Determined Not to be Frock-less

At the end of July, I will have one very full day/night of celebrating with the ladies! My one and only bridal shower will be taking place in the afternoon, following by my bachelorette party extravaganza in the evening. Why, you might ask, would I jam pack all of this into one day?

As it so happens, 3 of the 5 Stiletto bridesmaids are spread out throughout the country - San Diego, New York City and Tampa to be exact. I didn't feel comfortable asking them to fly in for a separate shower and bachelorette PLUS the wedding in September, and I didn't want to sacrifice the opportunity to celebrate with all of them! So I made the executive decision to lump it all together into one fun weekend. Good thing I'm taking off the Friday before and the Monday after from work to effectively prepare and recover!

While the date has been set for quite sometime, I've been on the prowl for some smashing ensembles to celebrate the day. I was most worried about a shower dress, as I can find any old cute black dress for the bachelorette. I loved this dress from ModCloth, but it's forever out of stock. This cute little retro number from Bettie Page completely stole my heart but was more than I wanted to spend, and I honestly didn't know how many opportunities I'd have to wear it again (other than when I put on my pearls and heels and vacuum the rug, of course). I wanted to love this one from Macy's, but the colors just seemed...off. I swooned over this lovely Nine West dress, but they didn't have my size. On a side note, who knew Nine West had such cute dresses?!

In searching Bluefly's site one more time this morning (as they are, of course, having a dress sale!), I came across this simple and cute blue and white dress:



Source: Blue Fly

I saw it while eating my cereal this morning, but by the time I got off the train and into work, it was sold out. Nooooo! About 20 minutes later, I was sending off the link to one of my bridesmaids to show her the dress I could have had if only I had acted faster, and it was available again! Only one left, and in my size. Score! Click, click, purchased...and under budget at $60, definitely rewearable (it feels kind of beachy to me...could totally go on the honeymoon!).

Sick and tired of the dress search, I moved on to nailing down the perfect bachelorette party dress. I'm sure Bluefly probably had some cute stuff, but I was in such a rush to get that shower dress ordered I didn't take the time to look. Don't worry, everyone and their brother seems to be having a dress sale today, so I trotted on over to Banana Republic.

Last weekend I had tried on this fancy little dress in yellow, but the store didn't have my size. I think it's sassy and fun in either color. But for the big night out, black to me is the best, classic choice.


Source: Banana Republic

It may be a little bit fancier than what I'd planned, but I don't have a classic black dress in my wardrobe, and this would definitely fill that need. I could get something slightly, err, flashier for the party, but I'm not that flashy of a girl and I'm not sure how often I'd be able to wear it again. And in this economy, repurposing in key, ladies!

I was so relieved to have both dresses ordered, and assuming they both fit, it will be smooth sailing from here. With so many other details to take care of, I couldn't spend any more time and energy obsessing over the perfect frock!

Do you buy special occasion dresses that you know can pull "double duty" for other events?