Bridesmaid Dress Help!

[mandapear]

Hi ladies,

I've just been asked to be a bridesmaid at my cousin's November wedding, wearing a floor-length burgundy dress of my choosing. I'll have a 6-week-old and expect to have to nurse him/her several times during the day, so easy access to the girls is a must- I've done the get-half-undressed-in-bathroom-stall before and hated it, so I'm really looking for something nursing friendly. I'm also an Orthodox Jew, so the dress needs sleeves longer than cap and (probably the kicker) can't show any cleavage. What to do? I've thought of several options:
-have a dress custom-made by a local tailor. The timeline on that, however, sucks, since again, I'll have a 6-week-old.
-find a dress that has a deep, drapey v-neck to which I can have said tailor add snaps. But I haven't been able to find one, would love if somebody could! I'm a bit nervous that there won't be enough fabric to adequately cover my cleavage, my previous nursing boobs were H/I's. Yep, ouch.
-find a dress with a cowl that can be pulled down to nurse. This seems to call for jersey, which isn't really formal enough for the black-tie wedding. Could another fabric pull down enough to nurse comfortably?
-Ideally, find a button-front dress. Do those exist? I found this at Asos:http://us.asos.com/pgeproduct.aspx?iid=4246228. Almost perfect, but the front looks too low for my comfort, and sticking a camisole underneath makes it less formal.

Any help would be GREATLY appreciated, because I'm feeling lost and would love not to scramble post-baby.

[MamaMolly]

Does the bride have any idea what a pickle she's put you in? Honestly, if it wouldn't cause hurt feelings I'd decline. Maybe I'd ask the bride to find you a dress first, then when she throws her hands up you can decline with her blessing!

[mandapear]

Does the bride have any idea what a pickle she's put you in? Honestly, if it wouldn't cause hurt feelings I'd decline. Maybe I'd ask the bride to find you a dress first, then when she throws her hands up you can decline with her blessing!

I'd prefer not to decline because of a fashion problem, but am sure the bride has no idea how difficult it can be to find nursing-ready clothing.

[SnuggleBuggles]

http://www.mothersboutique.com/biancamaxi.html
On my phone and can't quite tell color.

[123LuckyMom]

You could certainly have a tailor put a lace panel into the v neck of the dress you found. If it was burgundy lace the same color of the dress it would look as though it was meant to be there. It could be sewn on one side and attached with hook and eye on the other to allow the dress to open.

[123LuckyMom]

I've been looking a bit, and the main problem is that I can't find dresses made of stretchy fabric. You can easily put a lace sleeve on a dress with no sleeve and put a lace panel in a plunging neckline, but if you can't pull the dress aside, you're out of luck!

[kwc]

How about this convertible dress? Can be done into 3/4 length sleeves and flexible for your postpartum size variation. Not sure about the cleavage and how hard it is to tie, though...
http://us.henkaa.com/publicstore/stores/US/AM/product/Iris-Burgundy-Wine-Maxi-Convertible-Dress,1344,261.aspx

[mousemom]

Don't know if these would be formal enough-could add some lace or chiffon sleeves:
http://www.figure8maternity.com/viewItem.cfm?pid=1587204
http://www.figure8maternity.com/viewItem.cfm?pid=1167006

Alternatively, could you do fancy separates? Like a fancy wrap top with a matching skirt? I know I find a top/skirt much easier than dresses to deal with when nursing. This might also be easier to alter to fit post-partum. Or maybe a dress with a jacket, so you could maybe add nursing slits to the dress itself? Here are some examples of what I mean (please note I know nothing about these sites, just using these as examples):
http://www.alight.com/alex-evenings-465236.html
http://www.alight.com/alex-evenings-451220.html
http://www.dressale.com/fancy-burgundy-taffeta-mother-dress-with-cropped-jacket-p-34931.html
http://www.alight.com/alex-evenings-425380.html
http://www.dhgate.com/product/burgundy-strapless-sheath-full-length-satin/163000813.html

[mandapear]

Great ideas. I think the convertible dresses look like they'd be the most accessible, but I'm just not sure they're black-tie appropriate. I like the idea of separates but find that they skew a bit old (I'm 28). Will have to keep looking, but I never thought of adding a lace panel to the Asos dress- will ask my tailor what she thinks!

[Tondi G]

would something like this work maybe?

http://www.trendytummymaternity.com/biancamaxi.html#.U-bEgJV0yM9

something here for inspiration? You might need to have something made for you

http://www.milknursingwear.com/store/pc/viewCategories.asp?idCategory=89

The sleeves on these 2 blue dresses fit the bill but neither are floor length

http://www.tiffanyrose.com/us/maternity/clothes/nursing.html

something like this but in a fabric that would make nursing possible without having to fully unzip. http://www.dress2015.com/aline-vneck-short-sleeves-grape-bridesmaid-dress-p-4989.html