Neoprene? Isn’t that the stuff wetsuits are made out of? Sounds a bit unconventional for a MOB dress but maybe I’m just not up on the latest trends. I guess that’s what gives it that stiffness in the photo.
I have a decade-old chichi designer sheath dress made of neoprene fabric. I would have never guessed it was neoprene. The label said “dryclean only”, but when I saw the fabric content, I washed it. 
Hi again,
I’m not super concerned about wrinkling. When I went to NYC for D1’s wedding, I carried dresses in a suit bag separately. I was on a train.
These three dresses are enroute to me now and so we shall see.
Yes, I checked Nordstrom Rack online. I have been checking various sites now in an ongoing fashion.
On a side note, when I was out to dinner with D1 and new spouse last night, who got married in May, they informed me that they also now want to have a traditional religious ceremony at a synagogue in NYC (their May wedding ceremony was at City Hall, though there were additional elements to the wedding celebration) and they are in the midst of arranging with a rabbi at Temple Emanuel in Manhattan, which looks like an incredible place. This was unexpected and apparently in about ten days (not yet confirmed). So, it looks like an additional trip back to NYC for me (I was just there a week ago meeting up with D2’s future in-laws). D1 was like "oh you can wear the dress you got for our wedding again!), but I’m not sure I will (as it is a daytime ceremony and black in the heat of summer) but I may wear the dress I shared here from Sundance that I got earlier in spring and had considered for D1’s wedding originally, but ended up wearing it to D2’s opening night of a show and to D1’s spouse’s graduate school graduation at Harvard. Surely not buying yet another dress for it.
Sounds like you will have a lot of happy events and have suitable garments that will work nicely.
Hi, it’s me again. :-h
Came back to update you. The 3 most recent dresses I ordered discussed in post #287, recently arrived and I tried them on today.
The knee length Tadashi Shoshi dress that is navy with white embroidery is truly a beautiful dress and the fit and flare style is very good for me. However, while it fits (I think…I could not fully zip the back by myself), the waist is a little snug (not the bust surprisingly). There is the issue that it is a cap sleeve and so barely any sleeve, which is not ideal, but if the best dress, I would have done it.
http://www.tadashishoji.com/art16035m-rylnv-nagoya-dress
Then there are the two long midi-length Nataya dresses that are not the same dress. Both fit me really well. I like the navy with white embroidery better in terms of color, but also style, even though both are lovely. I think my daughter would really like it (she did online when I was with her about 2 weeks ago). I am not as keen on wearing a dress to my ankle (that is where it falls on me). It goes to the top of my ankle in front and is longer in back, like to the top of a shoe. I typically wear dresses to the knee. It is more like a maxi dress on me, not really midi (mid-calf length). It may be OK anyway (my D likely will think so), even though it is not truly a gown. It could not be hemmed at the bottom due to the embroidery. HOWEVER, when I pulled the skirt part up at the waist seam a few inches, I liked that it hit more midi (mid-calf) length (still much longer than I wear, but not a maxi in front). It would appear to me that a seamstress may be able to take it up at the waist seam (not affecting the look of any of the embroidery). So, I think this MAY be THE DRESS.
https://www.amazon.com/Nataya-Womens-Downton-Wedding-Sapphire/dp/B019DYOMNE/ref=pd_sim_sbs_193_9?ie=UTF8&dpID=41g9A5cBSeL&dpSrc=sims&preST=AC_UL200_SR133%2C200&refRID=4WWBEMMTR4F54HA7Q9NH
If you look at the link, it hits the mid-calf on the model. That is what it would be if I could get a seamstress to take it up in the waist seam. Currently, on me, it is longer, as I described above. Do you guys think if I keep it, I should look into taking it up at the waist seam and that it looks as if that is possible?
Here is the other dress:
https://www.amazon.com/Nataya-Womens-Titanic-Vintage-Style/dp/B00YUZ3HYW/ref=sr_1_15?ie=UTF8&qid=1468030467&sr=8-15&keywords=Nataya+Dress+5901
(same issue on length…longer on me than the model…I am 5’4")
Assuming I keep the long navy with white Nataya dress, I looked online for navy shoes. Black, which I got for D1’s wedding, doesn’t seem ideal. I don’t really think I want to buy silver. Even navy, I will rarely use. However, I found a pair of Nine West shoes online that are at a big discount ($79 down to $48). The price is so good that even if I mostly just use these shoes with this dress, it would be OK (though typically I don’t buy shoes to go with just one outfit). Plus this dress was not as expensive as the short dress above or the one I got for D1’s wedding. Here are the shoes I am considering:
http://www.6pm.com/nine-west-gamgee-navy-leather
I could bring the navy and white long Nataya dress down to NYC this weekend and put it on for D2 quickly so she can see it. I have to go back to NYC late this week because D1 wants to have a 2nd wedding ceremony (her wedding was in May), performed at a synagogue in NYC on Friday.
Thoughts?
The shows are lovely. I haven’t worn heels in many years, but maybe I would for a wedding. I wear a lot of navy pants, so I get a lot of use from my navy shoes.
Those Nine West shoes are actually $31.60 on 6 PM’s site.
I like the shoes, but I am definitely not a fan of the hilo hemline of that navy Nataya dress. Can it be altered to make the hem look normal?
I like the first dress too.
I thought a wrap look might be nice as well:
@BunsenBurner I thought of you when I was trying on the dress, because you had mentioned that previously. Generally, I am not a fan of hi-lo hemlines. However, with this dress, at least when I tried it on, the hi-lo was minimal. Like I said, without hemming it, the front was at the top of my ankle and the back was at the bottom of my ankle. It wan’t extreme.
With the embroidery on the hemline, I don’t think the hem itself could be shortened. But if my idea to take it up at the waist seam (which is actually a bit higher than the waist in front) would work to shorten the dress to mid-calf length (do you guys think that type of alteration is possible?), perhaps it could also be done to even out the length all around. I could look into it. The hi-lo was not that noticeable to me with the dress on me, as I thought it might be. Again, it was slight. I am not fond, for example, of dresses where the front of dress is at the knee and the back is very long. This was more of a slight arc.
@mommdc While that Karen Kane wrap is a nice dress, I honestly have plenty of dresses of that type. I don’t feel it is dressy enough for my D’s wedding. I want something a step up from it and from the regular dresses I already own. It is an evening wedding, by the way.
I like the navy Nataya dress, personally. I think a good seamstress could take it up at the waist. It’s worth checking.
Love the shoes and love the price even more!
I LOVE the Downton Abbey dress. I am normally not a fan of hi-lo hems, but this one looks graceful. If you can sole the length problem by taking it up at the waist, that would be fabulous.
I really like the tan and black Nataya dress, but the navy is pretty too. Not a fan of that first one, but the shoes you found are lovely. I’m built a lot like you and I think THESE hi-lo dresses would work for us-I wouldn’t have them altered. But I think we’ve determined that our tastes are quite different.
I’m just happy that I clicked on the dresses so that now all of my ads will feature pretty, expensive dresses for me to look at instead of toothbrush holders, which is the last thing I searched, lol.
@sseamom Thanks for the feedback. I don’t have to have the dress altered. However, the length on me is truly longer than in the photos in the link. I think it is meant to be tea length and hit mid-calf and on me, it is more like a maxi and hits the ankle. I’ll think about that aspect a bit more.
I use an ad blocker and so I don’t see the ads!
I like the tan and black Nataya dress too. The hem on that, particularly in front, is a bit less appealing to me than the shape of the hem of the navy one. Plus I am a fan of navy and white generally speaking, and my current decor in my home reflects that!
Did you consider a dressy nude patent sandal for the dress? You might get more use out of them than the navy if you don’t think you’ll wear navy shoes again.
@teriwtt I haven’t thought too much about the shoes as I hadn’t even selected a dress until POSSIBLY having done so today.
Your idea is a positive one. I thought about nude. True, such shoes would go with more things. But the thing is, I don’t even wear super dressy shoes very much in the first place. I have dressy black shoes and dressy black sandals. I bought nude shoes the season and could maybe wear them with this dress, though not sure if they are dressy enough (they are midway dressy). I also have dressy tan heeled sandals that I wouldn’t wear with this dress but I don’t feel I would benefit in some way by nude dressy patent sandals in my wardrobe either. The navy shoes I linked to I like a bit in terms of style with this dress, and the fact that they are not sandals, but semi-closed…kinda good for late September and may be used more months of the year (though again, I wouldn’t be wearing them that much). I don’t own navy shoes and so they may come in handy with something else. I almost don’t care given how cheap those shoes are marked down to (even the original price is not bad) for a leather shoe by a name brand.
I like the navy Nataya dress much more than the tan one. I don’t mind the high low look and I’m not sure I’d hate it being a bit longer, though it’s hard to visualize. The shoes are cute - I could never wear them, but I have terrible feet and a low tolerance for discomfort.
I really like the navy dress a lot…with the hi-lo hem. I think I would leave it longer…like it is.
I could leave the dress as is. It is more like a maxi as is. Just saying it is not mid-calf like in the photo and as I expected. I have an email into my D, but she is actually at a bachelorette gathering in Newport, RI for her best friend from childhood and so I don’t expect she can look at the email. But I will see her at the end of the week and maybe I will bring the dress and show her in person.
@mathmom Generally I don’t like wearing heels higher than 2 1/2 inches and when I do wear heels, they are usually a much thicker heel and not as thin as this. But it is a dressy occasion and I did wear that sort of heel for D1’s wedding (and will again on Friday for her second ceremony) but that heel may have just been 2 inches, even if narrow. This navy one is 2 3/4 inches. That isn’t that bad. I want to try to look appropriate.
Then again, speaking of shoes for the wedding…so D2 whose wedding we are talking about here now, is not too into heels. She has worn boots with block heels (not too high), but generally is not too into heels (like for summer, she has Birkenstock sandals and I just bought her some flats because I told her that Birkies don’t look so appropriate for some major concerts she is in this summer, LOL). So, for her wedding, I researched lots of flats. Sent her all the links.She has now ruled out even flats for her wedding day, saying she wants to be comfortable and not get blisters and claims nobody will see her shoes anyway. I even sent her some wedding ballet type slipper shoes and she nixed 'em all. So, then she said she wanted to wear sneakers, like a Keds style type. I found all sorts of cute sneakers for a bride…some are even decorated Keds (on Etsy) or other dressy sneakers. She then nixed all of those links too! Oy. She said she just wants plain Keds. Her dress is ivory, not white. Lo and behold, I discovered that you can get custom made Keds in any color. She can get the Keds where every part of the show is ivory with nothing in pure white. Well, she loved that idea and says she is doing it. Would never be my choice but her happiness is all I care about. She is her own person!!! 
As a side note, D1 isn’t into heels either and tends to wear Dansko clogs a lot or flat sandals or boots with flat soles. What did she wear for her wedding and will again this Friday for her second ceremony? Manolo Blahnik pointy toe shoes with a thin heel. So very different than I would have ever imagined her wearing. She looked so pretty, but just saying, she has never worn anything close to that in the past!