I do wear fancy tops with long skirt and pants some because it’s suitable for going out to nice meal and/or theater and/or opera.
I wear dresses some but have quite a few and they tend for fit me for decades.
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Wow, a one cent dress!
My very first fancy dress was a very elegant black wrap dress by Donna Karan (black label? whatever her top of the line brand was called at that time). I had zero idea who DK was but the dress was so much better made than anything else on the “additional %% off”’ rack at Nordstrom Rack. I decided to try it on. It fit perfectly, but there was a small hole in the fabric… I took my chances! I think I paid $10 or so for it and was able to repair the hole almost invisibly! Got a ton of compliments at the company party. My boss probably thought I was paid too much! 
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I love faux fur!
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My D found her prom dress marked down from $850 to $37 at the Rack. It was a dress that you really needed to be 6 ft tall to wear without making major alternations. Perfect for my D. We paid more for her shoes than the gown. Haven’t found a deal like that one in a long time!
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The Rack has netted me a few better buys at the register than on the tag especially on “clear the rack” days. I wish we had one locally.
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@abasket - I’ve definitely worn dresses from the closet to weddings. But when my niece married a few years ago, I decided it would be nice to buy a new dress. As a just-in-case placeholder, I bought an $8 navy dress at a thrift shop. Then dragged my husband to various stores trying to find a new dress we liked. LOL - our top choice was a dress like the thrift shop dress, but we didn’t like the grey color as well as the navy. Of course I ended up buying a $40 sheer navy cape for the expected cool weather at outdoor cocktail party, and that has not had much use.
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Normally, I have worn dresses from my closet to most weddings. For my nieces & nephews, it feels more special and we take more photos so I don’t want to look like I’m always wearing the same outfit, especially since my extended family will be at both weddings that are likely to be in same month, 10/2026. I do have a lovely jacket with butterflies in flight I could wear over blue dress for one of the weddings. Bought jacket for son’s wedding but mostly didn’t need or wear it.
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I would die for a winter wedding! To be able to wear glorious long sleeves and a cropped faux fur jacket - YES please!
Wearing what I already have….yes, I plan to wear the dress I wore to my daughter’s rehearsal dinner to one (or perhaps both - no guest overlap) of the cocktail attire weddings I have in April & May. It’s a hard-to-find short sleeve dress where the sleeves are true short sleeves (like T-shirt length) and not fluttery, cap sleeve or puffy.
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Yes! I hate these type of sleeves as well. Cap sleeves are the worst, especially when it’s hot. I can’t stand having material up in my armpit. I wish that design would die a quick death!
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Bought this top that I can wear casually or dress up, with jeans, long dressy skirt or black dressy slacks (or even white jeans). It’s fun because it has an asymmetric hem and is very cheap. Haha!
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I am in the minority as I will use any wedding as an excuse to buy a new dress!! I love, love, LOVE shopping for, “dress up,” clothes. Probably not the best use of my/our resources, but I love a reason to dress up, and we don’t have many opportunities.
We are about to cycle out of weddings, however. Ds isn’t even close (
), though shopping as a MOG would be a whole other level for me. I can think of a couple of his still local friends for whom we might receive a wedding invite. Most of his high school friends are already married, and some have moved on to having babies.
Alas, we live in a very casual place, and we don’t do many things that are dressy, so I seize the opportunity when I can.
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Anyone with great way to hem many pairs of men’s jeans? S has a pile that are all a bit too long. Going to someone that does alterations will cost more than he paid for each pair!
Instagram and YouTube show a few ways. Not terribly difficult, but you have to be sort-of handy with a sewing machine.
(I’ve spent far too much time this week scrolling through IG for scarf-tying tips & for some reason that brought on a lot of stuff about sewing.)
This isn’t going to give a professional edge/look but how about iron on hemming tape? https://a.co/d/8zJkF1M
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That’s what I was thinking
I can see by hand and via machine, which we do have. I’ve just not been able to make it look like the factory.
Youtube has many videos about hemming jeans using the original hem. I’ve done it many times. I think it’s very easy and you can’t tell they’ve been hemmed.
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@1214mom This dress came up in a Nordstrom ad in my Facebook feed (likely cause I had searched dresses for you the other day!) and it costs a lot less than the dress I showed you that you liked, but has some similar style aspects:
https://www.nordstrom.com/s/logan-floral-square-neck-midi-dress/8696496
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@1214mom Actually, another ad popped up in my FB newsfeed of a dress that seems to fit what you are seeking and isn’t as expensive:
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Not for me but thanks.
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