Mother of the Groom: get me to the finish line!

[ihaveafavouritecat]

Previous thread

For you lovely, crazy folk who have followed along, incredibly we need another thread.

OK... so the Me&Em catalogue just arrived in the mail.
What about this beautiful clutch?
Or this one? Lizard in tortoise colors, with the gold bar tucked under as shown?

How much?!!! Surely she should be able to get a perfectly nice clutch for less than the price of a few nights away?!

I’ve looked at some of the shoes suggested here and agree with @Ruthietuthie; I’ve seen those Air & Grace sandals mentioned before and think it’s worth paying extra for comfortable shoes.
Have you thought about changing shoes at night? I change into trainers once the dancing starts. Sounds a bit strange but the guests in their 20’s do the same thing! ( the last few weddings I’ve been to have had ceilidhs).
For this wedding I’ve ordered a pair of ballroom dancing shoes which will hopefully be super comfortable.

The ‘tortoise’ bag also has the advantage of tying lots of shades of brown together, bag, shoes, jacket (as well as gold), without the ‘browns’ needing to be an exact match.

(Otherwise there is going to be a next thread entitled ‘where to buy brown shoes to match this jacket’…😉🤔😂 - with all of the issues of ordering online and not being able to see the shade until they arrive…)

@ihaveafavouritecat how about these shoes? I’ve just ordered them! I was quite excited to see these because I already own them in the beige colour; I wore them to a wedding a couple of year ago, and they are really comfortable.

I almost posted these earlier. They look comfortable and don’t look as offensively bright as many gold shoes do. I like them and think they could be useful beyond the wedding too.

@RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie yes exactly. I’ve seen them in John Lewis and can confirm they’re a soft champagne gold, not a bright gold.
They're now also a serious contender for me but I’d have to find a matching bag.

Yup these might work. Size 6 sold out on Gabor website. Phone low on charge and I’m out and about in Athens. Should be able to track some down somewhere. Are they gold…ish?

I can’t see that colourway on John Lewis site either…

ordered from Athens! Fingers crossed 🙃 Thank you @MumzSuki

I saw them in John Lewis more than a year ago. I ordered mine from Charles Clinkard. Sorry can’t see size 6.
They’re a beautiful champagne gold colour; not bright at all. Hope you find them.

How is this collection looking? Is this sufficiently not ‘matchy matchy’ to receive any approval? Shoes are those recommended by @MumzSukiand beaded bag is a v inexpensive one that caught my eye on Vinted, from Monsoon . Thought it might contrast nicely with the smooth texture of the dress? The ensemble is probably not matchy-matchy enough for me tbh, but will have to see how those gold tones blend when I’m home and put the collection together. In addition once home, there’s a few of your shoe recommendations I may order online… in particular some from River Island, but I need to draw a line under this soon, I don’t have the stamina that some of you S+B creatures have… before long, something’s going to ‘just have to do!’

I'm not sure about the shoes, bag and jewellery. They are all different shades and look a bit 'off'. I do wonder if non-gold shoes and bag would be easier tbh.

Or those shoes but a non-gold bag?

@ihaveafavouritecat i love those earrings. I don’t have pierced ears so one less thing to find.
I think it would be useful if you wore all those items and posted a photo; bit difficult to envisage all together.
If I decide to wear the Gabor shoes I’d be looking for a similar colour bag; maybe this.

The shoes are not nice, unfortunately. The shape is dated (the blocky heel, the cross-cut strap, the toe shape) and the undertone of the gold is wrong. You don't want to match exactly, but the colors need to go together, the undertones need to work. With this jewelry and these shoes, it would just look as if they were oddly mis-matched. If you look at the line-up of photographs, it is so clearly the odd man out. You can see it doesn't work from the photographs alone.
The bag could really work. I like it. It is interesting, but in a muted way which wouldn't grab attention from the beautiful dress. I suppose my only concern is does it look interestingly muted or really worn-out and slightly grubby, which you could only tell in person. Would you use it again, though? Seems a waste to buy things to only wear once. What did you think of the Me&Em bag suggestions?
I would wear the jewelry, as you love it - I like its boldness and organic look.

I really don't think it matters if the shoes are 'dated' - they have a vintage vibe that fits with the jumpsuit imo. But I'm not convinced that the shoes and jewellery work together. And the bag just looks a bit grubby, although I generally love a vintage beaded/embroidered bag.

Thanks @RuthietuthieThe Me+Em bag is just wayyy out of budget. I’m sure it’s a beautiful bag, but just not an option for me, and for that reason I’m afraid I just don’t really give it attention. It was the same with the Me+Em necklace. The price was just preposterous and completely beyond consideration for me. I’m trying to rein in the spend at this point: affordable shoes, bag, jacket, etc. I will for sure be wearing the jewellery I chose here in Greece. It has sentimental significance to me in the run up to my son’s wedding and for the serendipity of how and where I found it.

Well, there’ll be a few more orders awaiting me when I get home, and I’ll make some final choices on the basis of those, looked at in the round. It’s pretty clear I’m never going to meet with the approval of you all! You’ve all helped me such a lot though and I really appreciate the generosity of all your extraordinary support and interest. Strange and wonderful S+B creatures!

It is so hard to say without seeing them IRL OP, But truthfully I think those shoes look the wrong colour. To me it LOOKS as though they have a paler, almost champagne pink undertone, where the jewellery is definitely a yellow gold. It's about the undertone colour. You can have darker or lighter but it needs the same base tones.

Near miss looks worse than no attempt at matching imo.

I'm not understanding why you are so wedded to gold now, as I seem to recall - and admittedly it's been a while - that you were hesitant about metallics initially.

I don't think the blocky heel is dated. It isn't the latest puff of air in heel shapes, but there are still plenty of block heels out there this season, and some people prefer them - and my sense is the OP does.

I have to be honest, I think kitten heels can look very unattractive. They are not the most flattering juxtaposition to most people's calves and often throw the wearer's weight into a slightly ungainly gait. I get that they are everywhere this last half hour, but if OP isn't a great fan, I don't think she needs to choose them over a block heel. These photos will be something she looks at for years and I think it is always worth asking how well a fashion stands up to long-term scrutiny.

If she finds some that work and is happy with them, then yes, but I sense she is getting tired of shoe talk, and I don't think she should reject possibilities just because of a block heel.

Understood, @ihaveafavouritecat. Having spent so much on the key pieces, you don't need to spend more on the other bits. The dress and jumpsuit are stand-out pieces, definitely.
I really like the jewelry. With the dress/jumpsuit and jewelry decided, you'll know which shoes/bag/coat work best when you put things together. Excited to see what arrives in the post.

Yes, you have great basics OP, and, while the jumpsuit wasn't inexpensive, I do think you will get a huge amount of use out of it. Overall, with what has actually been bought so far, I think you have ended up with sensible choices that will pay for themselves.

I'm getting to the point of thinking you should just wear the black shoes you tried the dress on with! The Me and Em site puts the jumpsuit with black, and you really won't even see them with it.

Agree with @Calliopespa. Let's see the black shoes you have. They might work, particularly as you only see a peep of the toe.

I don’t think anything is really dated anymore, people just think it must be the next new thing (when most of us on this thread are old enough to have seen it all before). I think the phrase that best sums it up is that you’ll be greater than the sum of your parts! I think you’ve been amazing @ihaveafavouritecat you’ve taken everything in and always been gracious and kind in your responses. I think we’ve all been great too, this thread has been in the main kind, positive and really wanted the best for you. Big up ya bad selves 😂

You are the voice of reason. Love this post.

I really, really (REALLY) hate kitten heels!