In 18 days, I'll be sprinkling on some fairy dust and flitting down to Disney World for a good old fashioned Griswold-style family vacation with my mom, dad and little sister. We haven't gone on vacation, all together since... well, I can't even remember. I'm expecting a lot of fun, and given our collective predisposition toward travel disasters, probably a fair amount of craziness.
The main event that is bringing us all together, is my parents' 30th anniversary. The actual big day was a little over a week ago, but we'll be celebrating in Disney with a classy dinner one evening, and I've been on the hunt for a fun new dress to play princess in for the evening.
The facts are these: It's going to be hot, we'll have been zooming around the park all day and won't have a ton of time to get dressed so I don't want super fancy, I'm imagining something along the lines of grown up Mad Tea Party dress.
My first choice was the beautiful Tuileries dress from Anthropologie. The delicate floral, French script, contrasting waist tie and casual tank style top perfectly fit all of my requirements. Even better, it was marked down 50% to $79 and was in my size. I added it to my cart first thing Tuesday morning, spent a few minutes mulling over another top, made the decision to go for it and... It had already sold out. Sad. Face. Yesterday, my sister checked the Manhattan Anthros for me, with no luck, and sweet Jen even called her local store to check. But it just wasn't meant to be. Adieu Tuileries, I barely knew ye.
Of course, it's easy enough to find a score of beautiful dresses at Anthropologie, and grown up Mad Tea Party is their general esthetic anyway, so I was able to find plenty of other dresses I adored. Unfortunately, since Anthropologie employs woodland elves to weave all of their fabrics by hand from diamonds and baby tears, most of my loves were way out of my price range. I was able to find two that whispered sweet nothings into my ear.
This is the front runner at the moment. It echoes the delicate florals of the Tuileries, but has a daintier, floaty feel. As if perhaps the woodland elves used rolling Carribean froth and petals from Empress Josephine's rose garden to construct this sartorial delight.
I believe this dress is derived from ancient Chinese fireworks with a dash of crushed rubies for the delightful red color. I'm a sucker for a full skirt, and adore the ruched top and cinched waist which would certainly add some much needed girth to my less than ample bosom.
eShakti Hummingbird Corset Style Dress
This sweet dress comes in third for style, but first for price. I love the whimsical hummingbirds buzzing around the skirt and the subversively saucy corset top. Also, not too shabby, it's about 50% less than Anthropologie's offerings.
So, I ask you, what would Alice do?!?
i LOVE the second one, but i think the first one would compliment your skin tone better.
Posted by: Terri | April 28, 2011 at 04:53 PM
I love the dresses you picked out, but have you checked out ModCloth to see if they have anything you might want? I always see the cutest dresses on there.
Posted by: Melissa | April 28, 2011 at 04:53 PM
I love the cinched waist on the second one but the first one seems more like what you were looking for. The third is a pretty blue and probably the one Alice would choose to make her eyes pop. I think you should go with the one that makes you feel like a princess! Good luck! I'm sure they all look lovely on you!
Posted by: Solange | April 28, 2011 at 05:14 PM
I am in love with the first one, but you of course, are the one with amazing fashion sense. I'm sure whatever one you choose will look gorgeous on you... I'm just jealous that you have a waist to show off right now, =)!
Posted by: Kaela | April 28, 2011 at 05:33 PM
What size are you right now? They have a 4 of the Tuileries online ...
Posted by: Lynndaue | April 28, 2011 at 06:26 PM
That's kind of what I was thinking too--it's hard to tell exactly what shade of red the dress is.
Posted by: Angela Noelle | April 28, 2011 at 06:31 PM
I did check them out! I got frustrated when everything I liked was out of stock though! And it sounds weird, but there were too many options. I got super overwhelmed, ha!
Posted by: Angela Noelle | April 28, 2011 at 06:32 PM
Thank you! The last dress is very Wonderland :)
Posted by: Angela Noelle | April 28, 2011 at 06:32 PM
Haha, well thanks! Must admit, I'm pretty jealous of the waist you're rocking right now ;)
Posted by: Angela Noelle | April 28, 2011 at 06:32 PM
Ok, update: our Anthro has a size 2 and they're holding it for me until tomorrow. Do you want it?
Posted by: Lynndaue | April 28, 2011 at 06:33 PM
I need a 0. I didn't realize they were restocking though! I'll keep refreshing :) Thanks for the heads up!!
Posted by: Angela Noelle | April 28, 2011 at 06:33 PM
I agree that the Tuileries is certainly first favorite. If Lynndaue can hook you up--go for it! As for second, I have to pick the Verdant Slip Dress (and not just because I like the word verdant). However, you taking fashion advice from me proves that there is a serious disturbance in the force. :-)
(Just for the record...0 is not a size.) *ducks and hides*
Have a marvelous time!
Posted by: sophie | April 28, 2011 at 10:38 PM
I love the description of Anthro's style as "grown up mad tea party". All of those dresses are so cute though - I'd have a heck of a time picking one.
Posted by: garden state prep | April 28, 2011 at 11:31 PM
Love, love, LOVE the blue hummingbird dress! I love the style, the colors, everything. So pretty.
Isn't eshakti amazing? I love everything on that site.
Posted by: Stevie | April 28, 2011 at 11:38 PM
I like the red dress best for the opposite reason that you like it--it looks like it will CONTAIN my more than ample bosom.
Posted by: Heidi Renée | April 29, 2011 at 02:15 AM
Aw, don't you wish you could wave a magic wand and get all three, and then change every couple hours? I never heard of eShakti before but how cool that you can customize (sez the short gal). The birds made me think of how Cinderella was friends with the birds.
I'll bet you'd look cute in just about anything.
Posted by: Kate P | April 29, 2011 at 05:04 AM
Angel, you know that I will vote for the hummingbird dress, right? And you would look lovely in that shade of blue!
Posted by: The Incubator | April 29, 2011 at 04:18 PM
oh i love that red one, it's so cute. and who am i kidding i love the verdant one too. man now i really just want to go dress shopping, haha.
Posted by: katelin | April 30, 2011 at 12:19 AM
I really like the first one, but you might not want not want to take fashion advice from me because I really need to on that show What Not To Wear! HA. But I do love anthropologes for sheets! Their sheets are beautiful, but I can't justify the price!
Posted by: Brittany E. | May 02, 2011 at 01:06 PM