I’m attending a close friend’s black tie wedding in late April, so in eager anticipation I took to the internet to find some options!

Out of all the sites I checked (Lulu’s, Windsor, Dillard’s, Nordstrom, Tobi, Shop Akira, etc. ) I hit the motherload on ASOS, which by far had the most selection to choose from in terms of formal dresses. In fact, they’ve dedicated considerable time and resources to create a collection tailor-made for petite, average, tall, and plus-size wedding guests and bridesmaids (see my previous blog post for more). After choosing my favorites, I decided to place an order at ASOS knowing I could return all the dresses for no shipping costs. Here are the dresses I ordered:

Maya V Neck Maxi Tulle Dress with Tonal Delicate Sequins $128 | This dress is beautiful. Pros –  I love how princessy it looks, especially when the tulle skirt is spread out. Cons – It’s way too long. I don’t know who they were designing the dress for but it certainly surpasses the average woman’s height. I was tripping all over it, even in heels. While I like the sparkly-ness of the top, it borders on looking too casual/disjointed. It kind of goes from a polyester-type sequined v-neck tee to a long skirt. Also, it’s the most expensive dress and would need alterations, adding up to a lot of $$$ spent.

TFNC Wedding Pleated Maxi Dress with Back Detail $83 | This dress lacks a “wow” factor. It’s a fine dress, but it doesn’t make any real impression, making it a miss for me. Aside from the fact that it’s a size 6, it’s a very plain dress, and ultimately makes me look like an Athenian woman of old times. Sort of toga-like, don’t you think? My sister loved it though. She says it looks classic.

Kate Lace Embellished Trim Maxi Dress $106 | I had high hopes for this dress (think Kiera Knightley in Atonement), but it didn’t make me look as slender as I had hoped. It’s a shape shifter, so it flows over my body differently depending on how I stand. While it looks nice when I pose daintily spreading the skirt, when I stand slack (see photo down below) it’s not as flattering. Funnily enough, this dress (a size 2), wouldn’t actually zipper up, disqualifying it anyway, but it still felt like too much fabric.

When relaxed, the waistband isn’t quite tight enough and the cinching of the fabric hangs a bit loose and wide. Also the waistband is actually made up of cheap little clear butterflies (you can view this in more detail in the YouTube video I plan on uploading on Wednesday).

TFNC Wedding Cold Shoulder Embellished Maxi Dress $91 | Now this dress took me by surprise. I put this one on and actually said, I feel beautiful! It’s very different than the other dresses, I really like the shoulder straps and the embellished waistband. It’s very elegant.

Maya Bardot Maxi Dress With Delicate Sequin and Tulle Skirt $128 | Look familiar? This is the first dress in a slightly different version. It still has the sequins going on, but the top is a scoop neck and I really like it. Also, this silhouette is a more babydoll shape, so the skirt starts much higher.

I love it but…this one also wouldn’t close. It would appear that more often than not, I should go with a size 4. Size 2 was all that was left, as this dress sold out quite quickly.

That’s it everyone! I would love to know your opinion on the dresses. For me, the top two dresses are the first dress and the lavender dress with the shoulder straps and embellished waistline. Thanks for tuning in!

I browsed other sites including Windsor, Lulu’s, Tobi, Shop Akira, Revolve, Nasty Gal, and Simplydresses.com, but the selection was lackluster, at least for the colors I wanted and my budget.