Mother Of The Bride

More woman hours are spent worrying about what the WOACA (Woman Of A Certain Age) wears to be the mother of the bride (MOB) or indeed a wedding guest, than any other garment. A wedding is an important event in a family, which is photographed for posterity, so absolutely no pressure at all then! Jane and Beryl have therefore inveigled a friend to do the honours this week. Jane's friend who is confusingly also called Jane, is the mother of the bride at her daughter's vintage-style August nuptials. 

Jane has definite ideas about what she will and won't wear. Drat think Jane and Beryl, who are secretly hoping that she will do exactly as she is told: no chance. Jane (MOB) wants a vintage-inspired frock in which she would feel comfortable enough to fulfil her myriad duties, especially as she is hosting the wedding in a marquee in her garden. This vibe is right up Beryl's street. Armed with these criteria, they headed off for a day in Bath...



Beryl knew just where to look for a vintage-inspired frock. A veteran of Bath shopping, she headed off with her team to Boho on Broad Street. This dress is by Emily and Finn and costs £95. Emily and Finn are a great company who copy the original construction of 1950"s dresses with alacrity. Obviously they also follow more modern sizing, not that our Mother of the Bride needed this, here she is in an extra small. These dresses need bosoms to fill them, and therefore look particularly amazing on her hourglass figure. Our model thinks that this is a serious contender contender.  Importantly this reflects Jane's (MOB) personal style and therefore is something in which she is likely to be happy and comfortable.  




Over to Jolly's next, the House of Fraser store on Milsom Street, with it's many thousands of concessions as far as the eye can see. This Jacques Vert ensemble clearly is exactly the cliche that Beryl and Jane are trying to escape, "nice" yes, but is about as interesting  as a 10 hour debate on the referendum. Happily, our MOB shares this sensibility. Why are they less than enamoured? Could it be the outsize nylon flower perched on Jane's shoulder? These should be banned. Could it be the over co-ordination of the navy and white, or was it simply the predictability of the whole darn thing? Deeply DBW (Dull But Worthy) and OCD while we are at it. (Overly Co-ordinated Dressing)




Back in Boho, our MOB, liked this dress, and is now having fun.  She is keen on the pockets and the cap sleeves as well as the beautiful blue colour. However, the team are being forensic in their search for the perfect frock, and bossy Beryl felt that it was a bit too jam and Jerusalem, for the occasion (also from Emily and Fin).



Emily and Fin dress number 3: this time a much straighter style, and sadly not as good a look or fit on our MOB. But the main problem was the colour which is just too close to her skin tone and made her look extremely rosy. By now, they are narrowing the field as to what looks great on her: the pulling power on this dress was the neckline which suits her body shape. Our MOB needs a v neck or a scoop.



 The team are now in a real gem of a shop called Grace and Ted, which is a dress agency. This store specialises in more expensive designer labels. This dress is Dolce and Gabbana and is £180 resale. The jacket is Armani. This dress does Jane's amazing figure justice, but again colour brought out hitherto undetected pink tones in her skin. The straight skirt is also more formal.


Jane (MOB) had seen this Coast (£99) dress on a previous blog, and thought it might be The One. However, love burned brightly for about half and hour, but then fizzled quickly. It is hard to describe the chemistry between a woman and a frock, but we have all been there and it's good to walk away before the seductive rustle of tissue paper is involved, if it's not meant to last.

Sadly, client confidentiality forbids Jane and Beryl from revealing the dress that Jane (MOB) finally plumped for, but suffice to say that it fitted her criteria and she went home with a smile on her face, as did Jane and Beryl with the glee of a job done. It will need a few alterations but this is only to be expected. Jane and Beryl did not have the opportunity to search for accessories as this would have taken another whole day. As it was, what you see above, minus the final choice, was the product of six hours of pretty much continual shopping... This is not a job for the fashion faint-hearted.















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