Last minute SF East Bay dress shopping
September 16, 2013 9:08 AM Subscribe
Where in the San Francisco East Bay area (ideally Oakland / Berkeley) could I be almost assured to find a dress in size 12 to 14 suitable for a rehearsal dinner?
I'm going to my brother's wedding and just realized that the dress I've been planning to wear to the rehearsal dinner is one I wore to another recent family event. Since I don't love the dress anyway, I thought I'd make one attempt to find something else. I leave Thursday, but given my work schedule, I couldn't spend more than 3 hours shopping, so I have time to try maybe two destinations. I'd be shopping in the late afternoon, so bonus points for places open into the early evening.
On a side note, my size has been oddly difficult to find in little boutiques and even a few big chains. I'm your basic mid-30s 5'7" 160-165 pounds woman, formerly athletic now carrying maybe 10-15 extras pounds evenly distributed through my waist. (I think I'm a "pear" or "spoon" body shape.) Does moving from a size 12 to a size 14 (or more accurately, hovering right in the middle there) mean I need to find different stores to shop in? Or did I just have a run of bad luck?
My price range is more like $100 than like $400. I live on the edge of Emeryville, work in downtown Oakland, and will be in North Berkeley (the Cheeseboard / Cedar & Shattuck area) for an errand tomorrow. I do have a car.
I'm going to my brother's wedding and just realized that the dress I've been planning to wear to the rehearsal dinner is one I wore to another recent family event. Since I don't love the dress anyway, I thought I'd make one attempt to find something else. I leave Thursday, but given my work schedule, I couldn't spend more than 3 hours shopping, so I have time to try maybe two destinations. I'd be shopping in the late afternoon, so bonus points for places open into the early evening.
On a side note, my size has been oddly difficult to find in little boutiques and even a few big chains. I'm your basic mid-30s 5'7" 160-165 pounds woman, formerly athletic now carrying maybe 10-15 extras pounds evenly distributed through my waist. (I think I'm a "pear" or "spoon" body shape.) Does moving from a size 12 to a size 14 (or more accurately, hovering right in the middle there) mean I need to find different stores to shop in? Or did I just have a run of bad luck?
My price range is more like $100 than like $400. I live on the edge of Emeryville, work in downtown Oakland, and will be in North Berkeley (the Cheeseboard / Cedar & Shattuck area) for an errand tomorrow. I do have a car.
Have you tried Earthly Goods at Shattuck and Vine?
posted by hapax_legomenon at 9:41 AM on September 16, 2013
posted by hapax_legomenon at 9:41 AM on September 16, 2013
Best answer: I'd check the Ross in Emeryville. They always have a good range of sizes and I've found some surprisingly cute dresses there (well at the SF Ross but I"m sure it's similar). If yiou strike out there, go across the street to Bay Street Emeryville where there are a bunch of apparel stores (J Crew, Banana Republic, Express, White Market)
posted by otherwordlyglow at 9:48 AM on September 16, 2013
posted by otherwordlyglow at 9:48 AM on September 16, 2013
Best answer: Your highest chance of finding something will be the place most densely-populated with stores, so if I were you I'd head to Bay Street in Emeryville and plan to spend a couple hours there. There's also a Ross nearby if you strike out there.
posted by rhiannonstone at 10:25 AM on September 16, 2013
posted by rhiannonstone at 10:25 AM on September 16, 2013
Best answer: I don't have a suggestion of where to shop, but I do want to chime in about the size thing. Size 14ish is one of the hardest sizes to shop for - it's not uncommon for stores either go up to size 12 or start at size 16. You might try searching for "inbetweenies" (in between straight sizes and plus sizes) to see if anyone has put together a list of good stores to shop at.
posted by insectosaurus at 10:50 AM on September 16, 2013
posted by insectosaurus at 10:50 AM on September 16, 2013
Lots of size 14 and L dresses at Ross at decent prices for sure.
Plus check the petites section -- I'm not petite by any means, but I found an awesome size 14 dress in that section that flatters my incredibly pear-shaped body.
posted by vickyverky at 11:26 AM on September 16, 2013
Plus check the petites section -- I'm not petite by any means, but I found an awesome size 14 dress in that section that flatters my incredibly pear-shaped body.
posted by vickyverky at 11:26 AM on September 16, 2013
I have found a lot of cute dresses at Dress Barn which has two East Bay locations. If you've never been to Dress Barn, I swear it's not as frumpy as it looks! They have really pretty dresses, and I shopped there a lot when I was about your size.
posted by radioamy at 12:31 PM on September 16, 2013
posted by radioamy at 12:31 PM on September 16, 2013
Go to the anthropologie in Berkeley.
posted by apostrophe at 9:18 PM on September 16, 2013
posted by apostrophe at 9:18 PM on September 16, 2013
Response by poster: I took you all's advice and headed to Bay Street, planning to swing over to Ross's after that if I struck out, as it closes later. But I found three different options! I may try the north Berkeley options tomorrow if time allows, just to see if they have anything I happen to like better. Thank you!
posted by slidell at 9:33 PM on September 16, 2013
posted by slidell at 9:33 PM on September 16, 2013
Response by poster: Final update: I ended up wearing two of the three options I found via the shopping trip you all helped plan -- even replacing one dress I already had. So thanks again, Metafilter! Bay Street was the way to go given all my constraints.
posted by slidell at 10:04 PM on October 7, 2013
posted by slidell at 10:04 PM on October 7, 2013
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by TestamentToGrace at 9:28 AM on September 16, 2013 [1 favorite]