'Mother of the groom' outfits

Top picks ???

They wouldn’t have been my choice.......perhaps GN gets commission on them!

Hideous and not very dressy.

Having done mother of the groom and will never be the mother of the bride I hadn't really looked at this section of the site before.

My first reaction was that they were desperately safe and conventional and as a result, rather dull, my second reaction was that they all had clearly defined waists, something I notice because waisted clothes have never suited me and as a significant number of women put on weight as they get older, not very flattering to fuller figures.

I suspect from the accompanying text they were aimed at MoGs going to one of those 'no expenses spared' venue weddings, something I have not experienced. All the weddings I have been to in recent decades, including DS's, have been on the Bohemian alternative side.

For DS's wedding after failing to find anything in the shops I liked, I resurrected an unstructured raw silk suit I had bought for a different occasion a few years previously, bought a new top and new shoes and had a few roses dressed into my hair, so no hat. All done with happy agreement from the bride and her mother.

I think people get far too hung up about these occasions. Just go out and buy a dress you like and forget the event. The result will be you will be comfortable and confident in whatever you are wearing and as a result, whatever your choice it will look great on you.

I like the idea of your silk suit MOnica. I think you are right about just wearing what you like and you feel comfortable in. I can't imagine any friends in my age group wearing any of the dresses shown. We don't wear that kind of thing usually for special occasions but look equally good. I think women often buy something expensive for an "occasion" because they think it is expected of them, but do not feel comfortable in it, and it hangs reproachfully in the wardrobe for many a year afterwards.

I agree the dresses proposed on GN are pretty awful. I found a dress from the wedding section on EBay and bought new accessories to go with it.

Have to say that when shopping for something to wear to dd's wedding - probably largely out of doors and likely - though not guaranteed - to be hot, I had the most dreadful trouble to find anything that wasn't too short, or sleeveless, or frumpy, and certainly not a typical 'MOTB' outfit.

I asked personal shoppers in e.g. John Lewis and even they couldn't find me anything.
In the end I found a very nice, fairly simple linen dress online, but I really was beginning to get desperate.

There were so many dresses I'd have really liked (short and sleeveless) if I'd been 30 or even 20 years younger. I came to the conc. that hardly anyone caters for older women who want something v nice, but not typical, conventional or just plain boring - maybe younger designers' fixed ideas of what older women ought to be happy with.

I was browsing the womens' clothes in John Lewis yesterday and saw some very pretty frocks by the expensive manufacturers.
But way beyond my price range.
Mostly over £200 - but perhaps that's what people spend these days.

ps M0nica the silk suit sounds lovely.
The main fault I find with modern clothes etc is that they're usually made of rubbish fabric, mostly synthetic.

I think you are quite right Witsend. I had similar problems shopping for my son's wedding. There is such a wide age range for parents of children getting married and there may be a difference between what you can wear at 40 compared to say 70! Another problem I had is that I'm a child of the 60s and don't want to wear what my granny would have worn!

When DS got married (19 years ago), I chose a simple outfit I knew would be comfortable. A shirtwaist dress (I still had a waistline then) with a teal jacket that matched the motif on the dress. A hat from Accessorise and low but pretty cream shoes which are still in use. I didn't have to think about the outfit all day. MoB was in bright yellow.
BtW, I sold the hat on Ebay for more than it cost! And the happy couple are now with new partners.
C'est la vie!

I wish DD would hurry up and make up her mind about the whys and wherefores of her wedding because I want to wear this

Might just buy it and wear it down to Waitrose on my bike.

Lovely! (As are the three dresses shown beneath it.)
Buy it anyway, Sod’s Law says if you wait for the occasion, the outfit will be gone.
Anyway, I am sure you would raise the tone of your local Waitrose if she decides not to!

Good idea Maw.

Very pretty, Gonegirl!

In reply to LaraGransnet, no, I haven't seen anything better, largely because I haven't been looking - I don't go shopping unless I need something.

But I have to say I do sometimes wonder why GN fashion suggestions - by definition for older women - include anything sleeveless, or with very short sleeves.

Such things are nearly always easy to find. It's the slightly more covered-up things I suspect many of us would like and have trouble finding - at least any that aren't frumpy, shapeless, or just plain boring.

Just wondering why mother of the bride dressing is different from mother of the groom....I have only sons.

Just wondering, seems daft to me.

I don’t agree that older women can’t wear anything sleeveless. Who says? I find sleeveless dresses way more comfortable in hot weather and it’s much easier to team with a jacket or cardigan .

I do not understand any of these differences constantly been made between MoB and MoG, either at the wedding or afterwards.

Not good IMO. Nothing I'd choose but then, I like young styles.

Very pretty Gonegirl but not many of us would look like the model.

Gonegirl That's lovely!

Traditionally, the MoB chooses her outfit first, and then the MoG contacts her to ask what she's chosen so that she can find something that will complement and not clash.

That said, not everything has to be "traditional". I think the general expectation, though, is that the MoG should at least speak to the bride about the colours that she's chosen so that the MoG can choose something that won't clash.

GabriellaG54 I would.

#pantsonfire

Ditto Gonegirl but I don't think it's going to happen.
Or, if it ever does, I will be wearing something hippy and floaty together with flat sandshoes as the venue will probably be on a beach somewhere …..