Shopping for a Formal Event as a Busy Mom

If you have been following along on social media, particularly Instagram, you know that right now I am in Hollywood for a four-day press junket for A Wrinkle in Time and some ABC shows. Last night I attended the A Wrinkle in Time red carpet premiere, which I will be sharing more about on Friday. Today, I wanted to talk about shopping for my premiere attire because it’s a full post on its own! So many followers helped with my styling that I thought y’all might find this interesting too.

It’s not every day that a working mom of three gets invited to attend a Hollywood movie premiere. It took me an entire month to get my gorgeous attire together, but it was worth the effort.

Because of my schedule, spending a day shopping in stores wasn’t feasible, so I turned to the Internet.

I bought/rented A LOT of dresses with the intent of returning everything that didn’t work. This made for several massive charges to my credit card, but it was worth it to save time by not going to stores and do all the trying on at home. I shopped on Nordstrom.com, Trunk Club and Rent the Runway. I signed up for Rent the Runway’s newish monthly rental program, RTR Unlimited.

The RTR Unlimited program allows you to get four pieces at one time. I created a collection of favorites and had my top 4 sent to me. Unfortunately, none worked out, so I had to do another round before I got the blue dress I fell in love with. The problem with the RTR Unlimited program is that they don’t start working on your package until they receive and process your returns. This means it takes a 6-8 days in between each round of clothing. I was able to get three rounds with my subscription, and that was with returning things quickly. It isn’t a subscription I will keep on an ongoing basis, but was perfect for something like this.

Because I wasn’t convinced I was going to find a winner from Rent the Runway, I also asked my Trunk Club stylist to put together a box of dresses and clutches. She sent a dress that I loved, but it was black and the movie publicist asked everyone to wear color (I didn’t know this when I asked my stylist to assemble the box.)

I also shopped Nordstrom.com and found two other dresses I really liked. Ultimately, when I polled people on Instagram, the blue dress from Rent the Runway was the winner.

Here’s the look I put together.

 

The dress: $258 retail/$70 rental | The earrings: $78 | The shoes: $99 | The clutch: $20.99

I ended up buying the dress from Rent the Runway because it was my favorite I found and fit me the best. It needed some major alterations though, so we decided it was worth buying. With Rent the Runway, you can do non-permanent alterations, but the hem I needed was too drastic and showed with the high low cut, so it didn’t work. I have another formal event this spring that I will be able to wear it to, so that’s a win.

 

I found the accessories using a similar shopping plan – buy a bunch and return 98% of it! I ordered a big box of shoes from Trunk Club and Zappos. After trying on 14 pairs of heels, I found an incredibly comfortable pair from Zappos.

My stylist from Trunk Club also sent a bunch of earrings and I fell in love with these Loren Hope drops. They were way pricier than I wanted to spend, but I had credit and figured they would be something I would keep for a long time. Who knows? Maybe even Adeline will wear them someday.

The dress has pockets, so originally I thought I wouldn’t need a clutch or could use a small one, but the weather was cool in LA so I wanted to have a pashmina with me. This larger envelope clutch from Amazon was perfect. I actually have the same one in blue from the Finding Dory movie premiere. I’m sure I will use it again.

I felt absolutely beautiful for the premiere and loved what I wore. If you find yourself needing to shop for a formal event, here are my tips based on my recent experience.

1. Shop online: You will find a lot more options if you shop online versus shopping in a store. Shopping online is also incredibly convenient and you save a lot of time by not going into stores and trying lots of things on.  Using a service like Rent the Runway Unlimited can also introduce you to dresses/styles/designs that you might not have otherwise tried.
2. Look for free shipping: Free shipping is your friend! I loved using services like Trunk Club, Amazon and Zappos which has phenomenal, easy return processes.
3. Alterations make everything better: I am a big believer in alterations to truly make clothes fit the way they should. Though many people posted pictures on Rent the Runway of my dress hanging on the floor, it truly looked so much better when it was altered properly.
4. Ask your friends: When I narrowed down my choices, I posted pictures/video of me in the dresses on Instagram. Friends and strangers voted and commented, which really helped me make my decision.

If you have tips for shopping for formal events, please add them to the comments. Be sure to read my full premiere experience on Friday!