Dressing Up: For Iris, wedding guest ideas

Iris's best friend's daughter will marry her British fiancé in her Canadian home city in early June; the happy occasion requires an exuberant semi-formal ensemble for the daytime ceremony.

Iris is interested in clothes but hardly lives for them. She is not a thrift/consignment shopper; she dresses in the higher end of retail, and has a skilled dressmaker (retired except for a few longtime clients).

She would rather garden and serve as board chair for a charity than beat around boutiques, but when the church bells peal, she wants to show up looking gorgeous. This will be a chic city wedding, but no morning suits, elaborate hats, or wedding party big enough to fill a plane.

We spent a Zoom call talking about it.

Iris and a sister are off to Paris in May, to visit a cousin from their French side of the family. She will ask Léonie to shop with her. "But", she said, "she's much cooler than I am, so I wonder if I'd like the same things." (I suggested she ask Léonie to take her where her more classically-attired friends shop.)

Iris is of average height and weight, with an estimable bosom. She is in her late sixties, with short silver hair and expressive hazel eyes. As with so many women who live in casual sportswear, the engraved invitation was read with both joy and dread. Speaking of what she wanted, she used the word "structured", saying she no longer is interested in the flowing Eileen Fisher silks she depended on in the early 2000s. 

Here's what I sent for ideas:

Top row:

1. Structured dress; looks like two-piece but is one: I was surprised how hard this style is to find. Self-Portrait (London) crepe dress.

2. Two caped dresses: a modern look, less covered than jacket. The backs of both are fantastic. (Pews, where more persons are behind you than in front, are ideal places for back detail.)
Roksanda (London) cape-detail dress,
Mouret caped cocktail dress; we both love Roland Mouret, the French designer based in London.

Bottom row:

1. Why not play a bit? Iris has a trim waist so a short jacket will suit her.
Allessandra Rich cropped sequin-embellished tweed jacket to wear with a skirt; versatile. This is meant to be worn on its own or over a bustier. Rich is an Italian designer based in London.

2. She expressed interest in trousers; two dressy jumpsuits present the more glamorous cousins.
Taller Mormo (Italy) jumpsuit: Maybe too dark for June; shown to her as an idea.
Sa su phi jumpsuit: Nothing says “happy” like pink! For the service, wear with a wrap. An Italian brand sold globally; in Canada, carried at Boboli, Vancouver.

She has a backup if nothing turns up on the trip, a draped, short-sleeved navy blue sheath made by that dressmaker, which makes her look like a film star. She wore it to her daughter's wedding five years ago. Because that was a pandemic-restricted event, hardly anyone but the family saw it; however, she's in the mood for colour.

Her response to these ideas was, the jumpsuit would be an upbeat and fun choice, the caped dresses intriguing and something she had not seen. She dropped the idea of a suit or coatdress—too warm to dance in later and conservative compared to the other choices—but liked the idea of a dressy jacket that will get wear beyond that wedding. She remembered a bolt of exquisite silk her husband brought her from Thailand, which could make a version of the jacket. She's had it for years, and now she could finally use it.

Iris, her sister and cousin will squeeze in a bit of shopping, but she's more eager to see art, especially the Fernand Léger exhibition at the Musée du Luxembourg. Not a bad to-do list for Paris in full flower!