Like @kelsmom I got my dress at Neiman Marcus online for a great price. They were running a 40% off everything sell. I’m not a regular NM shopper but I was impressed with the dress selection. I also found their filters to work well. Saks online also has a good selection and I ordered several from them also at a good sale price.
I have had my dress since fall yet didn’t share it with future DIL. I love my dress and didn’t want her to veto it. She sent out an email a few days ago with a number of dresses in the color palette. I let her know I had my dress and sent a screenshot. She is okay with my selection.
@jym626 - my dress is a burgundy/raspberry combination and the bridesmaids are in navy. I think navy would be easy to find and would complement the burgundy. What weather are you expecting for the wedding? Do you want sleeves or will you be comfortable in sleeveless?
I tried nordstrom’s today and struck out. I need petite. We no longer have L&T here (I miss it). Plan to try Dillards and von Maur. Maybe Macy’s, Newman’s, or Saks.
If think you’d look good in a mid-shade blue, something vibrant. Funny, I also did well at NM for a bat mitzvah dress, even tho I’m not usually a NM person.
Thanks! The autocorrect above was supposed to say Neiman’s, not Neumann’s!
Does Neiman’s have a decent petite selection?
Online is probably your best bet. Your selection will be better, most likely.
I returned 4 or 5 dresses, and bought in the store. Some of the brands they carry online are of lesser quality. In store, I tried on many dresses The lovely saleswoman stayed with me in the dressing room, helping me try on dresses.
Our Neiman’s in store gown selection is abysmal. I would not waste time going to our local store… Unless your Neiman is biggish and established, your are better off looking online and returning/tailoring in store.
I saw these dresses on Saks dot com. Lots of very pretty gowns!
Sizes and styles are often so much better online than in store for me as well.
I’m with @jym626
I need to feel the fabric,and try things on for sizes. Returning things isn’t exactly a cakewalk for me…and I’m not interested in having a dress showroom in my house.
I know the selection online is better…but it’s just not my desire to shop for clothing that way…or shoes.
I Thanks, @thumper1. I have discovered by the recent no-luck shopping at Nordstrom’s that only petite dresses fit me correctly. Getting a regular size simply requires way too many alterations. And I really don’t like to order clothes on line, and then have to schlep in town to return them. With our traffic that is no easy feat. Today after work I will go to Costco to get my $$$$ rebate (the check came yesterday) and its next to a mall. Will go see what they might have there. That mall, though, is in need of a serious facelift, so not sure what the dept stores will have.
@jym626 that mall that needs the facelift…might just have less shoppers…and more dresses on the racks.
Good luck!!
@jym626 -from a quick online search it looks like not a lot of long dress selection in petite. My first choice is to shop in person but I’ve found that it’s a waste of time unless I drive two hours to a larger city. Even with that you could drive and the selection not be great.
Adriana Papell has petite long dresses on her website. Saks and Neiman Marcus don’t seem to have much which leads me to believe that you won’t find a lot out there. My dress is going to need alterations in several spots but it’s not a complicated design.
I ordered about 7 dresses online from Saks and NM. They came, I tried them on, using a small step stool to see how they would hang since all were very long. I had my H take photos which I shared with a few friends. The amazing thing was I liked all of them. A couple of them I had to reorder in a smaller size. Returning was easy. I printed out the return label and dropped the box at the post office. I prefer to return via UPS but both NM and Saks used USPS. It was an easy process. If I had went local I wouldn’t have found anything. My Nordstrom is small and Macy’s doesn’t have long dresses in my locale.
When it comes time to find shoes I will probably do the same thing. I will look at the two department stores and probably order from Zappos. Though I am tempted to try on a pair of platform Teva sandals in burgundy velvet. I’ve also threatened to wear velvet Toms. I also a, going to try on a pair of soft pale pink Ugg sneakers to wear after the ceremony. The great thing about a long dress is that it hides footwear.
This is a good time to be long dress shopping…it’s prom time…and wedding time. I was at the mall yesterday and the long dress selection was HUGE.
@mom60, the nice thing about Nordstrom is that you can order as much stuff as you want online and then return it by bringing it to your local Nordstrom store and dumping it on the counter. They take it from there, and it doesn’t matter whether they carry the particular item or not. Also, you can return it months from now. They don’t care about that, either.
That only works if you have a local Nordstrom store. I also believe they have changed their return policy.
My “local” Nordstrom is about an hour away. And frankly…I’m not particularly thrilled with Nordstrom…period.
There are a few Nordies around but with traffic its a mess. I have a sales clerk looking for me but I will first let my feet do the walking if possible.
@mom60: That’s exactly what I did for my son’s wedding last fall. I must have ordered and returned 30 different dresses until I found the right one.
Marian I like ordering from Nordstrom as it is easy to return in the store. I have a Nordstrom in my small city and it’s easy to get in and out of. In this instance I had been given a specific color palette and NM and Saks just happpened to have a better selection in the color palette. I have also had good luck at the Saks off 5th in a outlet mall an hour away. The Saks off 5th in my city which has closed was a bust. The one in Camarillo Ca if anyone is in that area has a good selection of nicer dresses. I like to find dresses that came from actual stores versus the stuff made for the outlet.
I am usually hard to fit so I was thrilled to find so many options I looked good in. I have lost some weight so I at some point need to make sure it’s still okay to alter.
I just find going out shopping in my city is a waste of time for certain types of occasion clothing.
Everyone’s experiences are different. I found exactly 0 special occasion dresses in a petite size.
Yes, I found prom dresses and the bigger Macy’s a 100 miles away had special occasion dresses, actually a good selection but none were petite sizes. Most of the stores around me have eliminated their petite departments.
I think if I had traveled to Detroit,(four hours away) the Nordstrom there had special occasion dresses in petites, as least I found that they had a few when I did a search. I even was in Denver and looked. Found none.
I dearly would have loved to find a dress at a store to try on and buy. It just didn’t exist. My mil went to a local boutique and was able to have a dress tailored but she wasn’t looking for a MOB dress but a short cocktail dress.