How To Dress For Events Consciously
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I love a wedding and was lucky enough to attend my cousins wedding in the UK recently. One thing I spent a bit of time thinking about, obviously, was what I was going to wear. When I packed up to move countries none of my formal dresses made the cut, space for things I wear more frequently was prioritised! And that has been fine for the last year and a half, but what do you do when you have an event to attend and are trying to curate a more conscious wardrobe? These are the options I considered and the story of how I eventually found my outfit to help you work towards dressing more consciously for your next event:
Rental Service
There are so many dress rental services available these days that this is the obvious option for your event needs. With such an array of styles on offer, most of which probably retail for well above what you would like to spend, there's no better way to rock a designer dress at high street prices! I was on a time crunch and was going to be out of the country for more than a week so with rental durations generally capped at 7 days unfortunately this option didn't work out for me in this case.
Borrow from a Friend
Most of us have a few old dresses we've wore once to an event hanging at the back of our wardrobes so why not share the love with your friends. Something your friend has worn to an event is something you've never had the pleasure of wearing...so it's a new outfit for the price of dry cleaning before you give it back and a bottle of wine to say thanks! I was lucky enough to have a back up dress I'd borrowed once before from my kind friend waiting for me in the UK just in case.
Shop Second Hand
Ebay and online resellers are a great source for finding event appropriate dresses that have in most cases only been worn a few times. As with most online shopping I do I would recommend buying a brand you're familiar with to ensure sizing works. I also struggle with length when it comes to dresses so be sure to get any measurements specific to your shape before purchasing. I hunted on Ebay a lot but didn't find anything that was suitable and in my price range.
Buy Re-wearable Pieces
If you are going to invest in something new then make it something you can wear again and won't spend the rest of it's days hanging at the back of your wardrobe. If you have a few events coming up with different groups of people and can get multiple wears out of a gorgeous dress then great! Otherwise, look for something that can be dressed up, worn casually and fits into your existing wardrobe.
I spent two full days trying on countless dresses all of which came up short for various reasons, some where literally too short! I finally found a top and skirt combo in pale pink, a colour I have been admiring for a while now, and an item (pale pink midi skirt, yes that specific!) which has been on my shopping list for months now. These two pieces will work back into my existing wardrobe easily and will definitely get more than 30 wears each!
My main takeaway is to ensure you give yourself enough time, something I failed to do, I thought a few weeks was plenty...it's all about TIME! With long enough to make your decision count and with all of your options in mind you're sure to find the perfect outfit for your next event consciously.
