Dressing Our Moms

My mom and Mr. C's mom are a study in opposites. Dr. Mom, mine, is a veterinarian who owns her own practice, doesn't take crap from anybody, and is more comfortable in an Iowa State sweatshirt and blue jeans than anything else. Her illustrative example is that when she was 7 months pregnant with me, she was testing for the next belt up in Tai Kwon Do. They wouldn't let her do flying sidekicks because of the pregnancy, and she was pissed. That, in one story, is my mom.

At a friends' wedding a few years ago. Silly faces, but typical wedding wear.

Mamma C, on the other hand, is a fashion conscious kindergarten teacher. I love her dearly, but she is so different from my own mom. Whereas my mother is taller than my 5' 7" by a solid inch and a half, Mamma C fits under my chin. As a result, she lives in high heels. Her illustrative example is that when we moved Sister C into her new apartment, carrying furniture and boxes, Mamma C was right there with us in leopard print stilettos.

Mr. C's family at a wedding last fall. Not pictures, Mamma C's stiletto shoes

So, when it came to choosing dresses for each lady, it was not an easy task. Mamma C needed something keeping with her usual style, while my mom is a one-dress-a-year type of girl, and anything too over the top would make everyone who knows her go "who the heck is that?" So, we set out looking for dresses that would make them both feel happy, comfortable, and like themselves.

For Mamma C, we were looking at sparkles. When both of our families were here with us, we went to the shop where I had bought my gown. Both mom's went through the racks. My mom didn't hit on anything that was perfect, but Mamma C picked out a few options. Finally, we settled on this stunner:

Style 114900 for Montage by Mon Cherie 

This was actually one of the more subdued dressed that Mamma C tried on. We were trying to find something that was still perfect for her, without being too unbalanced from the type of (read: simpler) dresses my mom was looking at. We went ahead and ordered this, with the caveat that we'll shorten it to a pencil skirt. It is going to look awesome. I haven't yet gotten to see Mamma C in it, but here's a photo of the dress:

Sneak peak of Sister C's dress!

My mom actually ended up finding her dress without me. We'd gone back and forth for awhile, and in fact when she and my dad came out to visit, she brought a couple of options with her. Unfortunately none of those worked, so the search continued. Now, Brother E broke up with his girlfriend last month, but she had been very close with my family. So much so that my mom took her along when looking for dresses. And boy, did they find a beauty.

Dress 72259 by C20 for Watters

Seriously, this is the perfect dress for my mom. Comfortable to move in, a good length, glamorous without being flashy. I was super excited that we had the chance to go try it on when I was home last month, so I could see it in person. It is so pretty! Then, of course, the next question has to be about jewelry and shoes. Because Mamma C's dress is so sparkly, I wanted my mom to have a fun necklace to balance it out. And boy, we managed it.

Bling!

See???? So pretty and sparkly. And matching earrings. And we found her some shoes that she'll be comfortable (and taller than me, always and still) in.

So that's the story of what our mom's our wearing. We still need to finalize the details for Mamma C, but next time they're in town we'll get to go try on her dress and see what she wants to pair with it. I can't wait!