Style Dilemma: Guest of a Wedding Dress

Like many of my reader questions these days, this one came in from the twitterverse...short & sweet:

Style Dilemma alert! Chelsea needs my help! Here are the project requirements - I mean - dilemma details:

Where & When: Early May, in Annapolis, 3:00 ceremony at Naval Academy Chapel, with a 5:00 reception at William Paca House. It’s Navy. It’s Annapolis. It’s colonial.

Who: The Groom is a Navy pilot, and Chelsea’s hoping there will be some young Top Gun studs in attendance. Really. The Bride is Chelsea’s connection to these nuptials. “Bride is 28, totally hip and fun.” Chelsea, a blogger herself, posted their sweet engagement - and then wedding planning - here for all to read (don’t mind if do!)

Why We Care About Chelsea’s Dress: By Chelsea’s own words (at my nosy question of “who else will be there who's opinion you care about, whether or not you should”): “the pressure to look good is high.” While there aren’t a lot of folks in Chelsea’s immediate professional world there, a cross-section of her blog’s (small) fan base will be looking to see what she is wearing.

What Chelsea Says She Won’t Wear: “In terms of styles, I generally love cowl and v-necks, sleeveless and cap sleeves, and the body of the dress can be fitted or a-line. I hate dresses that have elastic around the waist (a thicker or banded waistband is fine). I am not a fan of one-shoulder or strapless dresses on me, primarily because I hate strapless bras (with all due respect to my friends at Coup de Foudre). The bridesmaids are wearing navy, so I am trying to steer clear of that color (though of course I have found a number of dresses that are navy that I love). I want to be able to wear it again (don’t we always say that?) and would like to keep the price under $350.”

As we’ve emailed, tweeted, pinned, and g-chatted through the beginnings of this search, it’s also come to light that she [eyeroll] has some hangup about not wearing a dress that might be perceived as “white.” Can’t imagine why.

What I Can Tell You About Chelsea: She’s a firey, spunky, passionate girl who runs her own business, is a mother to two amazing (not so little) boys, and has a thing for novels that pretend they aren’t trashy (don’t hold it against her - I certainly don’t). She’s a Hill junkie who’s been there, conquered that, and has the brains to prove it. Her style runs to brights (and navy, in this case) and appropriately flirty with a strong dose of class and elegance. The first time I laid eyes on her was at our first #BlackChampagne meet, where we dressed for an imaginary funeral. She had on a fitted black sheath with the most gorgeous neckline and back. Translation: she has an amazing figure with curves in all the right places and isn’t afraid to use them well.

So.

Normally, here’s where I’d offer 3-5 choices in her price range, taking into consideration her the “parameters” she gave me, and maybe include one that pushes her style envelope. I’d line them up in polyvore and make my recommendations.

But we’re not going to do that this time.

This time, we’re asking for your help, oh Infintessimal Readership. Chelsea needs your help. She needs the power of the social interwebs. And I just know you’re going to step up and deliver.

How You Can Help Chelsea: We’ve gleefully devised a couple of ways, and will keep you posted as each of them comes to life.

Pinterest: Chelsea’s just gotten addicted, so I’m taking her quite literally and made (ok, it took absolutely no arm twisting, but it just sounds better that way) her create a group board. She’s already invited a few stylish friends, and we’ve already started pinning and discussing. Join the crew at the great “guest of wedding” dress search board. If you can’t figure out how to get on to the board and start pinning your ideas, just tweet or email me.

Twitter: If you are on this 140-character time suck, and you follow me, you know that I’ve uesd the #twitterfashionshow a few times. It takes a bit of guts, but Chelsea’s game. When we get to the point where she has Dresses in Hand, she’s promised to tweet us the choices so we can all chime in (@chelseachronicl). We’ll do our best to let you know ahead of time, so you can “tune in” and tweet along. And if Chelsea actually goes to a brick and mortar store, she will - gasp! - tweet us from the dressing room mirror. #twittershopping. Really. It works.

facebook: Yes, we’ll use this, too. So you non-tweeters can join in the fun, we’ll also post the #twitterfashionshow and #twittershopping pics on my DC Celine page. You’ll be able to comment away. It might sound crazy, but a virtual stranger’s opinion on these things sometimes reveals the best, most useful style observations. I was grateful (cheezy but true) for the help you all provided for the reunion and for a few other nights when I just didn’t like my closet.

So jump in! The social media water’s fine! And help out a Really Cool Chick with a Style Dilemma. And watch the interwebs for #guestofawedding #styledilemma...

UPDATE: Miss Chelsea herself has posted. How does she really feel about being the subject of a social media experiment - I mean project? Read on...