Daily Outfit: Classics for a Special Evening

A couple of weekends ago I celebrated with friends the recent marriage of a bride 'n groom who had the pleasure of getting hitched in Ireland; they topped it off with a lovely wedding reception here in NY. It took place at a beach-side venue on Long Island where we were fortunate enough to be partying with a gorgeous ocean view!

For the wedding, I pulled out my washed silk cocktail dress. It's a classic piece that I rarely wear, but when I do I realize that it's worth hanging on to! I went retro with my sparkly gold maryjanes and tied it together with a vintage purse in a neutral color. To finish off the look I paired this deep blue dress with a multi-strand cabochon necklace that I save for special occasions. Can't forget the blazer to ward off any strong ocean breeze. It's always fun to dress up (and celebrate!) xoxo Becca

(Dress- Development by Erica Davies {about 5 years old, but this is similar} Necklace- Vintage similar, Handbag-Vintage similar, Cocktail Ring- Vintage similar, Shoes- Anthropologie similar, Blazer- Urban Outfitters)

Daily Outfit: Gone Baby Gone

This is one of my favorite outfits of the entire summer...maybe it's the bold print, my fuss-free waves, the silhouette...or it could be that it was worn for a night spent with good friends at a beautiful wedding. All's I know is, this dress was the very first thing that caught my eye at Banana Republic, and although I continued shopping and tried on a few different styles I just couldn't let this one go. 

How do you rationalize leaving the store with two dresses when you're on a tight budget? Well you can hem 'n haw about it...put it on hold and take a breather (you may realize you don't want it after all)...or look for advice from your friend who graciously spent her time watching you try on said dresses. What about all of the above? When all else fails, consider the cost per wear. Take a peek at the price tag and then get real with yourself about its versatility. How many times will you actually wear this piece- weekly, monthly, or yearly? Is it work-appropriate and can it also transition into evening? Do you already have multiple events on the calendar that will call for a look like this one and can you change it up successfully by adding a blazer or different accessories? 

The summer's gone baby, gone. To me it was time well spent. And I'm taking the dress with me into fall! What was your favorite summer look? xoxo Becca

(Vintage Sequin Applique Hairclip- MavenFresh, Printed Silk Dress- Banana Republic similar, Necklace- Luanne's, Bracelet- Vintage, Kelin Sandals- ShoeMint, Antique Gold Clutch- Sample Sale)

Ask the PFMs: A Dress Worthy of a Castle Wedding

White by Vera Wang

White by Vera Wang

when my good friend, Jeanmarie (aka Jean),  told me she was getting married, i immediately told her how excited i was to go dress shopping.  it didn't matter if she had me as one of the people accompanying her on this venture (which she was not ready to think about just yet).  either way, i was gonna be there lol.  well, luckily, she was totally cool with me going.  in fact, she seemed downright relieved!!  yayayyyy - a-dress-shopping we go!! :)  ...but first we needed to prep.  the only way i was going to be of much help was to get her thinking of what style dresses she liked and ideas she had.  of course, she had no idea lol.  

the first step Jean had to do was start collecting wedding magazines.  she started looking and searching and ripping out tear sheets for  inspiration.  she got a binder and then i helped her by organizing dresses by designer, then by style similarities.  surprisingly, her style was easily narrowed down.  then came the consultation.  after discussing my findings, we coined the phrase "hippie mermaid"  or "wood nymph" (we both are novices when it comes to wedding dress lingo so we made up our own,  ha ha :), and agreed that these were the concepts to keep in mind when trying on dresses.  now that we had some designer names and styles pinpointed, we needed to find out where to go for trying on dresses.  we also needed to discuss budget.  Jean's wedding is a destination event so she wasn't trying to break the bank on a dress.  we decided that it was best to start at a modest bridal salon and then work our way up to the more expensive places (if necessary).  i realized that it didn't make sense for her to try on dresses that would make her stretch her budget.  as a final step in preparation, Jean spent time searching through store websites and highlighted dresses that she would like to try on.  time to play dress up!!

today was day one and we had two places on the schedule - David's Bridal and Nordstrom's Bridal Salon.  we started at the David's Bridal - the highest priced dresses in the store were well within her range plus they had White by Vera Wang, which fit right into her style esthetic.  the funny thing is she found her dress on the fourth try.  she tried on dresses by Vera Wang White, Oleg Cassini,  and Galina and though she tried on at least 6 more beautiful dresses, she tried on her number one choice 4 times.  she was confident that she had found her dress.  it was so great that she was able to find her dress at the first place and on the first day.    i felt like our prep work really helped to make it go smoothly and, as her advocate, it was easy to help her express what she wanted. as a result, Jean found her dress - a dress worthy of a castle wedding - and something could be checked off the list.

i had a lot of fun helping Jean find her dress.  i hope to see her wear it in her wedding.  thank goodness working with her was really easy (what if she had been a bridezilla?? lol).  my goal was to make this an easy process so that it would be one less area that she would have to worry about getting through and i'm so glad to say that that mission can be considered accomplished!! hooray!! :)