On Project Runway, a common critique of the designers with the lower scores is that their dresses looks very ‘mother of the bride,’ code for frumpy, unflattering and dated. Sometimes you wonder how actual mothers of the bride feel about that. No one likes being told that they’re old and dowdy, especially when they’re getting closer to that point. However, it’s understandable why ‘old’ is an insult in the world of fashion, because fashion is all about what’s new, edgy, fresh and that usually means young and youthful.
But older people have to wear clothes too, and having lived on this Earth longer doesn’t necessarily mean that you’ve withered away and lost it altogether. Age is relative, and it’s not like there aren’t plenty of unfashionable young people out there. And sure, there’s probably an age cutoff at which you’re not allowed to wear skinny jeans, mini skirts and tank tops but it doesn’t mean that you have to totally ditch fashion sense and adopt senile style. It’s possible to be fashionable and still age appropriate. At weddings the attention should be focused on the bride since it’s her special day, but while others shouldn’t upstage her, they can still turn it out. Mothers can complement their daughters without detracting from them, wearing a mother of the bride dress that’s more modest yet chic and elegant.
If you’re shelling out for the wedding already, surely you can donate some finances to the fashionable mother of the bride dress fund. It doesn’t have to be outrageously expensive and you can find a lot of good deals for mother of the bride dresses online. When you pick your dress, you should consider a number of factors. It’s important to make sure that what you’re wearing fits into the theme of the occasion. If it’s an evening wedding, a gown would be more appropriate, and you would want to wear a color that wouldn’t clash with the wedding colors, but also the color of the mother of the bride dress shouldn’t match the wedding colors exactly. It also should not match the color of the bridesmaids’ dresses, or else it looks too tacky. As for the shape of the dress, pick something that is flattering to your body and emphasizes your best features. Just because you’re older doesn’t mean that you’ve lost your figure’the bride will be looking her best, and her mother should too.
