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I was sitting here with a cup of coffee opening yesterday's mail and in it I have an invitation to a wedding the last weekend of August in Cedar Rapids Iowa. It is a guy who used to work for me and he and his partner of 8 years are getting married, yes it is a same sex marriage. There is supposed to be a ceremony at 6 on Saturday evening followed with a reception.

My question is my LBD subtle attire for this or do I need to go shopping and if so for what? If I go with the LBD, it is sleeveless and knee length, I was planning on wearing my black slingback pumps. They are very comfortable and I can and have dance the night away! If I wear that outfit should I wear sheer black hose or go for suntan?

Thanks so much in advance. This will be the first wedding I am attending as Trudy and want to do it right!

Not sure about black stockings as your dress and shoes are black, your going to a wedding not a funeral. But in the end it's now you feel about your attire, good luck and enjoy yourself.

Hi, Trudy -

Personally, I would never wear black to a wedding (especially in summer!) unless the couple requested it ('black tie', 'formal attire only' etc.) via the wedding invitation.

That being said, as long as your LBD isn't too little (ie, not club-wear short), go ahead and wear it with preferably nude (flesh-tone) or light tan heels. If you need to wear hose, then it should be either the nude or suntan shades regardless which color shoes you wear; the lighter the hose and shoe color the better, but not white for either. Make sure to accessorize with jewelry in brighter, bolder colors to make the outfit more summery and festive but still tasteful for a wedding.

If you must wear your black heels, then do not wear black hose, for a wedding, in the summer . . . as Carol Ann said, it's a wedding, not a funeral.

Have fun at the wedding!!


- SL

I agree with Carol Ann and SilverLady. Black hose should be reserved for a funeral. I've always heard that a wedding is the 'brides day' and our attire should not compete with hers. I'm not sure about a same-sex wedding as this one, but I would wear a summery comforatble dress and of course I 'always' wear hose with a dress it would probably be a suntan color.

I have to vote with everyone else here, go with a skin toned hose, black hose is for fall and winter. If it were me I would go for a more summery dress, perhaps a nice pastel but not white. If your heart is se on he LBD the dress it up with some color.

Well I guess the sheer black hose are a no-go. Never thought about it the way you guys put I but now that I do you are right. I think I am going t shop around to see if I can find something a bit more festive, will keep you posted.

As you're in the Detroit area, my preferred shopping malls would be either Lakeside Mall (Sterling Heights) and all the strip malls along M-59/Hall Road, Twelve Oaks Mall (Novi), Oakland Mall (Troy), or Somerset Mall (Troy) . . . I never spent much time 'down river' and have absolutely no clue as to what malls may still be in that area.

I really do miss spending time and shopping in all those malls.


- SL

Downriver would have Southland Mall in Taylor and Fairlane Mall in Dearborn. Neither is as good as the malls SilverLady mentioned.

Thanks, Carly.

I knew Fairlane Mall was in Dearborn but after visiting it shortly after it was first opened *many* years ago - which was only because of it's newness and uniqueness to the area - I refused to give them my patronage . . . I disliked the area in general even way back then, and it's only gotten worse since then (and yes, I'm sure you know exactly what I'm referencing!). The only good thing in that general area is (or was) Greenfield Village and the Henry Ford Museum, places I enjoyed and of which I have very fond memories.

I've never been to Southland Mall in Taylor, I had heard of it but never had a reason to go out of my way and shop there. I've always been more of a Macomb, Oakland and St. Clair County girl, preferred to stay out of Wayne County whenever possible . . . and yes, I hated whenever I had to go to Detroit on work-related business (city, county, and federal court systems).

Laurel Park Place Mall in Livonia was trying to be more of an upscale mall with the hotels, movie theater, restaurants nearby. It's been 20 years since I was there, and then only for a few business meetings, so I've never actually been in the mall.

Of course, let's not forget Great Lakes Crossing Shopping Center - technically in Pontiac but closer to Waterford Twp. - or Summit Place Mall in Waterford Twp.


Okay, all this talk about shopping malls has me reminiscing on the days of old, and as much as I enjoyed all the variety of stores, malls and variety of activities in the Metro Detroit and surrounding area - as well as friends and family nearby, I so much prefer my life here in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia . . . with my Virginia!!


- SL

Laurel Park Place Mall in Livonia is still nice. You are correct Fairlane has continued to decline.

Its funny but when I lived in Monterrey I much preferred to shop the little shops however with the exception of Birmingham the only places to shop here in the Detroit area is the malls. For the most part the small shop and downtown type shopping is non-existent. I did hit 12 Oaks and ended up trying on probably 10 different dresses to no avail. I finally found a yellow, black, and white print eternity scarf at Macy's and a yellow skinny belt at Penney's. Think I am going with those to accessorize my LBD and some nude pumps I have had for several years. Still going to look around but how does this outfit sound?

Sounds like a winner, Trudy!

True, downtown Birmingham is the best for local shopping like that, other than going to Grosse Pointe, Port Huron or Windsor (which I used to do on a regular basis, too).


Have fun, take photos, and please share them!


- sl

Suds like a cute outfit Trudy and very appropriate. Let us know how everything turns out please