When I got engaged last year, I was most excited about buying a wedding dress. (Don’t act too surprised.)
To prep for the dress search, my mom and sister insisted I start watching Say Yes to the Dress, which I had never watched in my life. The show is a parade of weeping women wearing big poofs in varying shades of Clorox-y white. I thought the over-wrought emotions and petty dramas were patently ridiculous — and I disliked 99% of the dresses, which seemed to epitomize the “basic bride” aesthetic.
But I desperately wanted my mom and sister to travel across the country to shop for dresses — and I knew I’d need to make a big case to get them to travel so far. So I got a reservation at Kleinfelds. And then I applied for the show.
Long story short, my episode of Say Yes to the Dress airs this Friday at 9 p.m. (Meanwhile, I applied for the Real World in college like 17 times and got rejected each time. Go figure!)
I didn’t go into the appointment with high hopes that I would find anything. The style favored by many Kleinfeld brides seems to be dripping with fake crystals and pearls, complete with a ludicrous $8K price tag. (Since I paid for my dress myself, I set what I thought was a “modest” budget of $5,000 — which, in hindsight, was still outrageously expensive.)
I went in, guns blazing, prepared to hate everything. When it comes to formalwear, I gravitate toward two different looks — feminine/detailed or bold/architectural. (I only had one rule: NO STRAPLESS. Ever since Posh Spice, that’s been the rubber-stamp style, and my special little snowflake disease won’t allow for this.)
I’ll be sharing more complete thoughts after the show airs. Please check it out this Friday, and feel free to make fun of me — I know my husband will. (I’ll be live-tweeting the show at @StylePragmatist here.)
No, I didn’t get final cut. (I didn’t even get a discount.) But there will be tears. And lace. Oh god, so much lace.
I’m taking Thursday off, but I’ll be back on Friday to give you more details from the wedding dress hunt. Have a happy Thanksgiving.