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An Ode to Bridesmaid Dresses that Don’t Suck

Sara standing by a railing wearing gray, knee-length spaghetti strap dress

By Sara McCaskey | 10.07.2018

When my college roommate asked me to be in her wedding earlier this year, my already obsessive online shopping habit kicked into overdrive. I spent hours, days, weeks looking at dresses. It was all I thought about—all I cared about! I looked at thousands of dresses. And yet, I found nothing.

Honestly, the bridesmaid dress market is, in large part, a sad and depressing wasteland of fashion. Don’t believe me? Go type “bridesmaid dress” into Google Images. I’ll wait.

Now, would you like your gathered chiffon of the strapless, one-shoulder, or off-the-shoulder variety? Baby blue? Ballerina pink? Perhaps a nice mauve? Any of the above nine options can be yours for only $400!

This game is not for the faint of heart. At one point I got so desperate I literally searched for “bridesmaid dresses that don’t suck” and you know what I found? A whole lot of articles about how few good bridesmaid dress options are out there, but not a whole lot of dresses.

And then I stumbled across this simple gray dress that made me feel like the prom queen in a 90s rom-com. It cost me all of $50 and—honestly, I’m not just saying this—I will totally wear it again.

Profile of Sara in gray sheath dress and black sandals with gold chain ankle strap

Of course, this lewk would not be complete without these Diane Von Furstenberg pumps, which are actual, literal fire and you should probably just buy them right now because I’m telling you, you’re going to wear them with everything (bonus: I wore them for eight hours of bridesmaiding and didn’t cry once!).

So here’s to unrelenting online shopping and bridesmaid dresses that make you feel like a total dime piece. May you find yours one day, too.

Back of gray sheath dress