Bridesmaid Dress Inspiration

Bridesmaid Dress Inspiration

I’m only having three bridesmaids, so finding dresses should be pretty easy. J.Crew, Anthropologie, even Nordstrom’s all have affordable and cute options. Here are some dresses that could work for bridesmaids:

Camilla Dress – I kind of love the “orange peel” color online, not sure how I would feel about it in person. Don’t you think J.Crew stores should stock at least one of each of their formal dresses so you could at least see them in person before spending $250 online?
Ivory Sophia Dress – Paired with yellow sashes.
Rain in Spain Shift – Really vintage with a cute, cut out back.
Taffeta Party Dress – Only $68.
Gryphon Tank Dress – Such a rich yellow color! I think this is my favorite choice, but is jersey not wedding appropriate?
Calypso Dress – Satin wrap dress would be universally flattering and with a 1940’s feel.

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There are 27 comments for this article
  1. Bagelz91 at 7:39 pm

    Just FYI, J. Crew will send you swatches of the material for any of their special occassion dresses. It’s useful to get a swatch if you go with them for matching flowers, cake trim, etc. Good luck.

  2. erica at 7:45 pm

    i love the calypso dresses (and they frequently go on sale). they’re extremely comfortable and flattering. their website has more colors on sale.

    it might be worthwhile to get swatches from j.crew. orange can be such a tricky shade…

  3. MissScientistSF at 8:11 pm

    I like #1, 2, 3 and 5. The cheap one looks too.. cheap? My favorites are #5 and #2, could be flattering on everyone. Yay, exciting!

    I get to buy a bright pink dress for April’s wedding, I am going to have lots of fun party dresses after this year.

  4. Anne at 8:27 pm

    I wore the long ivory sophia dress for my wedding and it was beautiful. very flattering.
    i also have the same dress in short black chiffon and love it in that cut too. it might look a bit too much like your wedding dress though.

  5. jennifer in sf at 8:34 pm

    Last year I looked at a different cheapo Nordstrom juniors dress for a friend’s wedding, and it turned out there was a real reason it was so cheap. It looked bad in person, bad.

  6. Andie at 8:52 pm

    Why not one of each? Though you’ll need three more bridesmaids! I’m available.

  7. Sara at 8:54 pm

    we wore the sophia dress in a crepe silk for a friends wedding, it was easy and we all loved them!
    i did find i needed to go up a size as the band under the chest was extra constricting. i was impressed that it had bra strap holder thingies on the straps!

  8. hyb at 8:54 pm

    Yesterday, H&M was filled with orange peel/light gray combo clothes for early spring. It’s my new favorite combo, and I think the not-yellow-not-quite-orange seemed like a very flattering color.

  9. elizabeth at 8:56 pm

    My two favorites are definitely the Sophia and Gryphon. Lovely ideas and, you’re right, universally flattering.

  10. Cynbiosis at 9:05 pm

    I love the wrap dress. The Sophia is lovely too, but I think your potential bridesmaids might tend to have something like that already, and the wrap dress is also something that could be worn again.

  11. Anne (in Reno) at 9:12 pm

    I love the buttery-yellow Anthro dress, I feel like it goes more with the vintage styling of your gown (gorgeous, by the way, can’t wait to see more pictures of it). And it looks totally wearable, which is a treat for a bridesmaid. I feel like super low cut or strapless dresses are a little harsh to ask your friends to wear unless you know they like them.

    That said, J. Crew dresses are lovely (got married in one myself) but tend to need tailoring, which is just one more expense to add, and I wouldn’t want my bridesmaids all in white (ivory, whatever) as it would seem too matchy-matchy. I like the contrast with the yellows more.

  12. Katie at 9:35 pm

    The grouping of these dresses looks great! maybe you should get a couple more bridesmaids and have each pick their favorite of the bunch.

    I really like the look of each bridesmaid wearing a different, yet coordinated dress. very cool.

  13. cyndi & lee at 10:47 pm

    They’re all lovely! The “orange peel” color is fantastic and if I could wear yellow, I’d be all over the jersey dress! Speaking of which, don’t forget that this is YOUR wedding and whatever you want is appropriate! If you are in love with the jersey dress and want your bridesmaids to wear them, I say “go for it!”

    Have fun planning!!

  14. Anonymous at 6:31 am

    The Gryphon dress is really low cut. I’ve got it in another color and have to wear a tank underneath it. They even show it with a tank in the Anthropologie catalog, so be sure to take a look at it first.

  15. handcrafteddelights at 4:25 pm

    and I think if you order your JCrew dresses from the redphone in store you get free shipping. (If you can’t find a current free shipping code, right now i think it is for orders over $175).
    But I’m sure you knew that because you are supersavvy! 🙂

  16. meghann at 5:27 pm

    Rain in Spain is an absolute fave and while remaining classic and timeless would still not be boring or immediately identifiable by store. (ie anything from j crew)

  17. JulieM at 12:31 am

    I vote for the Rain-In-Spain dress. It looks like it would fit a wider variety of body types than the strapless or low-cut ones, and it actually looks like a dress that one could wear more than once. Yes, this is your day, but you do want happy bridesmaids!