Dress shopping with someone who never wears dresses. Help!

A fairly
large number of Mother of the bride dresses are for those who do not like or often wear frou frou. They usually feature a fairly tailored or structured top, sometimes a jacket, and a straight or A line column skirt. But fairly dressy pants suits are around too.
Morilee, Madeline Gardiner has some bare upper modern woman styles, but many of the more common, everyday matronly figures not into style or dressup.

www.morilee.com/product/evening-dresses/sheath-evening-gown-with-crystal-beaded-lace-appliques-on-lace/ . Very many are stretch crepe,
And though the models show them with 24 inch waists and tiny thighs, the skirts go at least to size 24.

Continued ... I don't have much time for my quilts or other sewi g at this time of work and kids. But one of the few not charity, but giving back, things I still do for gowns is helping buy, and get them to alter, or buying and my altering, or outright making gowns ( free) for people with physical problems. It is amazing how badly many shops treat someone pretty easy, like a curve in their spine that leaves them underarm to waist measurement that is 2 inches bigger on the right than the left, or a hump in the back that comes with age, as well as life long problems. It really seams to help to go through a few maker's lines, just to pictures of things that would suit them. Bypass discouraging or unwanted dresses. If you go through 120 dresses or 2 piece and 10 pantsuits, and write down the numbers, then with them you can put the numbers in search, so they only see potentially flattering styles. Talk about them. Then go into a shop with some definite looks, even if another maker.
Sort of a high success method, to give confidence. She is on foreign territory now, and Mom likely needs that.

One suggestion I have is to let her try on a formal option that includes pants. For some women, this option is much more comfortable for them. It might get her in the mood to look at dresses once she sees a nice pant set too. David's Bridal in the US has lovely pant/jacket options for women

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She doesn’t have an issue with dresses, it’s just that she doesn’t wear them in her day-to-day life because they’re impractical for her, and even when she’s not at work, she’s usually busy with her pet animals or tending to her garden so her garb is almost always jeans and a top of some sort. I was thinking maybe we ease her in with dresses that are a little simpler (and perhaps something knee or ¾ length) so as to build our way up to the more dressy stuff so that she can get a feel for it.

View Quoted Comment That sounds like an awesome plan. Maybe also keep in mind that a very simple dress can be amped to black tie with the right jewelry and shoes- that might be more palatable for her too

I would recommend calling the store/stores ahead of time to specifically request and double check that they have her size. I worked in bridal for three years, and worked with many mothers and brides in this situation. In terms of color, if you’re flexible, have her try on colors she really likes and feels comfortable in. Muted colors are also a good bet- navy, dark purple and dark green are all flattering.

One way to take the pressure off will be to treat the shopping day just as a day to try on different styles and colors to see which ones she feels good in. Don't put any expectation or focus on the end of goal of actually making a purchase.

Of course, if she finds something she is happy to buy, then that's great. But if she doesn't find anything that day, that's fine, too. Emphasize that there is plenty of time and no rush. Just enjoy the day.

Agreed with Maggie! One other suggestion is to ask her to just take a look at a few different styles beforehand so she maybe has an idea of what interests her at all.