Very particular 16year old daughter needs wedding guest outfit please help

[alpenguin]

My red-headed autistic (it is relevant as she’s stubborn af) 16 year old is struggling to find a dress for an upcoming extended family wedding.

The dress code is smart but not formal. All the dresses she’s sending me to look at are floor length bodycon very fitted and more suited to a Hollywood ball / evening event for a 6ft escort rather than a wedding.

she’s 5’2” and a size 12 with wide shoulders and an hourglass figure so will struggle with the strapless fitted long dresses she likes

She refuses a trouser suit, nothing above the knee or just below, must be maxi.

Can someone with better taste than I point out appropriate dresses I could send her because everything I send is ugly or middle
aged apparently and everything she sends me looks like a high class hooker.

This is true actually. A couple of second cousins about that age turned up at our wedding looking quite OTT - think slinky, slits, strapless etc.

It didn't really bother me, partly as we were so busy and distracted, but I felt a bit protective of them when a few comments were made by friends in the following weeks.

I know the girls had tried hard and it was their first "grown up" event (they'd been in little girl dresses with sashes as flower girls at the last family wedding!) so they just hadn't had time to work out their look, but I did kind of wonder why their mother hadn't been more involved; the mother looked beautiful and really elegant, but clearly hadn't had the energy to direct them!

Why would that be?

The DD is only 16: it's a mother's role to guide with this sort of thing.

And you really think the rest of the dresses on this thread are made anywhere better?

I was quite impressed by Omnes' credentials (I posted lots of their dresses earlier). They're rated as "Good" overall here.

https://directory.goodonyou.eco/brand/omnes

I know it's all a bit of a minefield out there. For instance, cotton manufacturing is hugely polluting & water-guzzling, so just choosing biodegradable "natural fibres" isn't always the greenest choice - it needs to be organic cotton (which is a lot more common now, thankfully). Polyester uses petrochemical byproducts, & doesn't biodegrade - but is very resilient, & recycled polyester uses plastic bottle waste - it's a lot more common now too. And viscose manufacture uses lots of chemicals & can endanger forests - so it should be a more eco-friendly type like Ecovero, & come from managed forests.

All these better fabric choices are becoming more common - I also buy second-hand first & foremost. And many companies are much more transparent about their sourcing & working practices etc. So choosing to be more environmentally friendly is - I think - much easier these days.

Shein, however, doesn't even get rated apart from an "Avoid" recommendation. So I do.

https://directory.goodonyou.eco/brand/shein

I think you need to take her to the high street and go shopping.
She can try it on there and then and you can both see if it fits her well.

She's 16 and autistic? Just be grateful that she's going at all and let her wear what she likes. At least it's not a band T shirt or a football kit.
Everyone knows teens wear ridiculous stuff but think they are the bees knees, let her be.

I think this too. I completely understand how confusing it is for teenagers to understand that there are many forms of 'dressy' clothes and they aren't suitable for all occasions. Eg. Party with friends is different from a family event. I think maybe looking at Instagram together using a hash tag search may help her see the types of outfits people wear for weddings. I'm sure you can reach a compromise. I like the Mango teen stuff.

The Mara Abstract Tilly Dress is lovely.

Abstract Tilly Dress – Never Fully Dressed https://share.google/8I5KTAldk0h30fsL9
If it's this one I agree!!

Go easy option _ let her choose!

limetrees32

Yes, that Abstract Tilly Dress – Never Fully Dressed https://share.google/8I5KTAldk0h30fsL9
Is nice but i meant the one posted by
C080889
https://www.neverfullydressed.com/search?q=Tilly&page=3

Not the point of the thread but typically ‘escorts’ dress very well. I often travel with work and have seen a few escorts in hotel bars, usual very sophisticated and well dressed. They’re trying to attract men with money that will take them to dinner & drinks before paying them for sex. Those men don’t want to be seen with someone who would stand out as looking like the prostitutes that you’d typically see on street corners

I love that! Really playful but still elegant.

Oh that is lovely.

Abstract Tilly Dress
£129.00
https://share.google/8I5KTAldk0h30fsL9

OP has your daughter made her choice yet?

Good God some of these look like lingerie, not suitable at a wedding at any age, build etc.

My 15yo DD tried this on recently for a wedding. It was stunning on but she went for something else in the end. Very flattering.

https://www.abercrombie.com/shop/uk/p/bra-free-hardware-maxi-dress-62130323-1005?categoryId=84562&faceout=model&seq=02&pagefm=navigation-grid&prodvm=navigation-grid

Thread is a couple of weeks old - Did you find anything she likes OP?

Oh yes, please do update us.