We went to a wedding over the weekend at the historic Belvedere Hotel in Baltimore. The architecture style of the venue plus the formal dress code immediately made me think romantic, tulle, embellished dresses -- like BHLDN.

I've never really had a good excuse to wear tulle... until now. I was thinking a Thread & Needle blue/gray tulle maxi skirt with a J.Crew bow top. I loved the swishy-ness of the maxi skirt, but never truly found a top I loved -- one that was dressy enough and went with the skirt. I think subconsciously I knew I would be "settling" so I never completely stopped the search.

Lo and behold, the perfect dress appeared when I was casually browsing Bloomingdale's sale section one day. There was only one problem -- because the color I wanted (navy) was on sale, size selection was limited *cue crying emoji* Reviews were mixed regarding the fit, so I kept debating whether I should give the larger sizes a try (definitely runs small through the ribs). I ended up sleeping on it. When I woke the next morning and refreshed the page, smaller sizes magically appeared -- yay for overnight re-stocks!

I loved this dress even more in person when I tried it on. The color (navy is the new black), the heavy fabric which created the beautiful voluminous high-low skirt that swished as I walked. The only negative was the strapless top -- never been a fan only because I don't have much to hold it up. In all honesty though, a non-strapless top would've made the dress look busier, and I probably would've passed. The simple strapless top balanced out the full skirt.

When I showed DH the dress, he immediately said, "You look... loud." What? But I'm not wearing a bold color! I definitely don't want to stand out and upstage the bride. So he clarified with, "You take up a lot of space." I chalked this up to another example of how guys view things differently -- all my girlfriends gave their thumbs up approval. I know I look good, so he'll just have to deal with me invading his personal space, hahaha. I recounted this story multiple times throughout the night of the wedding because I got so many compliments (pockets were a huge hit!) from other girls.

It's funny how I was so sure of the vision of my initial outfit, only to end up wearing a dress that is a complete 180 -- structured, plain, heavy fabric. I accessorized with a statement necklace to add interest up top, but chose simple nude heels to keep the attention on the full skirt.