Evening gowns that won't break the bank!

Over the weekend I'm heading to a friend's wedding in LA and desperately needed a floor-length gown for his wedding reception. As gorgeous as Carolina Herrera and Oscar De La Renta gowns are, I didn't want something OTT, neither was I willing to spend absurd amounts for the dress. So I hit the stores in NY, desperately hunting for that perfect dress, and what I found really took me by surprise. There were SO many budget friendly designer options out there! Here are some of the ones that I found-

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This Halston Heritage dress (pictured above) is beautiful, classy, lightweight and easy to wear. I got this picture from Net-a-porter, but if you go have a look online, they have quite a few similar jersey dresses in stunning colours that are perfect for an evening out.

I absolutely ADORE Marchesa gowns, and I think this one from Notte by Marchesa is also absolutely stunning!

Carmen Marc Valvo is another designer whose collection dresses are so simple and elegant, and more importantly, well made. His couture dresses are also SO beautiful!

While I'm not too huge a fan of Roberto Cavalli, I found a lot of his floor length dresses also in the same range as the ones mentioned above. Having said that, his flimsy jersey fabric isn't the best for non-perfect bodies... and his prints are quite seasonal (not to mention, sometimes very questionable!) and I couldn't even find a picture of one online I loved enough to post over here. Either way, check his stuff out if you like it- you'll be pleasantly surprised with the prices of some gowns.

My most FAVOURITE of all the ones I saw though, was one by Yves Saint Laurent that was SO beautiful, it took every ounce of energy for me to exit the store without handing my credit card over and doing some serious damage. It currently is on hold for me. I didn't have a camera with me while shopping and I can't seem to find it anywhere online to post it here. I doubt I will get it though, since there is absolutely nothing budget friendly about it, and breaks the bank a couple of times over!!

Another one that I am absolutely lusting after, is strangely enough by Marc Jacobs. He is not the first person that comes to mind when thinking of evening gowns, but there is something about this dress that is just so beautiful and classy and sexy... It is definitely my favourite of all the gowns I've seen-

Droooool!!!!
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