, I was the sober driver for Z, so I couldn't imbibe, but it was fun to watch anyway.)

I can probably ask Z's mom. She used to work at J.C. Penney, so she might know.
Urgh, I am going to have to take Z shopping with me, since I don't have any RL girl friends in this tri-county area... He's all right at telling me what looks good, but has no real sense of his own.

I think the wedding's in the afternoon in a church, so... churchy.

[tehta.livejournal.com]

This is really hard for me to gauge since, in my experience, different people (from different parts of the US/social backgrounds) have a very different idea of what's appropriate. Can you ask the bride/a bridesmaid if they have any suggestions? (Might be safer to ask in any case, so you don't end up wearing something that clashes/resembles their outfits too much.) But I doubt you can go far wrong with the nicer sort of dress in some fairly classical style. I guess I'd look for one in Nordstrom's or some other upscale-ish department store.

[dragonlady7.livejournal.com]

You know, I am under the distinct impression that there is no Nordstrom's out here. Incredibly enough, there are no Macy's either. Which is just as well, as I'm hopeless at department stores. But I suppose it would be different for dresses...

I wish I could sew. I'd make something.

[mother2012.livejournal.com]

I don't actually *know* anything either. But I do second asking the bride. My instinct would be any really nice dress, but even within Buffalo it's going to change from church to church as to just exactly how dressy is dressy.

I *am* rather sure that, if it were me, I wouldn't be getting the kind of dress that I couldn't wear to anything else.

Normally I would jump on the chance to offer to sew you a dress, but the state this house has been in for the last two years, I'm not even certain I could find the sewing machine, much less the time.