random etsy finds that speak to me, loud enough to drown out the crowd all up in there.

In which we will discover that Etsy has a) lots of weird stuff and b) a ton o ruffles, which c) I apparently have a secret affinity for - who knew?




English Rose Ruffle Dress by Lirola. Reminds me of stuff that the wee Portland girl from Project Runway was doing before she moved to NYC. And yeah, I know there are very few people who could actually get away with this ruffled front. I didn't say the things speaking to me made any sense, now did I?



Ditto on the Project Runway girl comment for this blue number, too. It has a weird pleat on the skirt that probably wouldn't lend itself to easy hang-n-wear, but whatever. Is cute.



The bottom is a little culotte-esque, but the top is rad.



Long ruffled skirt from Econica. Completely infatuated with it, I am not afraid to admit.



$225 worth of peacock-colored awesome. (Swoon).





LOVE. Period.

Fancy change 'em up dresses.

I've not wanted to admit this, but I'm WAY partial to the crazy 46millionwaystowrapit dresses. I keep coming back to them on Etsy. I will throw it out there, and you can tell me if I'm crazy or if you would have to be crazy to be forced to wear such a straight jacket, etc etc.

I mean, come on, look at this blue (not my favorite wrap, but a great blue!):

Also a fan of this blue-ishness, and the wrap style:

See more examples here, here and here. And here.

They look so effing comfortable, right? But maybe hard to vintage up. I don't know. Definitely not a good fabric match with my dress, I don't think (well, maybe... not sure. Actually, no no, it would be totally fine).

But whatever. Bottom line: they look so pretty and comfy that I just want to nap in them, looking gorgeous all the while.

An Assortment of Assorted Dresses.

What I imagine when I say "Assorted Bridesmaid Dresses" generally lays out something like the following:



Nothing old fashioned here, but sweet styles/colors/arrangements.



How you feel about black dresses, ladies? This is the default back-up plan. It would be simple and lovely and go FAB with peacock feathers.



Also loving the neutral/cream situation. Could really rock it, I'm sure. Seriously, how do you feel about neutral pallettes? Some people get a wee washed out, right?




More green. Love the one to the right (my right) of the bride. Not the color, but the little flower and the bust. SO CUTE. (But hey, what is with the pheasant hunt carcass in Bridey's hand?).



More formal than necessary, and pinky/mauve/rose/etc, but how cute? (Hate the gown, by the way).


All these blues are AWESOME.

No on pink, yes on the intermingling of styles. Nicely done.




Did you know that mustaches on sticks were a popular wedding gag thing last year? Why? Who started that? It was cute at the first three weddings, and that's about it. (Of course I plan to have dress up options in the photobooth section of the wedding, so there you go).




All in all, well executed, simple, caszh. LOVE LOVE LOVE the simplicity and the cut of the bridal gown. Dang.

I totally have more, but internet was down at home, and I'm surreptitiously blogging this from work with saved photos in the post that I started a million days ago, so that's it for now.

Oh, except to tell you that I bought a wedding dress. Thanks be to Jessica for helping me through the process! I kind of made it up from a dress on display in a shop and they are making it for me and it's a gamble as to how it will turn out, but I'm confident it's going to be fabulous. For the record I've only tried on one actual dress, and it was a size 6 and so I use the term "tried on" VERY loosely here. I will be the happiest bird on the planet if this dress is as lovely as I think it's going to be. Check mark one on the million-entry To Do list.

Haggisina.

Preliminary searches for Scottish wedding dresses have pulled up the following:

1) The Gweneviere. I have to admit that I semi-like the cut/shape/outline/drape/shoulders aspects of this dress from afar. But the celtic/ropey/medallion pointing at the hoo-ha situation is unrecoverable from, I'm afraid.





2) The Semi-Modern Scottish Lass: Um. Yeah. I don't really know if this is a thing thing, or a joke thing. Because. Um. Yeah.... though I do so especially love the crude stitching, the semi-ripped layer of fabric below the waste, and the wee splay of lace above the one breast. Utterly fascinating. And also something vaguely whore-ish about it... No, wait - Wench, that's the word. She looks like what I imagine a true (tried and true, ba dump bump ching!) wench would look like.




3) The Scottish Amby. Dudes, I could totally grandstand this! Love the cut, love the ribbon band at the top (in a more peacocky or tartany color), love the little shrug* she's got going on. Also love that I think that could be me in the photo, due to the fact that it actually looks like Tina Yothers from Family Ties, to whom I was always always always being compared in the long-ago 80s, and therefore could potentially have ended up looking like, not unlike this brilliant Scottish gal.



4) The Strangely Attracted To You Lacy Layers Dress. I would be a lying liar if I said anything other than: I totally adore this dress. And I could not for the life of me give you a good reason, except that I think the whole layers of strange and clashing lacy fabric thing is just completely odd and cool. Like Molly Ringwald's otherwise ugly dress in Pretty in Pink, this shmata is like some kind of magic made out of the scraps of things far more ordinary. I have fantasies about running around the city collecting bits and bolts and leftover remnants, buying some godawful 80s gown with puffy sleeves and lace and beads and hearts and gauze and ugh, and ripping it all up and sewing it all back together into a strange and beautiful layer cake of a Frankenstein dress like this one. Too bad I'm only a very very very moderate sewer (as of my last sewing class... in eleventh grade).



There are more, of course, but nothing to write blog about. There is a weird trend in the British wedding attire that I would like to point out to you, but I can't quite put my finger on. I will try, though, at some point, because it's just so odd. I really can't find the words. And you know, maybe it's not odd, maybe it's just that those weddings are more au natural, and I'm used to the augmented stylings of all these blogged weddings, so it's hard for me to understand what I'm touching, I mean looking at anymore. Hm.

* I have a whole thought/plan about a shrug or wrap situation, but that will have to be another post.

Another Random Assortment of Dresses Have I loved.

It's bridal, it's bri-dal ti-i-ime. I said it's bridal time, that's why we call it bridal time.

For your feasting (and vicarious living through my process) pleasure:




How do I love this dress, let me count the ways... No, it is too much, let me sum up: slight ruffle, good boob coverage, cute band/flower/waist-defining thing. And look at that, she seems to have a peacock thing going on. Hmmm. I saved this on 10/31/09. I was so ahead of my time.



Pretty sure I saved this because I thought I could rock that hairdo, but now that I'm seeing the dress again, my god, I am in love with it. Not the big sleeves, necessarily, nor the colors (which I like, just not in the peacock/blackwatch tartan vein), but the satin shine and the sash... freaking gorgeous.




This is a one-of-a-kind being sold in the used dress section of Once Wed and I it even though I not a huge fan of layered ruffles like that. Love love love. The top is a perfect shape, I think. There are more photos on Oncewed.com if you got to Used Dresses area and search for 'beige blue custom' I think it will come up.




Dear Santa, please bring me this dress, and the life that goes with it. I've been a very good girl. Love, Amber.

It's maybe too Fifties to pull off for old-timey, but other than that it's a dream dress. Seriously, God's perfect dress in my universe of dress pleasures. Via Etsy.com, if I'm not mistaken.




I've a fondness for the straight/A-line skirt, with some kind of fancy/feminine top. Not sure exactly how to pull it off, though.





Totally not me, but I love it anyway. Appeals to my Kindergarten self, with the butterfly wings and the fairy princess play and all that.





Not sure why I saved this one. The fabric reminds me of the suit my mom wore when she and my step-dad got married, but I do like the overall shape, cut and drape of this, if were a little fancier (but not TOO much more fancy).




I have neither the belly nor the hips to pull this off, but I am extremely fond of it, never the less.




Too much boob in my life to handle everything this dress has going on up top, but I like the shape and concept going on everywhere else.




This makes me think of dancing the Charleston. And I adore it. And it has swirls and a weirdo little bustle. What's not to love?

Next up: all the crazy Scottish dresses.

Inspiration! Peacock Feathers.

I know, I know, hardly original.

HOWEVER: Peacock feathers match pretty closely with the colors of the Blackwatch tartan* for the kilts, so bada boom, bada bing, I have some sort of inspirational item to work with, perhaps, when it comes to dress colors for the ladies. And to the flowers, maybe? And to some kind of hairpiece?

Plus the location I have now secured (well, secured with a contract in my inbox but not yet signed or paid for, anyway) is a little bit orchard/barnyard/nature abounds near by/ish, which always reminds me of the Peacocks that used to live nearby... well nearby someplace that I can't remember right now. Wow, brain. Wow. It was some house where I, like, lived. Or my Dad lived? Oh my god, I can't remember. Jeezus.

Anyway, Peacocks remind me of that. And also of Art Deco designs, which will not be featured prominently (my idea of Old Timey is more Depression-era Thirties than Post-Roaring Twenties Deco Thirties) but may sneak in a bit, you never know, because I'm me and that's how I (un)roll.

I'm also twirling the idea of thistles around in my clearly loose brain. They are so adorably prickly. (Like us). Though they are much more impractical for things like boutonnières (wow, did I just spell that right? GO BRAIN! Wait, no I didn't, I didn't make that pretty little accent. Dammit.) and bouquets and decor and the like. Not so adorable when jabbing into skin. (Like us).

Anyway, things are moving along. Now if I do well at this job interview on Monday I might actually have the ducats to pay for some of this jazz. Wish me luck!


*Which I think we might have found a rental resource from which to procure for $50 per kilt or $100 for the whole outfit, which is INSANE (in a good way - a good kilt is $400 bux! A crap kilt that you make yourself still costs $100 in materials alone!). But I need to order one and see if it's the real deal, or one of those aforementioned crap or lady skirts from Godknowswhere.

Bridesmaidsy Dressish Type Things From Nataya.

Love the entire "Montmarte Doll" collection by this crazy Russian designer Nataya.

http://www.nataya.com/catalogue.php?id=59

Some of it's a little Stevie Nicks, but what are you gonna do? Some of it is spectacular for old timey (not old timey Scottish, necessarily...), including these:



These are just things I found early on in the planning, in the Pre-Kilt-Storic days when it was going to be 100% "Old Timey" theme.

I am definitely leaning toward a "here's your color palette and some old fashioned looks, wear what you want in the general vein of all this" sort of scenario for the ladies, so anything I post here is more of a breathy admiration, "I like your bass, your beat is nice" kind of thing. *

*At least until Bridezilla rears her head and orders you to rush delivery on something in Taffeta and Organza, with sparkles and puffed sleeves. It could happen. (Seriously, have you Googled Scottish Weddings?).