A Lovely Sunday Dress Shopping Excursion: Jocelynn's

After our first shop and a stop at Olive Garden for pasta, far too many breadsticks, and a flirty waiter boy (go MaidoH A!), we went to the second shop in our epic Sunday Dresss Shopping Excursion. We decided, since they carried most of the same bridesmaids dresses, to stick purely with bridal here. Plus, it was my first time trying on bridal gowns, and I was a little anxious to see if what I thought I liked would actually be what I liked on.

Turns out, it wasn't, at all. I had identified three different styles of dresses that I kept coming back to. The first, MaidoH A calls Structured Grecian. Basically, flowing chiffon skirt but with a fitted bodice and top, strapless or one shoulder. The second is the Poofy Princess. Big, full skirt in any variety of fabric with a sweetheart neckline. Then the last, and the one that surprised me as the favorite of the day, is the Fit-n-Flare. I really didn't expect that, but over and over again I kept coming back to those as my favorite.

1. Dress number one, the dress that got an emotional reaction out of MaidoH A and FSIL C, was an asymmetrical draped net fit and flare from Blu by Mori Lee.

via Mori Lee, shown here with separate caplet

It was nice because it had the softness that I tend to like, but the shape that I think really flattered me. We tried it on with a belt, and eventually a veil, and it looked pretty darn good. In the store, this one was number one. The problem for me now is that we didn't get any photos of me in it without the veil, and I don't love the veil I had on. So, I'm wondering if that's skewing my perspective. Here's a shot of my in the gown from the back:

2. Dress number two was actually one that I had previously pinned on my Pinterest boards, but had wondered if it would be too "much" once it was actually on. This was the Divina from Maggie Sottero, and although their picture is in a blush color, I tried it on in white and with a white and crystal belt. 

via Maggie Sottero

Honestly, this one ranked 4th in the store. I liked it, I liked the mix of fabrics in the skirt, but it didn't strike me quite as much as the other ones did. Here's an angle shot of me in the Divina:

Excuse the awkward arms

3. The third dress was another Maggie Sottero, this one called Jenna. Laugh if you get the joke. 

via Elegant Lace Bridal

Anyway, this was one I would have completely passed over looking at it online, and in fact did so again when I was trying to find it by browsing. But, on, it was a different story. 

We liked this dress, but it was hard to tell because it was a HUGE size, so we were having a hard time visualizing what it would look like. Even after our wonderful consultant lady helped lace me up, it still was hard to get a picture. But, it was very pretty. Probably walked out with this one at the #2 spot, but that could be contested because it was very, very difficult to walk in the dress. It was massively heavy, and the lovely skirt was very thick, making it impossible to do anything other than little baby steps. 

4. Last but not least was the Alfred Angelo Sleeping Beauty gown. Now, my four girls from home and I love Disney, and each have a princess of our own. Mine is, you guessed it, Sleeping Beauty. 

via Alfred Angelo

I wanted to try this gown on for sentimentality's sake, but ended up really liking it. It was one of the later ones I tried on, and after dresses that felt like they weighed tons, it was a relief to be in something so light and soft. 

See how light that skirt looks?

This dress probably came in at number 3 for me while we were at the shop. But now, looking at pictures (and I do have pictures of the fronts, but I don't want to give too much away!) this one is my favorite. It just has an element of softness that I don't see in the other three. The one thing I wish was different is the back. I loved the shape that I got when we had the lace up backs, and you can't quite get the same thing with the zipper. 

So, for now, this gave us a definite direction as far as styles of dresses to look for. Gone are the Structured Grecians, gone are the Poofy Princesses, and we're pretty solidly in the land of Fit-n-Flares. I didn't buy anything, as I'll need my mom with me when I do that, but it gave us a good foundation to build off of!

Next up, part three!