How I Picked My Formal Dress

Coming from somebody who loves fashion, finding the right dress to wear to a school dance is crucial. I have to make sure the dress fits the occasion (example, you wouldn’t wear the same dress to a prom as homecoming) and that I just love the dress overall. One week ago was my winter formal, and in this post I will describe my process for how I picked out the dress, as well as my overall criteria when looking for a dress, as my overall process is normally the same just the dress is what changes.

I think the factor that makes or breaks a dress is the right silhouette. This doesn't mean the dress has to be some crazy ballgown, just an interesting and flattering silhouette. Here is a dress I just think has a beautiful silhouette (if you can’t tell based off my love of vintage blazers, i’m always here for some good shoulder action.)

credit: Aliétte Spring/Summer 2020

Now that we know what I pay attention to when looking through dresses (a stunning silhouette and strong shoulders,) here is how I picked out my dress for this year:

I started out looking through basic formal dress stores, such as Bloomingdales, Nordstrom and ASOS. When looking through Nordstrom I came across the first dress. When I saw this dress I loved the sheer sleeves, however at first I thought that the dress was all black, but it is navy and polka dotted. Still very elegant and my style but just a little too mature for a school dance occasion. I still ordered it, because I really did like it and when it arrived it fit well. The plan was for me to wear it too formal.

Then, a few weeks later I woke up with the realisation that I just didn’t like the dress, so again I went on the hunt.

I decided to go in a completely different direction so I started looking on https://www.instagram.com/shesfarrout/ because I love the aesthetic and I came across Marie von Behrens’s Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/mvb/) and fell in love with her style. So from that I began to look through the formal wear that she has posted on her account to find which pieces were in my price range and I really liked. Based on her instagram I found the website, ShopBop, which had a lot of pieces that were my style and I really loved so I started looking through that website and I came across a dress that I really thought was was Saint Laurent RTW 2020. I clicked on it it just to check and to my surprise in reality it was Rotate, a brand I associate with more jewel toned colors and vibrant styles. But when I saw this dress I flipped out at how my style and elegant it was.

I loved the floral gold detailing and the satin puffy sleeves as well as the sheer sleeves as that was the aspect I liked in the first dress.

When this dress arrived I sadly was disappointed, because it was just a little too big and I was worried that due to the fabric and pattern it would not be able to be tailored, but I took it to the tailor and it got taken in. And now the dress fits perfectly and I loved wearing it to winter formal!

What I learned from this process is that’s its always important to make sure what you’re wearing makes you feel confident in what you’re wearing (in any situation.) and I figured out my new format for picket out dresses for formal occasions.

Which Is: Looking through ShopBops LikeShop page (so I can see how the pieces were styled) then clicking on the pieces I liked the most and seeing which ones are in my price range. And then from there picking out the dress I want to wear.

So that is my process for how I picked out my Winter Formal dress and now I developed the process I now plan to use for when picking out formal dresses in the future!