Dresses for the ladies

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I didn't want all of my bridesmaids in identical dresses. I love the pictures I see of non-matching bridesmaid dresses: I like that each girl can express her style through her dress, wear what flatters her, and be happy in what she is wearing. But even without requiring everyone to wear the same dress, I wanted the same fabric, color and length (I can't help it; I like uniformity a little), but if I could have had them each in a different silhouette, neckline and strap/sleeve I would have. Assuming, of course, that was what they wanted, because I also wanted a non-bank-breaking price as well as that illusive re-wearability.

In other words, not this:

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Because I wanted the dresses to coordinate pretty well (and stay under $200), I actually couldn't offer as many options as I'd originally hoped. Most of the styles that pretty much worked only came in two necklines—a strapless straight neck and a cap-sleeve or thick-strapped v-neck. So no artfully mis-matched bridesmaids, but at least I could give them a choice, since I knew that two of the girls at least wanted straps, and two preferred strapless.

My favorite was a set of Dessy satin and lace dresses, which, after a few instances of waffling, I eventually decided on:

Dessy 2509	Dessy 2053
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So can you imagine my surprise when suddenly every single one of my girls chose the strapless dress? I am having matchy-matchy bridesmaids after all!

I suppose it is to be expected: I only gave them two choices, after all, and the strapless one is kind of the cuter dress. But here I thought I was helping them out by giving them a more comfortable choice, and nobody wanted it!

I'm ordered the dresses online in September. I can't wait to see how they all look in them!