Wedding Wear
I am the WORST at figuring out what to wear to weddings. Usually you can find me frantically running around the mall on the day of said wedding, buying something expensive and mediocre only to never wear it again. Once in college, I bought a dress, wore it to a wedding and returned it the next day. I felt so bad about it, that I went back and re-bought the dress and it sat in my closet until Buffalo Exchange bought it.
Deciphering the dress code (cocktail, black tie, no specified dress code <— that one’s a punk) can be a little tricky
add a quickly-growing baby belly into the mix
+ the fact that I really don’t like Empire-waist cuts
and that I don’t want to invest in something I’ll most likely never wear again….
The answer:
BCBG sale.
BCBG is the answer to pretty much everything. Cute date clothes, special occasions, work attire, life. It can be on the pricey side, but the quality is pretty fantastic and about twice a year, Dillard’s will have a SICK sale on BCBG. Right now is one of those times.
Many of the pieces were either 50% or 30% off, with an additional 30% off of that. I die.
It took everything in my power not to stock up on dresses to have next summer, but there’s no way to tell how my regular size would look on me, so I didn’t. The Pilot was thankful, haha.
I did pick up the about maxi dress (more pics coming after Sunday’s wedding) and it isn’t Empire waist, is super cute, and who knows, I may actually be able to wear it again!
Original price:
What I paid: $79, including taxes.
Crazy awesome.
I’ll wear the dress with silver strappy heels, carry a small clutch and just have to figure out jewelry.
I do have to show you guys my new eyeliner obsession:
Tarte smolder eyes in golden black.
My beloved Buxom eyeliner has been replaced.
As much as I loved the Buxom, towards the end it started to get clunky and get all over my eyes, including in my contacts which drove me crazy.
Why tarte wins:
-It goes on SO smoothly, is waterproof and easy to smudge for smoky eyes [<— all eyeliner requirements]
-It has tiny golden flecks in it, without being too glittery or hookery
-Free of parabens, mineral pol, petrolatum, phthalates, sodium lauryl sulfate, synthetic dye and synthetic fragrance- it’s clay-based
Where do you go for special occasion attire? Fave eyeliner?
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You’re always so darn cute! and seriously, you’re a shopping wizard!
I’m going to Vegas in October and just read over your Vegas fashion posts but do you think you could send me a quick list of what kind of clothes to wear or even where to shop!? I don’t even know where to begin, I live in my workout clothes so my wardrobe is a little awful and definitely not up to Vegas speed. haha =)
vegas is very casual during the day and dressier/more clubby at night. the awesome thing about vegas is that it’s a tourist trap so really, anything goes.
during the day, i’ll wear a maxi dress or a dress with sandals (lots of walking!), or shorts with a tank and TOMs shoes, and at night, i’ll rock a nicer dress with heels, skinny jeans, a cute top and heels, or dressy shorts with a club shirt and heels.
hope this helps a little!
I’m a BCBG girl too– last few weddings and my bachelorette party dress from there 🙂 I do get dresses from J-Crew and Banana occasionally for more conservative special events.
Great dress. and perfect timing! I was just cleaning out my make-up bag and making a list of things I need to buy. Will definitely have to check out the Tarte…is it a liquid or pencil?
it’s pencil
i’m too clumsy for liquid 😉
tip for liquid…apply over pencil 🙂 it’s not too much and gives you a defined eyeliner look (if that’s what you’re going for).
I love BCBG! In fact, I just bought my wedding dress at the store in Beverly Hills. I must have tried on tons of dresses and the only I liked was a simple but beautiful BCBG. My mom said that I always look nice in BCBG. It was an easy choice.
My favorite eyeliner is also made by Tarte! But it’s a different one. I’m spacing on the name. I love Tarte though. I also use their mascara!
Thanks for the tip regarding BCBG and Dillards! I love BCBG stuff but have never seen it go on sale so I never even consider a purchase and rarely let myself walk into the section. Heading to the mall this weekend!
Like the eyeliner. I’ll have to try it. Where’s the pic of you in the dress? It looks cute from what you’ve shown of it.
the wedding is on sunday- i’ll post pics then.. when i’ve actually showered and curled my hair 😉
I will have to try the Tarte eyeliner. I wear contacts as well, the specks from my urban decay liner are hard to get off. Vision blurred is not a good thing! But I havene’t been wearing much liner since my lovely eye lash extensions.
Love deals!
I have to say my favorite eyeliner is Makeup forever at sephora! Its the best! Their regular eye pencil , it stays put and is just my fave : )
I actually also have a few BCBG dresses, but I was dumb and bought them from the store itself which means you can’t return the dress for anything except store credit. Womp womp. Still, love BCBG and also INC Int’l Concepts because they come in petite sizes!
Love the dress, definitely going to try the liner, and adore your nail color, mind if I ask what color it is?
it’s essie voilacious or something like that ?
Love love love Nordstrom’s dress department. Pricey, but fabulous.
I have some really nice Urban Decay eyeliner from Ulta that I get complimented on all the time, it’s a soft pencil so it smudges well and it stays put for hours!
Here it is if you’re curious:
http://www.urbandecay.com/24-7-glide-on-eye-pencil/122,default,pd.html?start=2&cgid=1_500
On the Glamour.com beauty blog, they did a post a while back about what eyeliner everyone likes the most and the Urban Decay 24/7 pencil was like every two comments… everyone LOVES it apparently. I haven’t tried it yet but the huge majority of people that commented picked that one.
LOVE Urban Decay.. I have their 24/7 eyeliner in 5 different colors!
I adore BCBG! I’m super jealous of that awesome deal you scored. Can’t wait to see the dress! 😀
I’ve never bought special occasion wear. I usually sew something or make an alteration of some sort to the outfit with my trusty sewing machine. Oh I take that back I bought my wedding dress, we got it at J. Crew it’s not really a wedding dress but it was cute, simple and I liked it. I plan to dye it black so I can use it for other occasions, that’s the main reason I bought it because I could dye it and use it again.
you are a wizard. i wish i had those skills!
I only learned out of necessity. I’ve been 5’11.5″ since I was 12 and up until 6 years ago the most I weighed not pregnant was 125 lbs. Finding clothes that fit me right was hard, so my Mom decided to teach me to sew instead.
I am feeling a super strong urge to run out and buy that eyeliner. Gold flecks in black eyeliner are my favorite!
Can’t wait to see a full photo of the dress! And I LOVE BCBG…we have an outlet near us that I would do major damage to if I could. I just recently bought the cutesy red silky top there and can’t until it fools off so I can rock it with skinny jeans and heels 🙂
I can’t wait to see the whole ensemble pulled together!!! You’ll be one sexay mama! You sound just like me re wedding shopping; in fact, I did the one-hour scramble this past Saturday to get myself ready for a wedding. I’d purchased a hot Rachel Roy dress from Macy’s (60% off!) and had plans to DIY it up a bit, but go figure I fudged that up and had to race to the mall. Express often saves me in these situations, and this time was no different.
Fav. eyeliner is Buxom black for lining inside of eye rims (waterline I guess it’s called?) but in the summer I like a lil softer look since I have light eyes and hair. I really like Revlon Luxurious Color Smoky Crayon in Bronze Smoke–great for blondes! 😉
achem, so where’s the finished ‘product’ pic?? U still look really fit besides the preggers – – I want to get rid of my uterus because it and my pms hormones only make every month a horrible emotional nightmare – and I have zero desire to have a pregnancy ever
oh and I dont know about smokey eyeliner because I like the almay liquid one —but DIOR addict lipsticks are the bomb
MAC liquid liner in boot black. I don’t like pencils b/c they smudge. I like liquid. You have brown hair and brown eyes and can pull off the smouldery look with smudginess and you look awesome. With my blond hair and light eyes, i look like I was in a fight if I try to do smouldery which is why I need a clean line, i.e. the MAC liquid liner.
WHAT a SCORE on the BCBG dress! I was the maid of honor in my sister’s wedding when i was preggers and i had a HARD TIME finding a dress. Ended up just getting a dress from David’s Bridal b/c she wanted me to wear pink and it was the middle of winter.
I love BCBG sales. We have an outlet here which is …dangerous 🙂
“without being too glittery or hookery” LOL I love it. Sometimes, it can be quite the battle to find such things when it comes to makeup. Good pick!
With that baby bump, you could wear anything and still look cute! But I agree with BCBG…they’re definitely my go designer! I just ran out of eyeliner, so thanks for the recommendation. waterproof is definitely a must!
That’s a great dress, I love that grey, it’s so luxurious looking! I’m also definitely in the market for a new eyeliner and might try out the tarte one after reading this. For the past year or so I’ve been wearing bourjois brown eyeliner, but now I’m starting to think it’s kind of blah. My favorite eyeliner I’ve ever tried, however, was Guerlain. It’s gorgeous, but super expensive.
I’m really finicky about eyeliner, so for me it’s two extremes when it comes to price. For pencil I love Urban Decay’s eyeliner and for liquid Elf has a really good black and dark blue liquid liner. Contact wearers rejoice!
You cannot beat BCBG for wedding attire or fancy dresses. We have an outlet near Columbus, so I stock up each season. I have to admit that your description of the perfect eyeliner as not too ‘hookery’ was the funniest thing I’ve heard all day. I think you just created a new word. So funny.
I love smashbox’s eyeliner palates. If you use it with urban decay’s primer it will stay on there forever. Cute dress. BTW did you check out Isabella Oliver’s online sale?! I bought two pieces from their maternity wear section and I’m not even pregnant yet. ;p
I usually just dress something up from my closet for fancy schmancy nights. I’m cheap like that, lol. And my go to eyeliner for night is definitely cat eyes with liquid eyeliner. In fact, that is pretty much my go to eye look for anytime!
BCBG outlet here in Orlando – it’s a Godsend! Actually, any of the outlets, come to think of it – hah!
Oooh – I’ll have to try their eyeliner! I have Tarte tinted moisturizer and mascara – love them both!
Nice advice lady! I love it. And I am so happy you just used the word “hookery” You are so funny
I’ve heard some great things about Tarte makeup, especially their pressed powder! A bit pricey, but totally worth it! 😉
http://tartecosmetics.com/tarte-item-provocateur-powder
The last dress I bought for a wedding was also BCBG! We have a huge BCBG outlet store in Orlando, so I always go there to nab some finds. Their dresses are always less than $100, but it’s hard for me to stop at just buying one…
If we had a Dillard’s in CT I would totally hit that sale up. I need new fall clothes very badly but I keep spending on pricey accessories. Yesterday I stood in front of my closet for an hour deciding what to wear out to din and I was very very frustrated. BTW I think you’ve convinced me to buy the tart eye liner.
Can you get tarte brand at Sephora?
I’m excited to see what the dress looks like!
Love the baby bump pic, too cute! 🙂
I will forever love BCBG, in fact I first swooned over it in high school for prom dress shopping. Yes expensive, but my parents spoiled me 😉 I have two dresses that I wore to each prom and the dresses were just so beautiful and I still have them to this day! Now I enjoy shopping there for wedding attire too 🙂
I have a wedding to attend this Sunday too and I’m still wondering what I should wear, ha! Can’t wait to see your dress!
Loveee BCBG! Recently I lucked out with a sale at Macy’s … it was about three weeks ago. I found a dress to a gala (that was the next night, opps!) and another dress I could use for a Mardi Gras ball. Loveeee sales 🙂
I usually check Dillard’s, Macy’s and sometimes Saks when I hear they are having a huge sale.
Glad you were able to find something and at such a great price!
G’izzle! WHY? WHYYYYYY?? WHHHHHHHHY? must you tease me with products from companies that will not ship internationally? My eyes are unlined and sad tonight 🙁
awww i’m sorry! did you check ulta? or amazon?
My new word of the day = hookery.
You said ‘hookery’. Word of the day.
Hi Gina! Fashion request here…..you ALWAYS have the cutest nails and use fun nail polish colors. You should write a fashion post on your favorite colors and brands!
🙂 Love your blog!!!
totally will 🙂
Now I have to hit Sephora today. I bought two of the Buxom liners when you recommended them, and I love the colors and how it goes on, but it must also flake into my eyes because I wake up with crusty eyes.
H & M Or Lilly Pulitzer are my favorite special occasion stores! And as far as eyeliner goes, I LOVE Urban Decay!!
I LOVE BCBG. It’s my favourite clothing store – and always my go-to for weddings. Luckily I have a BCBG outlet just down the road from where I live, so I got a $298 value dress for $80 for the last wedding I went to. Best thing? If you’ve only worn it once or twice, and it’s in really good condition, because of the value of the label people will buy it from you on Craig’s List or eBay, so no need to wear it over and over again!