Dress for my mum for winter wedding - PLEASE help!

[LoudRowdyDuck]

Hi everyone.

Mum hates clothes shopping and isn't very confident. She needs a lovely dress for my big brother's wedding in early January. Not too formal - her style is slightly bohemian and she hates the kind of classic 'mother of the groom', big-hat and heels look.

Vital Stats:

• She's about 5'3/5'4
• About a size 16, size 14 in somewhere like East. Big bosom.
• She can't wear heels
• She fancied something, 'with a full-ish long skirt, fitted at the waist, maybe in blue?', but obviously this is just a starting point.
• no Net-a-Porter; she needs to go and try it on.

Price: she spends ridiculously little on clothes but could afford more. Ideally less than £100, certainly less than £200.

Please give me some ideas, we're going shopping next week!

Ooh, I like those - not so much the last, sorry. Shape of the dress is pretty.

I agree with Chica that Debenhams might just be your friend (maybe without the personal shopper if it makes your mum feel uncomfortable). How about;
This

or this;
Here

What about this? Artigiano have a wide selection of occasion dresses, many of them with wide skirts falling below the knee. There is also quite a lot in jewel colours and in velvet.

red

teal velvet

East sorry !

phase eight

Kaliko

maxi

with opaques ?

bronze

(vaguely thinking of things my own mum would have liked. I used to get stuff in for her to try and take it back for her, before there was so much online ordering)

otty - sorry, not keen on the patterns. But thanks.

employ - ahh, I've done that for my mum too! I love the red for me!. That's a nice-looking site in general, thanks.

tilly - I don't mind East -it's just when it and M&S made up 90% of her clothes it's too much! However, she's seen that dress and didn't go for the pattern.

The phase 8 and Kaliko are nice!

Thanks all, this is really helping!

I have the Kaliko dress and recently wore it to a smart lunch where it received lots of compliments. It looks good with medium height court shoes and a smart clutch bag. I've recently bought a couple of special occasion maxi dresses from the relaunched Biba, if your mum is about my age the label will might be worth a look for nostalgias sake.

Ooh, good to know it is nice in RL, sue. Would it look bad with flat shoes though? Mum has an injured knee and can't wear heels. Like the idea of the bag though.

I don't think I've worn flat shoes since 1965. I think it could work if you could find flats with a low front over the toe, maybe in patent.

I love my heels too - mum winces at the sight of a 2-inch pair (and best never to speak of my lovely Gina skyscrapers!).

I expect she want to wear her ordinary 'good' (as opposed to gardening shoes), which are supportive and truly hideous ... but I can but try ...