really need yr help and quickly

[eatyourveg]

2 weeks notice to go to an MBE thingy - the letter says women have to wear hats - I have no dress no shoes no hat.

am not stylish at all - 5' 2'' size 20 or even 22 at some places as 36J and never wear heels - one inch is the highest I'll go and definitely no knees on show ever ever ever

budget is hardly anything - £30 shoes £45 dress and as little as poss for the hat as I'll never wear it again - was thinking straw sun hat maybe with a ribbon or is that a real faux pas? Just don't know where to start

am really panicking can somebody somewhere please offer me any suggestions?

Any dress agencies near you where you could hire the outfit.

We'll get you sorted!

What colours do you like and what are your good bits?

How about swing dresses? I have one from this company and they are very flattering. The lady who is modeling a lot of the dresses in their plus size section (which you are not limited to btw, their "normal" range includes a 20/22) is around your bust size - she writes a very good blog.

I saw some great hats in charity shop this week. Not straw hat with ribbon ( I have been to one of these)

I LOVE this dress. cropped shrg and hire a black hat. Ballet flats would be fine.

LadyV dresses are great. Also good with ballet flats.

And for the hat either charity shop or ebay - here are a selection of accessorize ones (they do some quite nice occasion hats!) for an idea here

Personally I found hats in this style quite flattering. I probably wouldn't do a straw hat tbh

from their sale, wee cardy, red flats and bag would be great. these navy cuties too high?

if hat hiring isn't an option this place is bargainous

Wear opaque tights if you don't like your legs, Primark do surprisingly good ones.

Dress (in maroon)

Hat

shoes

Wow, next time I need an outfit I'm going to get you ladies in! These are fantastic ideas, I hope OP finds one thing she likes.

This with black shoes and hat.

This with statistically's hat and navy shoes from my previous link.

Gosh they are all very fancy aren't they? Please keep them coming

I was hoping for something more like this Is this not smart enough? Unfortunatly this dress is above the knee so not a contender.

MrsLettuce I do like those hats

I think I'd be too scared of looking like a meringue with all the material of a swing dress as I'm short and frumpy
I do like the lady V dresses but worry that a high neck might make my 36J appear like a 36ZZ

As for what I like - its blues, greens, pinks, nothing bold or garish. My wedding dress was actually a plain white cotton broderie anglaise nightie type thing sort of like a victorian petticoat which I wore with bare feet and a hairband of tiny flowers. Wanted to go to the chapel on my uncle's tractor but it wasn't road taxed. Just like simple stuff and as I don't wear make up I'm worried I'll look a complete mutton/lamb if I go OTT. I'm knocking 50

Very grateful for the ideas so far I really hate shopping for clothes

What do you think of this? Not posh enough? Would it go with this hat if it was teh cream one?

The LadyV swing dresses aren't as full as they look - I think they take the photos with a petticoat under them. Mine definitely isn't that full on.

I'm not sure the JoeBrown dress is fancy enough for an event which specifies hats tbh

StatisticallyChallenged I like this swing dress but they are out of stock for anything but an 8 - do you know where they are sold other than on the lady V website?

Is the monsoon not posh enough either?

I think the Monsoon probably is so long as you dress it correctly - so quite a dressy hat etc - but the shape is a lot better I think

That LadyV one is lovely - so annoying! I don't know of any other stockists.

There are a few other websites that do similar shapes here for example

Will try to find others

Have you ever tried Pepperberry? They go up to an 18 but because it is an 18+lots of boob space they might work if it's normally your norks that require the bigger space. I wear at least a dress size smaller there

floral?
kind of like the lady v
classic and quite elegant

thanks one and all - a trip to the big city in the week me thinks