What to Wear: Bridal Showers

Bridal showers can be lovely. There are so few occasions for a special party with only the closest women from your life. Charlotte has the somewhat-dubious luck of having four bridal showers of a different kind thrown for her this spring:

I really enjoy your blog. I have a difficult what to wear question. Any advice would be super helpful! Wedding showers. That’s right, showers plural, because my mother in law and her friends are throwing me FOUR.

She still lives in the mid-sized Midwestern city where she grew up and has a ton of friends and she has thrown showers for lots of their kids over the years. So, I’ve agreed to the four showers, somewhat to my dismay.

The twist is, they will all be on the same weekend in April or May, two on Saturday and two on Sunday. I won’t know almost anyone except my mother-in-law to be. I assume two of the showers will be at lunchtime, one will be a cocktail party, and the last is still up in the air. So really I need four outfits, I guess. But I’m not asking you to do all that.

Do you have any suggestions for a couple of classic pieces that I could mix and match or repurpose from shower to shower somehow? I just won’t wear four fancy outfits in my everyday life.

I already have a knee-length, silk, cream and navy blue patterned dress from JCrew to wear to one shower (I bought it some time ago, so no picture available on their web site), and I was thinking of investing in some really nice heels. Otherwise, I’m a little stumped. Cardigans? A skirt? I don’t even know.

Mix and match! This is a fun chance to load up on some cute clothes. I think you’ll want at least two skirts, your dress and some tops to rotate:

Skirt – I wore a satin skirt like this to one of my showers. Topped with a simple sweater, pearls and a pair of pumps and you have a classic look.
Skirt – This sort of pencil skirt in navy is super versatile. You can wear it to a luncheon, work or a cocktail party.
Cardigan – Gray goes with the navy pencil skirt, the yellow skirt and the dotted dress.
Top – Look positively bridal in a ruffled white shirt.
Fancy Top – Combine with the navy pencil skirt for a classy evening look.
Tank – In navy for simple layering.
Shoes – All you really need is one perfect pair of navy pumps. Charlotte has her eye on these from Boden.
Clutch & Pearls – From Forever 21.
Red Necklace – On sale from Anthropologie.