A dress for the mother of the bride!
Y’all, we still don’t have bridesmaid dresses. It’s true – more about that saga soon. In the meantime, though, let’s talk about mother of the bride fashion.
Can we talk about how much I love my Mom for a minute? I love her. A lot. I am so thankful for the relationship we have, and so happy that she will be at my wedding. I don’t often stop and give thanks for something as “simple” as having my Mom at my wedding, but I know that there are girls out there that would give anything to have their Moms by their side on that special day, and can’t for some reason or another. But I can, and so I will be thankful.
But on to fashion! My Mom will be visiting in a few weeks, and we’re planning to go look for dress options together. I thought I’d get the wheels turning ahead of time, and here’s what I turned up in my search:
These first three options are all classic, flattering black. Though the models are not MOB age, I think these styles are all “appropriate” while still being “youthful.” Those descriptions sound ridiculous, but you know what I mean! From left to right we have a silk one-shoulder column gown from Banana Republic ($250), a silk chiffon empire waist gown by Robert Rodriguez from Rent the Runway (rents for $100), and a black crepe one-shoulder gown with pleated a-line skirt by Halston Heritage from Rent the Runway (rents for $125).
I think my Mom looks great in navy, so I’m loving these choices! From left to right, we have a chiffon gown with ruched bodice by Robert Rodriguez from Rent the Runway (rents for $100 – same as above, just different color!), soft trumpet skirt gown from Nordstrom ($194), and one shoulder ruffle gown in navy crepe by Carmen Marc Valvo from Rent the Runway (rents for $125).
Finally, from left to right, we have a navy jersey ruched gown by Badgley Mischka from Rent the Runway (rents for $100), a plum chiffon wrapped gown by Diane von Furstenburg from Rent the Runway (rents for $100), and a jersey gown with crisscross bodice from Nordstrom ($168).
You’ll notice that I included several Rent the Runway dresses in my finds. I’ve never personally used them before, though a good friend has. I just can’t help thinking that it makes a lot of sense to rent a dress, especially for a highly-photographed event like a wedding. My Mom is not likely to wear the same dress to my younger sister’s wedding as she did to mine, and other than that, she doesn’t attend a lot of black tie events.
What do you gals think — would you rent a dress for a formal event? Have you used Rent the Runway before? Any other sources for MOB dresses you can recommend? Which one of the above options is your favorite?
P.S. My apologies if the RTR links in this post don’t work! I think you might have to be signed into your account to be taken to the exact dress. If you don’t have an account but would like one, you can sign up with my link here!
I actually rented the navy Robert Rodriguez dress from Rent the Runway for a black tie NYE wedding in Savannah. I loved the dress and a lot of people complimented me on it! I would highly recommend ordering two sizes though. Also, while I didn’t have this problem with the Robert Rodriguez dress, I have received dresses that were beginning to show their wear before from Rent the Runway. While the company ultimately refunded my money, for an event like your daughter’s wedding it could possibly be a very stressful situation. Sorry, that was probably more information than you ever wanted to know. :-)
I haven’t used RTR but thought about it for Elizabeth’s prom. I have a friend who has a work colleague whose daughter works for RTR. She is a freshman at LSU and very knowledgable per my friend. If you want her name, etc. I could certainly get it for you. We ended up finding a dress for Elizabeth at David’s Bridal. Don’t know if they have one in the Raleigh/Durham area or not. BTW – I like the Robert Rodriguez. Happy shopping!
Audrey: No, your comment was SUPER helpful! Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts! You, too, Peggy! :)
Hi Emily! I think the same thing whenever people start talking about any type of event whether it be a dinner, birthday, or wedding – I’m so lucky to have my mom. I LOVE the Diane von Furstenburg wrap dress. I think wrap dresses, bows, and chiffon are so flattering on so many people whether you are “older” or “younger”. Good luck!
I think renting dresses is a great idea, because why spend money on a dress you’re never going to wear again? But like Audrey said, if it looks worn it’s not so great for a wedding. Maybe you can order the dresses for a day or to before the wedding so that if it doesn’t look so good you will have at least a little time to find a replacement.
Also, I love the one shoulder ruffle gown by Carmen Marc Valvo and the jersey ruched gown by Badgley Mischka best. because they’re the most elegant.
I agree with Marisa above and I love the Carmen Marc Valvo Ruffled one shoulder gown. Feminine & Pretty! The Rented dresses sound like a great idea, however like the comments above mention, it would be hard to know the condition of the dress ahead of time. It looks like you have some beautiful option whether rented or not though!
A little late to comment on this post, but I just ran across it… My sister uses Rent the Runway dresses all the time for her friends weddings she goes too and she always has great success with it! She actually just rented last weekend the one shoulder Carmen Marc Valvo gown and it look gorgeous on! I agree with the others it sounds like a good idea to make sure it doesn’t look worn, but from my sister and I’s experience they have all looked beautiful. Best of luck!
[…] many of you know I wore a Rent the Runway dress to this gala affair, and when I wrote about it back in March, I promised a review. Happily, my review is positive! When it arrived, the dress was […]