Dress from ebay - need opinions - honest ones.

[Gingee]

I got this dress off of ebay. Want to use it as a mother of the bride dress for my daughter's wedding next April and our Alaskian cruise in June.

What do you think? Too big (I know I need to have it hemed)? Too pale, etc.? It is a very soft pink.

Thanks

[stormyc]

Hello, Gingee -

 

To be honest, my first impression was that you're a beautiful woman, and that's a beautiful dress, but I'm not sure you "go" together. Does that make any sense?

 

It may be a false impression, because the picture is too small to know for certain, but it appears that the dress is really large on you. Can it be tailored to fit you better?? ... and hemmed, of course, as you mentioned.

 

It looks like the dress has a lot of pretty beadwork.

 

I'm sure there will be a lot more "fashion informed" opinions coming along shortly! :)

[LMCruise]

Here's my 2 cents, which is about all my opinion is worth, so take it with a grain of salt!

 

How old are you? The picture makes it hard to tell. I'm guessing between 40 and 50 since you have a daughter getting married.

 

I like the flowy skirt, and it appears to have some beautiful sequins/beadwork. But, the sleeves seem a little long for you, and it makes your shoulders look broad. I would expect those sleeves on a more "mature" woman, its not young enough! Maybe you can have them taken up a bit when you get it hemmed.

 

Its hard to tell from the picture what color it really is. It appears very light, almost white. Just make sure it truly has a visible color for your daughters wedding. You don't want to take the show away from her white dress!

[brandylaw]

Though I think it is a beautiful dress, I agree w/ Gingee and StormyC.

 

Getting it tailored will prolly do the trick, but I suggest "capping" the sleeves or at least shorten them, if possible.

 

Otherwise, very nice. :)

[Gingee]

I may have someone who can take it in on the top. Maybe it will be just for the cruise - not the wedding.

[Sunshine91]

Gingee - The wedding is next April? Just wanted to be sure I understood that it's a year away & not this month.

Has your daughter chosen colors yet for the bridesmaids & flowers? If you do have a whole year, maybe you could look again after she has made her final decisions regarding colors. I remember my mom taking forever with swatches to decide on the color of her dress when John & I got married.

Also, LMCruise has a good point about the color being very light. John's mom wore a creamy ivory colored dress when his sister got married. Looked great on her in person with her dark hair. In the photos it looks like she's wearing a white dress just like his sister!

Hope you can get it altered for Alaska :) .

[zotzer]

Pretty dress but WAY too big! You overestimate your size. :)

 

Find a good tailor. You may end up spending as much rebuilding the dress as buying a new one, but you will have one that fits you like a glove. Not only do you need to hem the bottom (skirted part), and take in the waist like 8 inches; but you should definitely shorten the sleeves (while taking in the shoulders) as well as the beaded top/overlay (I'd say at least four inches...maybe six, if possible) so that it fits your proportions.

 

Very pretty and simple...and a good tailor would make all the difference in the world!

 

Tracy

[Happy ks]

I spent hours with my sister last weekend choosing a dress for her daughters wedding in July. She's a bit shorter than average, so much of it looked like what your picture shows.

 

I finally took her down a size, she was choosing clothing too big. If your clothes don't fit, it makes you look fatter than you are. I don't seem to think you are fat, judging by your face, but the dress add some serious lbs. and years.

 

If the dress were more fitted and a tea length, a cap sleeve, it might work for you. If you can, send it back and keep looking.

 

My first impression (hard with tiny pictures) was that it looks like a bridal gown from the 70's. You look too young and attractive to not have a fabulous dress.

[BratDet]

Hi,

First of all,

I saw the original picture and it did not look too Mother-of the Bride.

Now it does.

Secondly- although you can put it on- the top seems to be overwhelming your frame.

I would have someone rework that top into a halter/tank top of some sorts. (I'm doing that to an outfit I bought for the color and the fabric- but it was definitely a MOB dress top style. I'm using a New Look pattern 6558- you can view it at simplicity.com)

I'm not sure simply taking it in will be enough to readjust the proportions.

From the picture it looks like you can pretty much have your choice of dress styles to slip on and look fabulous without worrying about figure flaws.

Also the color is washing you out esp.- will you be a tad tanned when you actually wear the dress?

Simply taking the top in- will look fine- but you cannot

wear it as is...

bernadette

[cusyl]

It''s a beautiful dress, but doesn't suit you all that well. At first glance I thought it was a bridal gown. Perhaps it could be taken in and professionally dyed a darker color? Probably by the time you spend all that money you could have bought another dress on sale at the department store. Do you have some nice consignments shops where you live? Sometimes you can buy and sell some really nice things there.

[desperatehousewife]

My two cents.....

My first reaction was that you were such a pretty woman!

You appear to be on the smaller side, and could wear so many different dresses... that's a good thing!!!

Bad is.... NOT this dress as is or maybe at all unless like BratDet said, you need to rework the top as well as the sizing IMHO. Don't waste your great shape!!!

First impression was that is was very matronly to me, too much fabric and wrong shape for you. I agree that the dress is overwhelming for you, and color is.. dare I say... possibly a little drab?

In my experience, I have had many a dress and clothing "tailored" to make them perfect( jean length, sizes, hemlines etc) and it works fantastic. HOWEVER, unless you could do all the work yourself, I would guess that it would be costly to "remake" the dress when combined with original cost.... and in the end you may still have a dress that is OK rather than STUNNING!!!

Don't settle for less!!

Bottom line, by the time you pay for changes , add them to the original cost, you would have been able to find a FABULOUS dress that will make heads turn!

Sorry for the ramble but it makes me crazy when I see great looking people in clothes that waste their postives! :eek: You appear to have many...

[Gingee]

Well I already cut out the shoulder pads so I can't return it. I was thinking maybe doing away with the sleeves (if possible). Not sure what to do about the color though.

[Happy ks]

I think you're spending far too much time and effort on this dress. If you threw out the shoulder pads, you can buy replacements at a fabric store.

 

This is exactly why I don't care to buy on Ebay, too much trouble to make returns, too much left to chance with the fit.

 

Sew the shoulder pads back in, find out if you can return it, or re-sell it yourself on Ebay.

[Ms411]

Hopefully you didn't pay that much for the dress. When I was working on ships last year, I bought my formalwear off eBay, but I restricted my selections to dresses less than $20 w/shipping. That way, if they didn't work out, I could donate them to charity with no major loss on my part.

 

If I were you, I'd keep checking eBay for another dress (I bought several just in case), and I'd limit my bids to dresses that are very classic - no shoulder pads or bouffant skirts, etc.

 

It's going to cost you too much to alter the dress, so please look for something else. You could look gorgeous in another dress! One dress I bought on eBay generated this comment from a very distinguished looking gentleman, "I never knew pink could look so good!" LOL! Keep bidding and good luck!

[desperatehousewife]

If it makes you feel better, I have bought TONS of items off eBay!! Some great... some good and ,yes, some bad!

Great news is, even the bad can usualy be resold on eBay to somone it will work for.

I am a standard size, solid dress 8 (usually), so I stick to that. I agree with the previous poster. Stick with classic lines, styles and shapes you KNOW work with your body size and shape. I will only buy, for me, certain necklines, hem lengths, and sleeve styles.

Like she said sew the shoulder pads back in, and return it or resell it!

Good luck..... and show off your assets.... don't hide them!!:D

[Kat_in_Texas]

Just two weeks ago I was in a women's formalwear store looking for items for my cruise. I was trying on dresses very similar to the one you bought on eBay: beaded top with short sleeves, long skirt, etc. The saleswoman finally convinced me I was trying on the wrong style and she talked me into trying some less conventional styles on. I tried several dresses on at her insistence that I would normally not touch, and I was impressed that they really were more flattering! I'm fairly large (size 14-16) and I'm 49, so I was staying with styles I thought to be "safe" and age-appropriate but thanks to the (nagging!) saleswoman I stepped out of my comfort zone and feel very chic - and look younger, I think! - in the dress I purchased there.

 

I agree with the other posts that the dress looks matronly, although I probably wouldn't have thought that before I had my shopping experience. You look like you have a small frame, so my suggestion would be to capitalize on that, wear something a bit flirty and in a fun color! It's vacation, after all! And as far as the Mother-of-the-Bride dress issue, that's uncharted territory for me, this dress (when altered to fit better) may be just perfect. You and your daughter can decide on that one!

 

Happy sailing!!

[Ms411]

Kat, how refreshing it is to hear of a professional salesperson going out on a limb by telling you the truth - and having the smarts and confidence enough to offer a solution! Now that's what salespeople are supposed to do, instead of always saying, "that looks great on you!" Yeah, right.

 

No sense in dressing up if you're going to look like you do everyday (or worse!) And remember, we're not our mother's 49 (or 50, 51, ...!)

[Gingee]

Well I have gone back to David's Bridal to look again. Boring. By the way, I paid $39 shipped. The mother of the bride dresses there look dumpy or they look like prom dresses. This dress is a petite small and that is one of the reasons I bought it. Gad, I don't know what to do.

[bboyack]

Hi, I agree, a little matronly, but since you only paid $39 you might check to see if you can have it reworked. I like the skirt, but needs to be hemmed, waist taken in and I would have the sleeves cut into a cap or sleeveless. When my son got married 4 years ago I went to David's and I thought they were either too young or too matronly, I was only 49 then. I ended up going to a bridal shop and found the perfect dress. It was shiny teal blue sheath, long, kind of irridescent, and it had a sheer short shrug type jacket. I loved it. I tried to scan a pic of it, but the file size is too big so upload to this board. Darn I wish I were more techno savvy...Shoot, if I still had the thing I would send it to you, i got tons of compliments. Marriage went kaput, so the dress went to charity. Shucks it would have been a good cruise dress, too. Bad memories, I guess...

[Gingee]

Sorry about the marriage.

 

Okay everyone, I think this is the same dress a tried on in a size 2 at David's but it was a little tight across my back. Would this work on me?

 

http://image.inkfrog.com/click_enlarge1.php?image=DSC04258.JPG&username=goobie

[Gingee]

Are you short also? It is a pain finding things. I can give you my e-mail address.

[bboyack]

I'm average, about 5'5, the dress I had was a size 10. Email me and I will send you a picture of the dress I had. No problem about the marriage, long story, she had been married before and never bothered to divorce so actually they really weren't married. Her mom had no $$ (not like we did) and since I don't have daughters we pretty much put on the reception. I just laugh now and call it our 'big party'. We are all over it! Life goes on, thank goodness no kids. Have a great evening.

 

Oh, I like the last dress better!

[Gingee]

Here is my e-mail address - rcw02@insightbb.com

[Gingee]

I've added another dress. Not sure if it is form fitting. Now does this look too cruisee and not appropriate for mother of bride dress? My daughter's colors are pink and black but as you can tell, pink is not working out too great and black I am not wild about.

 

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=9309570826&sspagename=ADME%3AL%3ARTQ%3AUS%3A1&rd=1

[bboyack]

I like the dress for the cruise, but I don't think it will work for the wedding...

Pink and Black, how about a raspberry type color? That might work. Or a lavender or darker purple?