Formal dresses are fun. Everyone likes to get dressed up now and then. To feel beautiful and like you look your best. I even enjoy shopping for formal dresses, as much of a pain as it always turns out to be. I enjoy trying on dresses that are entirely too expensive for me to buy just to see what I look like n a $400 gown. There are some every beautiful dresses out there.
I have a few stores I really enjoy and they are always the first places I go for formal dresses. There is a place in my hometown called Cache that just has some beautiful stuff, though most of it is too expensive. There is also a boutique in Ithaca, NY called Pookie and Sebastian's. I have bought tow formal dresses there, and am still in love with both. Unfortunately they are sitting in my closet waiting for another occasion to be worn and I am terribly afraid that by the time I have another occasion to wear these dresses; I will be too old or overweight to pull them off. I also like to look at the formal dresses in the department stores just for fun when I go shopping. My friends and I oh and aw over the pretty ones and make fun of the ones that we are sure no one will ever buy.
Now the one downfall to formal dresses is that they tend to be very expensive. The department stores are actually probably the best place to look for formal dresses if you are on a tight budget. They also have the benefit that most of them also have plus size formal dresses, whereas many of the boutiques and smaller stores do not stock them for some reason. To me this seems a little unfair but I am sure they have their reasons. I personally can never find anything in the department stores but others seem to have a lot of success, especially if you are looking for a plus size formal dress, or do not have much money to spend.
Melissa Wayan has ripped apart everything she knows about plus size clothing. Her latest article covers discount plus size lingerie.