Knee or tea length (wedding) dress?

[carochinha]

I am just starting to look at dresses and could really use some help. I won''t rule out white necessarily, but I really want to wear color. We''re dancing Argentine tango at our reception. For this reason and because the ceremony is on a Sunday at noon (semi-formal), I''m thinking about a knee or tea length dress.

I have a curvy, hourglass shape (size so empire waists are not my best match. I''m thinking a v neck or scoopline top, or with exposed shoulders or collarbones, a defined waist. I love pencil skirt shapes, but it''s not practical to dance in. Maybe form fitting until about the half way up the knees, then with movement below? Or an A line, but I think that would make the whole thing too 1950s.

Have you been to weddings where you''ve seen white or color, knee length, hourglass-y dresses? If you have a different opinion about what would be appropriate, I''d love to hear your thoughts!

 

[elrohwen]

Ooo, yay for knee length wedding dresses! Here''s mine on the POB website (not sure why the website lists the same dress twice):
http://www.priscillaofboston.com/dress_detail.jsp?search=drew&sfid=50807&f=
http://www.priscillaofboston.com/dress_detail.jsp?search=drew&sfid=50986&f=

And here''s a picture of me trying it on. I''m also a size 8 and the sample was an 8, so you can get a pretty good idea of how it would fit on your size (though I''m not particuarly hourglass shaped. The style is very 1950s, which you said you might not be crazy about, but I think it''s modern enough that it doesn''t look like it hopped out of the ''50s.

POB has a couple more knee and tea length dresses, so check out their site. Many of them are under the "reception dresses" catagory. Also, to answer your question about color, I think if you''re going to do a short dress, you should stick to white. A short dress in a different color wouldn''t look wedding-y at all (other than looking like a bridesmaid dress), in my opinion, but a short dress in white stands out enough that people will know you''re the bride.

Good luck with your dress search!

 

[Octavia]

I have this dress from White House Black Market and I'll be wearing it for our second wedding celebration in FI's home country. It's gorgeous in person! They only have size 8 left online, but I thought I'd mention it just in case. They also have other pretty white knee-length dresses you could check out

 

[katamari]

I think Betsey Johnson makes the best party dresses, if you are looking for something fun. I have seen a couple blogs where the brides wore this one and I always love it!

From your description, I immediately thought about this one. Elrohen''s dress from there is awesome (as you can see).

You should also check out Stephanie James, but she absolutely designs dresses with the 50s vibe.

 

[glueck]

That sounds like tons of fun!

My absolute favorite tea length dresses are by Stephanie James couture. I had a dress build in the style of one of hers.

http://www.stephaniejamescouture.com/

Now I know the 1950s thing is not your favorite, but there are some possibilites for you mixed in.

Have fun!

 

[trinity911]

I think tea length dresses are just adorable. Did a quick google images trawl and most seem to be of the 1950''s prom dress style, which I know you''re not keen on. However, I did find this from a Canadian designer called Melissa Gentile that I thought would look fab when you''re tango-ing! website: www.melissagentile.com

 

[trinity911]

And I just had to attach this Stephanie James as it''s so

 

[carochinha]

Wow, talk about coming to the rescue! Thanks, your posts are so helpful, I can really see the dress coming together.

Elrohwen, you look lovely in your dress. Do you know what accessories yet to go with it?

I think I will want to wear a jacket or wrap while receiving our guests from 11am for an hour, and just the dress during the ceremony and reception. And I might want to be more covered up than a strapless gives. Would a sleeveless, form fitting top with pencil skirt be too severe or too casual?

 

[elrohwen]

Thanks, whoknows! I''m wearing blue peep toe shoes, some simple dangling earrings, and a hair clip. Potentially a bracelet too, but mostly I''m keeping the accessories simple.

I think wearing a wrap first and then just the dress is a great idea! There are plenty of cute short jackets around (though I don''t really know where to find them).

I do tend to think the pencil skirt with form fitting top might be a little severe ... just my opinion, of course! Usually wedding dresses have some volume somewhere, but if that''s what you really want, I don''t think anyone would think anything of it.