Frock Fridays

When you're in middle school, Bat/Bar Mitzvahs are your big excuses to dress up.  High school brings sweet 16s and graduation bashes.  In England, all the cool kids throw black-tie 21st birthday parties.  And then, in your mid-twenties, you start to hit the next wave of glam events: weddings.

A few years ago, I attended - and was honored to participate in - my first friend wedding, but that's because Hannah is a trailblazer.  (Love you, girl.)  The rest of us are just now catching up, and so I've got two weddings to help celebrate this spring/summer; older friends tell me that this number will increase exponentially every year for the next decade.  I can't tell you how excited I am to be able to share in such special days with these friends or how happy I privileged I feel that I get to cheer them on as they embark on this new chapter in their lives.

Obviously, I'm going to need a fabulous frock to wear to these weddings - but just one.  Because these two friends are from completely different worlds, I can wear the same dress to each event without anyone knowing.  (Okay, you all will know, dear readers.  And also the whole interweb will know.  But I don't actually mind, and I'm pretty sure that the brides- and grooms-to-be have more important things to worry about.  So there.)

The tricky part of finding one dress that will work for both weddings is that they're almost certainly going to be completely stylistically different.  The first wedding, at the end of April, is being held on the Eastern Shore and, I'm guessing, will be relatively laid back.  The second wedding is in mid-June, and seems to be a more traditional New York City affair.  Therefore, I'll need a frock that can be dressed both down and up.  What's a girl to do?

I could go the classic LBD route with this ruffled J Crew number plus colorful accessories...

Then there's a simple blue wrap dress from Coast, paired with either strappy gold flats or sky-high nude heels...

Another option is this pink and white striped Lilly Pulitzer frock, which is fun and flirty...

So many choices!  What do you think?  Help, dear readers!