What to wear to a Sneakerball Part #2: Finding a Gown
1.Have a vision/inspiration in mind and in hand
What helped tremendously with my search (and stress) was being able to reference pictures of dresses that I’ve saved to draw inspiration from. Pinterest is an amazing platform to do searches, create albums, and even find the actual designer of the item to order. Go screenshot crazy!
2. Price
Listen, I can only speak for myself but I don’t have thousands of dollars to spend on a gown (yet). Having a specific price point in mind will also help to narrow down your choices and budget!
3. Websites
These are my top websites to do searches for unique, price conscious gowns. These websites have personally helped me find items to wear for sneakerball amongst other events.
Ebay
Huge online marketplace where you can find new, past season, or even discounted designer gowns.
Etsy
Great website for unique, one-of-a-kind pieces most of them are hand made and can be tailored to your liking. Since most of the designers are independent and emerging, the prices are usually very reasonable.
Poshmark
Poshmark is similar to eBay but there’s no bidding involved but you can trade or haggle with the seller to get a lower price.
Shopstyle
Shopstyle is like Google for all things clothing and accessories. I literally treat Shopstyle just like Google and type in keywords that I want my dress to have (color, silhouette, material, etc.) it does the World Wide Web searching for you.
Notable mentions: Gilt, Rent the Runway, and the Real Real
Sneakerball 2017
4. Dress Tips
This is a sneakerball so remember, with wearing sneakers, you’ll be lower to the ground when wearing a gown. I made the mistake of wearing a dress that was too long (in the front and back) and was stepping on it the entire night, ANNOYED. Plus, you could barely see my sneakers, POINTLESS.
Here are some design options when looking for dress styles:
a high-low option
a split
For a long gown, see if it has a split or high-low option. You want to make sure we can see those fly kicks!
*Lastly, search stores in your town that offer pieces for you to rent for the evening (there’s a couple in Chicago). I’d look to showrooms and see if you can schmooze your way to wearing a piece for the evening as well.
Any other tips, questions or comments please share in the comment box and let me know how your search is going!
By Lady Adelaide