Ruby Slippers, Sapphire Stilletos & Fancy Clothes

[Angalin]

Without any regard to budget:

Cute casual dress.

Cute cocktail/party dress.

And in the post-Oscar spirit, hel-lo, Oscar de la Renta. :drool: (In fact this is cheaper than the previous dress. Yeesh.)

[Zoë Sumra]

Cute casual dress.

The downside to this one is that you need absolutely perfect legs to go with it. (Mine are too muscular.) This isn't true of all short dresses, but with the piping on this one pointing straight downwards, a so-so set of pins is unlikely to cut it.

Speaking (typing?) of budget-free-ness, I like this one. Not only do I appreciate the cut, it's got so many shoulder straps that I could hide a bra under it quite easily.

[~Shiera Seastar~]

I like this. And this. No money to buy them though :ohwell: .

[karaddin]

Here are some of the booty from my shopping trip with Brook the Enabler yesterday. Also got a black blouse with a lacey top and sleeves, and a black jacket that's informal enough to go with jeans!

[Whitestripe]

Speaking (typing?) of budget-free-ness, I like this one. Not only do I appreciate the cut, it's got so many shoulder straps that I could hide a bra under it quite easily.

And it's 70% off!

[Tears of Lys]

I am now approaching Facebook the same way I do everything else...I do whatever I want with it. If I want to hide you, unfriend you, annoy you with all of my crap...whatever. I do it. And if someone doesn't like it, they can unfriend me. :) I have no idea how long I will continue to play the cancer card as an excuse to be obnoxious, but I'm thinking the rest of my life. :D

I have a confession: I have been smugly making fun (in my head) of you people who love the 'Nymph of the Forest' dresses...because they're so frou frou (yes, I am 90 kinds of hypocritical given my penchant for rodeo clown cowboy boots)....And I remembered my dream piece of clothing.

This is way stupider than any Lady of Shallott dress. And I would probably be burned at the stake if I wore it.

Hey, I'll wear the white one if you wear that one!

Without any regard to budget:

Cute casual dress.

Cute cocktail/party dress.

And in the post-Oscar spirit, hel-lo, Oscar de la Renta. :drool: (In fact this is cheaper than the previous dress. Yeesh.)

Love the first one, hate the second. The third one is responsible for my spending 10 minutes browsing dresses I will never buy nor wear, but oh it's so much fun to imagine myself in! I got a serious jones for this one from that site ----> http://www.neimanmarcus.com/p/Monique-Lhuillier-One-Shoulder-Tulle-Gown/prod155240036/?eVar4=You%20May%20Also%20Like%20RR

Classy!

[brook]

Oh wow I love that one!

[Zoë Sumra]

And it's 70% off!

And I still can't afford it! (Besides, not available in my size unless I put on some more weight.)

I got a serious jones for this one from that site ----> http://www.neimanmar...ay Also Like RR

Ooh, that's lovely. I'm now lusting after this one. Fortunately/unfortunately, depending on your perspective, they don't ship to the UK.

[lady narcissa]

I have a shopping challenge if anyone wants to help me. I just got invited to a party for later this month and I'm supposed to go in costume. I have the perfect dress and accessories that I would normally wear for this in anytime of the year other than right now...aka the dead of winter when it is very cold and snowing outside. So I need to find a full length long black dress with long sleeves and fairly covered up around the bust and back areas. It can be a costume dress but I would really prefer if it was just a contemporary black dress so I could use it for more than just a costume. I'm not willing to spend thousands of dollars on this but would go in the couple of hundreds range. I also prefer known store websites as opposed to ebay.

ETA: Or it can be green. A darker green preferably. Just not bright and kelly green. Maybe if this color, a more Medieval costume dress.

[Angalin]

Tough one. Your budget requirements forced me to set aside the Valentino black leather-and-lace gown I was going to suggest (US$12,000! That had better be hand-stitched lace and some happy cows).

This Gap dress looks right but only comes in grey; buy it and dye it? This one is from the UK.

Halston Heritage does a couple of dresses that look exactly right, but they are super hard to find. :(

eta: here's one (changed the link to a cheaper one)

[Lany Freelove Cassandra]

I have a shopping challenge if anyone wants to help me. I just got invited to a party for later this month and I'm supposed to go in costume. I have the perfect dress and accessories that I would normally wear for this in anytime of the year other than right now...aka the dead of winter when it is very cold and snowing outside. So I need to find a full length long black dress with long sleeves and fairly covered up around the bust and back areas. It can be a costume dress but I would really prefer if it was just a contemporary black dress so I could use it for more than just a costume. I'm not willing to spend thousands of dollars on this but would go in the couple of hundreds range. I also prefer known store websites as opposed to ebay.

ETA: Or it can be green. A darker green preferably. Just not bright and kelly green. Maybe if this color, a more Medieval costume dress.

I love a challenge. I found several that have a "historical" kind of look to them, so could, with the right accessories look almost like a costume:

Sheer sleeves might be too cold?

Strapless, but with a jacket (also comes in "Holly" )

Black lace, high colar (the picture looks kind of grey to me)

Ball gown, comes is hunter green/black

This was actually kind of hard. Most I could find showed a lot more flesh.

As far as double duty goes, I like the second one best, and would wear it without the jacket to non-costume events

[Angalin]

Is this for a Harry Potter party, Madame Malfoy?

T by Alexander Wang, might be available elsewhere.

[lady narcissa]

Ooo good suggestions so far! Thanks so much Lany and Angalin! I like having options to browse through and consider. Keep them coming, please!

Also the more I think about it the more I'm thinking maybe I want to do medieval green dress more so than black (although I could still go either way) as I remembered I have an awesome cloak I could wear with it. I know there are websites that sell medieval costumes but I've never used any of them. Anyone purchased dresses/costumes from such a site and can recommend one?

Is this for a Harry Potter party, Madame Malfoy?

I wish! I would not need to buy anything if it was.

[Lany Freelove Cassandra]

Now we are talking my language. While I generally made my own dresses, I always loved looking at the ones for sale

Medieval dress 1

Dress 2

There are plenty of others, some more fancy, some more plain and some in the "wench" department, but you seem rather classy to me.

[lady narcissa]

Aww yes thanks Lany, I'm not the wench type. I'm totally conservative when it comes to clothes. I really like that second dress a lot but for its manufacture and shipping time periods. I don't think it could be ready in time as the party is a couple of weeks off. The first dress could work style and cut wise but I'd prefer there not be any white. I'm okay with some gold trim, however. Have you ever purchased anything from either website before?

[Lany Freelove Cassandra]

Aww yes thanks Lany, I'm not the wench type. I'm totally conservative when it comes to clothes. I really like that second dress a lot but for its manufacture and shipping time periods. I don't think it could be ready in time as the party is a couple of weeks off. The first dress could work style and cut wise but I'd prefer there not be any white. I'm okay with some gold trim, however. Have you ever purchased anything from either website before?

No, I haven't ordered from them. I have ordered from renstore.com and museum replicas (but not clothes). I made all of mine as it was more affordable. If I was closer, we could talk fabric and patterns. :)

This one in a lovely green velvet (the large pic, dark grey) (I actually made the light blue one for my daughter for a homecoming dance)

Have also made this one (but it was weird around the waist, and tight around the arms, so I added panels and lacings to make them adjustable)

And this one is really lovely

[Baitac]

You have all linked such beautiful dresses. I am linking Octavia Spencer's Tadashi Shoji Oscars' dress. I love Tadashi because he designs for everybody. I thought she looked wonderful.

http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Uj6KARbQsug/USrPE8rjUjI/AAAAAAAA8DM/fo1y6rKW5gM/s1600/7.%2Boscars%2B2013%2Boctavia%2Bspencer%2Btadashi%2Bshoji.jpg&imgrefurl=http://habituallychic.blogspot.com/2013/02/oscars-2013-red-carpet-recap.html?showComment%3D1361769220892&h=1000&w=678&sz=235&tbnid=8ohuYVd8dlS8wM:&tbnh=90&tbnw=61&zoom=1&usg=__T9g8bHfy0bhD8-GiLx6XOWMpkoQ=&docid=ysHr_66RJF-q8M&hl=en&sa=X&ei=mCkxUc3cHpPK9gSJqYCYAQ&ved=0CEUQ9QEwAw&dur=5163

[Angalin]

Love the first one, hate the second. The third one is responsible for my spending 10 minutes browsing dresses I will never buy nor wear, but oh it's so much fun to imagine myself in! I got a serious jones for this one from that site ----> http://www.neimanmar...ay Also Like RR

Very nice. That de la Renta dress sent me on quite a tour too, but nothing that grabbed me the way it did.

Also the more I think about it the more I'm thinking maybe I want to do medieval green dress more so than black (although I could still go either way) as I remembered I have an awesome cloak I could wear with it. I know there are websites that sell medieval costumes but I've never used any of them. Anyone purchased dresses/costumes from such a site and can recommend one?

This Schiaparelli is lovely, also totally unavailable. :P This one is basic: it says emerald green in the description, but it doesn't look that bright on my screen.

If you want to go more medieval, have you thought about renting a costume for a night? I once rented a bunch of different clothes for a gold-themed photoshoot, which didn't cost that much.

You have all linked such beautiful dresses. I am linking Octavia Spencer's Tadashi Shoji Oscars' dress. I love Tadashi because he designs for everybody. I thought she looked wonderful.

http://www.google.co...9QEwAw&dur=5163

She looked fantastic, I agree.

[Regina]

Regina, this has a similar shape to the teeth dress; way more frou though. This one is pretty great, and our husband might actually stand next to me in it. ;)

Oh, that is way more frou. Also, not sure how flattering it would be on, it might be too wide...

I think our husband would be proud to stand next to you if you wore that second dress. At least until the moment the two of us did something over the top and he quietly faded into a quiet corner somewhere, lol. ;-)

Now we are talking my language. While I generally made my own dresses, I always loved looking at the ones for sale

Medieval dress 1

Dress 2

There are plenty of others, some more fancy, some more plain and some in the "wench" department, but you seem rather classy to me.

LN, I like both of these for you a lot. Lany has good taste (Which we already knew, of course, just confirming!). Let me ponder and reseach a bit and I will get back to you with some other ideas, too.

ETA: So far I am not finding anything that suits your purposes better than what the others have suggested. If time wasn't an issue, I would suggest this (i admit I want it myself, now): http://www.dawnsmedievaldresses.co.uk/product_info.php?products_id=1038

[lady narcissa]

No, I haven't ordered from them. I have ordered from renstore.com and museum replicas (but not clothes). I made all of mine as it was more affordable. If I was closer, we could talk fabric and patterns.

Thanks for the info! I wish I had time to sew something up myself because then I could get exactly what I wanted.

This Schiaparelli is lovely, also totally unavailable. :P

My shopping quest would be over if that one was available!

LN, I like both of these for you a lot. Lany has good taste (Which we already knew, of course, just confirming!). Let me ponder and reseach a bit and I will get back to you with some other ideas, too.

Thanks! I appreciate all the suggestions!

I've sent an email to the place that makes the more medievalish green dress Lany linked to see if they can ship it faster than the website indicates. Even if so I'll probably still go ahead and get a more contemporary black dress as well. Then I can be all Anne Hathawayish and fickle and change my mind about which dress to wear at the last minute!