16-in-1 Bridesmaid Dress

All the bridal media seems to be raving about this one bridesmaid dress company: Two Birds. Two Birds sells these dresses that are stylable in 16 different fashions. They come in two lengths, and two sizes, and 20 colors; there are a few different styles of hemline too. The top part of the dress consists of two strands of fabric that can be tied and twisted to create all these different looks.

It's a really cool idea, I agree. Ingenious from an engineering standpoint. But--and maybe it's because the company is based out of New York City and LA--no one has yet pointed out that most of these 16 styles are backless (or close enough). Several of the designs have a little comment that says "bra friendly!" and I'm thinking, What kind of bra are they talking about? Do they have some magical contraption in LA and NYC that we don't have in Detroit? Or maybe the girls in those cities are just so skinny that they don't really need more than two band-aids. Of the 16 styles, there's really only one you could wear with a regular bra, and one with a strapless bra--see for yourself.

To be honest, though, I'd like to see how they work. It should be noted that you can buy a $30 "bandeau" to make the styles a little more modest (and not backless). Maybe I'll get another bridesmaid gig soon and I can talk the bride into letting us make use of their through-the-mail try-on program.

The dresses are $270 for the tea-length styles, and $290 for the full-length. Size A fits sizes 0-14 and Size B fits sizes 16-24 and costs an additional $20.

I think it's a little pricey for a dress made of a nylon/jersey/spandex blend that you have to put together yourself, but maybe that's just me. Perhaps when the novelty wears off, they'll go down in price. Dessy makes competitors for $140 (tea-length) and $180 (full length).