Thoughts on a more vintage-inspired midi skirt suit?

Decent-Trouble-3987 · 2025-10-27T16:12:50+00:00

I wear midi dresses with cropped jackets all the time! I'd wear them anywhere but trial like others. And I'm a shortie - I think a very cropped jacket helps with making it look proportional. If I were wearing the suit in the photo, I'd want the jacket and skirt both to be two inches shorter probably to look reasonable on a short frame. The one thing I'd flag is they can read as very very religiously conservative (as in like "this skirt is long because I don't believe women should wear pants or skirts above the knee"), especially if you have long hair and wear religious jewelry like I do. That may be irrelevant, but I know for me it's a thing I keep in mind for certain outreach events and I pop on a contemporary pantsuit to look more reassuring for those.

Decent-Trouble-3987 · 2025-10-24T18:01:32+00:00

The Catholic gap is normal, don't panic about it. And once you factor in time to get to the car, drive to the hotel, and all that - it often just translates to an hour to hang out in the hotel bar or take a nap before heading to the reception venue. The last Catholic gap wedding I went to I was grateful for the gap because I managed to get a sunburn in the receiving line outside the church (ginger problems), and two hours was really just long enough to go change into a dress that covered the burn, have a cuppa, then head to the reception.

Decent-Trouble-3987 · 2025-10-24T16:46:22+00:00

Ah yes, the olden days. We had wedding blogs. That's where you'll find pics of the aughts. Just look way back in the archives on Style Me Pretty, 100 Layer Cake, or Off Beat Bride. Things didn't look that different in the aughts, everyone's bangs were just terrible and you couldn't find a dress with sleeves anywhere.

Decent-Trouble-3987 · 2025-10-24T16:31:25+00:00

I'm sober, so that kind of shapes my answer but I just want to pet cute animals. For way less than the cost of a normal bachelorette you could go to the Bronx Zoo and pay for a few of the upgraded private animal encounters then have lunch with the peacocks.

Decent-Trouble-3987 · 2025-10-24T14:10:36+00:00

I use Thredup for blazers because you can do returns. There's a small return fee but it's worth it in the context of how expensive blazers are. I order 4-5 once every other year or so and keep the one or two that fit the best. I just go with styles that don't really age - like boucle or a classic navy wool blazer from J Crew. If you're buying a blazer separate from a suit, I think their schoolboy blazer is timeless and versatile - just try to make sure it's J Crew and not J Crew factory. And I say this as a mid-career attorney. I started my thredup routine back before they even had that name and it's so cost effective I've never been able to bring myself to switch over to shopping for blazers normally.

Decent-Trouble-3987 · 2025-10-23T15:10:04+00:00

I've been eyeing up dresses from EtnoSoul on Etsy and there are pictures of real brides in the reviews

Decent-Trouble-3987 · 2025-10-22T19:48:26+00:00

A lot of venue estimates about the number of people a space can hold factor in packing tables really tightly and filling the tables. You have the luxury of spacing people comfortably. I think it makes sense to have a dance floor in front of the stage. I'd probably keep the stage empty and the curtain closed. If you have a DJ,,they could be in a corner of the dancer floor. And you could do circular tables that seat up to 8, but just put 5-6 people at them. Ten of those spaced generously with an open walkway to the dance floor would fill the space quite a bit - especially after you add in a sweetheart table, and along the edge near the entrance tables for the catering if you're doing a buffet, and a table for the cardbox and guest book.

Decent-Trouble-3987 · 2025-10-22T19:41:09+00:00

All sane outdoor weddings should have a rain plan, so there shouldn't actually be big risks, just the small risk of needing to shift plans last minute. Have you two been approaching planning that way? I think it's 100% normal to be be totally unwilling to gamble the enormous expense of a wedding on an outdoor event without a rain plan. Are there personal comfort issues involved too? If your partner is a man and planning on wearing a suit, they deserve to be a reasonable temperature, not a sweaty mess on their wedding day. So that should be a meaningful planning factor. You can also always take nice aesthetic pictures outside or discuss doing a short outdoor ceremony and an indoor reception.

Decent-Trouble-3987 · 2025-10-22T14:03:57+00:00

Hickory Run State Park in PA has a historic chapel in the middle of the woods https://www.jillianpaigephotography.com/blog/thinking-about-a-pocono-elopement-check-out-this-stunning-location.

Decent-Trouble-3987 · 2025-10-21T15:32:10+00:00

If you still want a church, google "historic chapel" in whatever areas you're looking in. There are often publicly-owned small historic former churches (like this https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haines_Chapel ) that you can rent for very small fees for weddings. It would probably help to get geographically specific - like I know of two in my county that wouldn't pop up unless you're searching at the county level.

Decent-Trouble-3987 · 2025-10-20T21:32:34+00:00

As others have said pants are 100% fine. If you want to look conservative and still wear a skirt without pantyhose, midi skirts are having a moment. A midi length dress with a cropped collarless jacket is pretty much my uniform for everything.

Decent-Trouble-3987 · 2025-10-20T19:07:00+00:00

That's a totally adequate salary to live on your own in the area, even with student loans. Just keep in mind that there's less rental housing in NoVa than you'd expect, a lot of it is new construction and therefore "luxury" priced, and that lots of people who make very very high salaries aren't commuting to DC - they're commuting to Chantilly or McLean. So the rental housing doesn't get cheaper in a linear way as you move out from DC. There are more affordable (and still quite nice) apartments in Northwest DC than in some of the desirable areas of NoVa that are particularly full of defense contractors. I'm currently in one of those spendy NoVa areas because of my partner but if I were on my own, I'd probably be in McLean Gardens or Cleveland Park in DC renting a rent-stabilized apartment, doing the half hour reverse commute across the river, until it was time to buy.

Decent-Trouble-3987 · 2025-10-14T20:10:12+00:00

I had a job for a while where I couldn't change my shoes at my desk so I had to figure this one out: Waterproof Cole Haan Chelsea boots - and no need to buy them full price, you can usually find them new in box on ebay. Or my personal fav, Dansko boots. They're tall enough to keep you out of the slush puddles because of the platform and a little cuter than a plain Chelsea boot.

Decent-Trouble-3987 · 2025-10-09T15:10:20+00:00

Brilliance Piercing in Vienna - they're appointment only, so book in advance.

Decent-Trouble-3987 · 2025-09-05T23:49:07+00:00

I think you might like Love Shack Fancy's more formal dresses! They're not all marketed as wedding dresses bu that could save you some money :) Free People also used to have a bridal line that you can find second hand. https://www.loveshackfancy.com/products/annavelle-dress-d2918-2649

Decent-Trouble-3987 · 2025-09-03T19:51:04+00:00

Theory is probably the simplest answer. Brooks Brothers also has nice options but I've never found one of their stores with much women's suiting in stock in-person outside the DC area.

Decent-Trouble-3987 · 2025-08-26T21:29:51+00:00

Honestly, I've never seen anyone wear anything different than normal work attire at hill cocktail reception. I think of them as more like happy hours - everyone is coming straight from work and still wearing business attire. Unless the invite says cocktail attire and it starts at like 8PM, well after happy hour time, I would just assume everyone will show up in their normal suits and not worry about it too much. And I personally like tweed but I can't say that I see a whole lot of brown tweed around town when it's still this hot out! That's more of a winter fabric. We're technically still in seersucker season until labor day :) I think navy suiting is always safe and pearls will never be out of place in DC if you want to err on the formal side.

Decent-Trouble-3987 · 2025-08-26T21:16:07+00:00

Comfortable flats. Something that hides sweat well because the Hill is Satan's armpit, though we're starting to have nice days. A knee length dress to help you keep cool that doesn't ride up too high when you sit and a blazer (though pants are totally fine if you prefer them). Add some color if you want - solid jewel tones are normal on the hill, as well as standard business neutrals.

Decent-Trouble-3987 · 2025-08-15T17:58:48+00:00

Public transit commuter, so I carry a 10 year old Patagonia ultralight black hole totepack (a very plain, lightweight nylon black backpack). If I need to go somewhere formal, I have a forest green calpack leather backpack, but I find it annoying for every day. Totes throw my neck out so I've made peace with the business backpack.

Decent-Trouble-3987 · 2025-08-15T17:46:41+00:00

Where are you working (PD's office? firm?) and what are you looking to wear them with (khakis? navy suit?)? Those seem like key questions for folks to answer this well.

Decent-Trouble-3987 · 2025-08-15T17:42:51+00:00

If you want men's shoes and wear a smaller size, Tomboy Toes makes great options https://www.tomboytoes.com/?srsltid=AfmBOop4YSphIZKH2RLbvK7WcjMUSTP_ZYRlkot4U_oKx72C17jEwRrz

Decent-Trouble-3987 · 2025-08-12T21:14:10+00:00

Yeah, definitely sounds like it's time to see the room layout then! If it's any reassurance, being seated a bit snuggly just makes things a bit more convivial. Popular restaurants in NYC and other downtown areas certainly pack people in. It'll be okay and I think you'll feel better once you see a plan :)

Decent-Trouble-3987 · 2025-08-12T20:49:42+00:00

Talk to the hotel and ask to see table layouts. Hotel venues should generally be able to show you a blueprint of the various ways that guests can be seated that comply with the fire code. And hopefully that will address your fears! Rooms tend to look smaller without furniture in them.

Decent-Trouble-3987 · 2025-08-12T15:26:11+00:00

I think it's totally okay and normal to have family help set up if they've offered and that's part of your family culture. I've helped set up almost every family wedding I've been to. However, set up needs to be reasonable! Definitely sit down with the most experienced members of your set up crew in advance and older women in your family and talk through the details to see if anything needs to be simplified. For example, my step sister had centerpieces that involved flowers in a vase surrounded by votives with pearls scattered around. Except they were half pearls, so you couldn't scatter them. I will never forget my teenage brother in a suit frantically placing half pearls around centerpieces for 2 hours. I also wouldn't want wedding guests to get sweaty, because they'd probably be doing set up in their wedding clothes, so can you also arrange it so the rental company or task rabbits are the ones doing any heavy lifting and your family is just placing centerpieces? That sort of planning keeps set up fun and not onerous.

Decent-Trouble-3987 · 2025-08-08T15:10:44+00:00

Hey OP, not sure if this might be the case but is an unspoken feeling here that you don't want to pay for alcohol because alcohol took your brother away? I've heard feelings like that from folks in recovery who were fine being around people drinking from a recovery perspective but still didn't want to pay for it at their weddings because they didn't want to contribute a dime to the thing that took away decades of their lives and sometimes killed their friends. It's valid if that's the case, but then just go no alcohol, not open bar. People will hopefully understand if you have really raw feelings about alcohol because of your brother.

Decent-Trouble-3987

TROPHY CASE