Where to look for mother of the groom outfits.

[Nojudginghere]

DS is getting married in September. Really struggling to even know where to start looking for outfits! Have seen lots of adverts for different online stores - but no idea if the quality is as good as they claim and obviously can only order 1/2 items at a time due to cost before returning and trying again!! Hoping some lovely people on this thread might have some recommendations of places I could look.
For context - I’m size 16, no restrictions on colours, don’t like hats but would possibly be interested in a fascinating style accessory. Tend to wear dresses rather than skirts/tops. Grateful for any ideas…

Thank you - haven’t heard if that but will def have a look.

She’s got a good budget so she can do much much better than cheap dresses in nasty fabrics. JJs House really isn’t somewhere to go for well made clothes.

I think the key is to look around and try on stuff, even things you wouldn't normally think of.
It's a while since mine got married. For one of them I had a lovely, floaty dress with fascinator and a wrap which was very "me" but for one of them I surprised myself. I went to a shop that specialised in MOTB outfits just to rule them out and found one that was totally not my usual style but looked great and I felt amazing in it.

My one dread was buying something high street, even if it was dearer, and someone else having the same or similar. The lovely floaty dress I wore for DD1's wedding was Phase 8. We were also invited to her schoolfriend's wedding a few weeks later and that friend's mum rang me in a panic, after seeing photos online, to ask me not to wear it again to her DD's wedding as she had that same dress!

I don’t think it’s a “thing”, and I know I’ll feel just as emotional and proud if my daughter gets married as I will when my son does. I’d just want to check before buying if she had any thoughts on her own outfit. We get on well, so I don’t envisage any issues at all.

I’m going to be a MOB in September.I looked online at MOB websites and decided most of what I saw was definitely not me and overpriced.I ended up getting my dress from Phase Eight. I feel very comfortable in it and my daughter loves it too.
I could have afforded an outfit from a MOB shop, but I didn’t want to spend ridiculous money on something I won’t wear again.

I recently took my mum and MIL shopping for outfits for my wedding. Until they tried things on they really didn’t know what suited them. My mum is 83 and bought a beautiful really modern outfit from Wakefields in Horsham which she completely dismissed until I made her try it on. Then my MIL (76) is wearing a really smart turquoise trouser suit which she looks fab in. Again she wasn’t going to try it on, but loved it when it was on. So go shopping with someone, try different styles on. My MIL ordered what looked like a lovely outfit on line, the trousers are indecent and see through!

@Grohlette- meaning no disrespect to them whatsoever - how had your DM and DMIL been dressing until then, if, as you say, they didn’t know what suited them?

neither of them have worn anything so formal for a long time. So neither of them knew what they really wanted. They’ve worn dresses to family parties but they wanted more formal for MOB & MOG It wasn’t until they started trying different styles on that they realised what they wanted. Some of the outfits sold as MOB or MOG were either v cheap looking or v expensive. So my advice would be to go shopping and don’t be afraid to try things on, you may be surprised!

Thank you to everyone who has taken the time to reply and share advice / experiences / recommendations. I’ve made a list of all
the places that have been mentioned - many I’d never heard of, will arrange a shopping trip with some friends to try different styles on, and am generally feeling much more positive and less stressed about being able to find something I’ll love. Thanks again everyone x

I think you need a trip to John Lewis in Solihull! Good luck!

I bought a pricey MoB dress, but sold it on. It had a matching small hat and I sold both.

Several of my MoB/MoG friends have done this. They originally bought their outfits, thinking they would re-wear them to other weddings, but then didn't want to outshine the Mums at weddings where they were 'ordinary' guests. As a rule of thumb, they sold for around half what they paid.

When my son got married, I bought a second hand velvet jumpsuit and paired it with a second hand sequinned cardigan. Both from Vinted. It looked pretty good!

Yes that is normal wedding etiquette

What's the reason for a hierarchy for selecting outfits?

I didn't know that MoB supposedly has first choice - I'm sure most people would check with their opposite number and make sure it worked before buying. The MoG at my daughter's wedding will be one of the few people I show my dress to - when I finally get it.

Probably from the time when the brides parents were paying for everything.

Ah, ok. Well I think that's fairly outdated now. And even if they are paying, it's still weird IMO.

A lot of people still think of it as the brides day (let's face it a lot of men couldn't care less about colours, dresses, place settings) and therefore her family is more important

John Lewis stock a lot of brands online and hundreds of occasion dresses that unfortunately are not available to try on and purchase in the store. Their filters are very good. I had a colour/ length/ sleeve length in my mind and sorted from high £££ to low and put anything fancied the look of in my online basket. I ended up with 10 possibilities.
My plan was to buy / return 4 at a
time starting with the ones I liked best.
Luckily the one I really liked was in the first delivery and was perfect.
I kept an open mind about other possibilities as I think I had 3 months to return but I didn’t find anything nicer.
I suppose I missed out on the while MOB shopping experience but I have fallen out of love with clothes shopping in recent years so I found this relatively stress free. Our nearest MOB shop, which many friends have visited, is renowned for high pressure selling which I dreaded.