Frockage

If you know me, you'll know I have quite a big event to go to in the next couple of months.  It's rather a fancy affair, and somehow I have to squeeze my between-dress-sizes body into a floor-length frock for the occasion.

But, being me, there is obviously a budget. Much as I would love a Marchesa creation, that's not a realistic proposition.

So I narrowed my choices down a little.

Here are the options:

1. Black but blinging.

This little beauty is available for hire from here. It's gorgeous, but I have no idea whether that high waist would be flattering, or absolutely hideous. And even though you can order the same dress in two different sizes for no extra cost, what if neither of them fit?

2. Batwing (but blah?)

Another David Meister creation, available for hire from here. Again, there's the potential that neither size would fit, and although it's definitely pretty, and I think probably rather flattering, it's not exactly the dress of my dreams.

Which brings me to:

3. The high-street bargain.

I don't think this picture actually does it justice. In real life, it's less, um, shiny, for want of a better word. And I think more flattering. It's in the Coast sale, at more than 50% off. And even though it's clearly a high-street choice, as I'm going to be surrounded by Yanks at my big event, I think it's pretty unlikely I'll spot too many people wearing the same dress. On the other hand, it's strapless, and I have a deep-rooted fear of strapless dresses falling down at inopportune moments...

4. One-shoulder chiffon number

Not entirely sure why the dress is 4 inches too short for the model in this picture? Seen as I'm basically a midget, that's not a problem for me. It's from here, it has a rather lovely velvet ribbon detail  on the waist, and I like the single strap. Sadly, I appear to be exactly halfway between two dress sizes when I try it - one size is fine at the waist but causes some unfortunate bust-squeezage issues, and the next size up swamps me.

To make a long story short, option 3 is the current winner. Hopefully it's being bought this weekend (fingers crossed, this plan could go awry very easily indeed.) And as it's quite long, I'm toying with the idea of adding a strap like the one on option 4 with extra fabric from the hem.

Here's another pic, just for the hell of it:

Thoughts??