Cheap Party Dresses

What is your opinion on re-wearing a special occasion dress?

I have been going to a lot of weddings lately. I am not Ms. Moneybags, so normally, I go to a discount store and comb through the entire evening wear section until I find something awesome, flattering and affordable. I am going to a wedding next month, and I decided to splurge on a dress. It wasn't a bad price for the dress, but it was an investment for me. In the days before Facebook, I used to have a few dressy dresses that I could choose from when I had to dress up. I feel like now, the pictures of any occasion are plastered all over the internet for the world to see, which is nice, because you can look back on the event. However, it's kind of also hard on the wallet, because it causes me to feel like I need to wear a different dress to everything I'm invited to because I feel strange about showing up to things and having people possibly be thinking "she just wore that dress to so and so's wedding!" Since I paid what is a lot of money for me on this dress and think it's very beautiful, I would like to wear it again sometime in the future. It's kind of annoying and shallow that men can wear the same suit over and over but there's some sort of taboo for women to wear the same dress a few times. I feel like dressing up and going to the event and being happy for the people involved is what matters, but then again, I don't want to be "that girl" and somehow insult people. How do you get around this?

Public Comments

1. You asked and pretty much answered your own question and gave a very clear editorial! The only thing I would add is on the investment dress(es) change your accessories. Add a scarf, add a flower, change necklaces, wear several strands of "pearls" Coco Chanel-style, change the color of your purse and or shoes, change your hairdo. Depending on climate, add a suit jacket. The other thing you can do is instead of dresses, wear suits, if you don't have, start investing in those, especially black. You can have one black jacket and several different styles of black skirts. Suits are not just for work and you can buy fancy sleeveless After 5 tops to wear under a jacket that cost a fraction of an entire dress. And you can do the same, even more with changing up a suit, you can mix and match the jackets and skirts and tops. Yes absolutely you want to be there and be festive. Don't give any thoughts to what people have to say, what do they know about your wallet? Nothing. But you can keep them guessing :) Best wishes
2. Go ahead, wear your pretty dress, and enjoy the wedding. When I was working, there were 4 or 5 fancy dress up parties every year, each requiring a pretty dress up dress. I was lucky enough to have several in my wardrobe. Wore them as needed. There were times when I could wait a year before re-wearing some of them. But, whatever. Wear what you have, and don't worry over it. People have a lot of other things to think about, not just what everyone is wearing.