Mother of the bride dresses with sleeves
No guest at a wedding has a harder brief than you. The dress has to look considered from nine in the morning until midnight, photograph well from every angle, let you hug a hundred people, carry you through a meal and a speech, and never once compete with your daughter. Most occasionwear is not designed with any of that in mind. Ours is.
Baruni has designed and made occasionwear in Dubai since 2009, and the mother of the bride is the customer we think about most carefully. Almost every piece in this collection is sleeved, cut long, and made in a fabric with enough structure to still look deliberate at the end of a very long day.
Why sleeves matter on this one dress
Because you will be photographed more than anyone except the couple, and because nothing ruins a day faster than a dress that needs adjusting. A sleeved dress means no strapless bra, no wrap to hold, nothing slipping during the ceremony and nothing to think about in a single photograph. Our sleeves are designed into the dress rather than added afterwards, so they move when you move instead of pulling at the shoulder.
You will find long sleeves, three quarter sleeves, dropped shoulders and sculptural sleeves across the collection, and the sleeve is named on every product page.
Length and fabric
Floor length for an evening wedding, ankle length or midi for a daytime one. If the ceremony is outdoors, choose a hem at the ankle rather than the floor, because a floor length hem meets grass, gravel and sand.
Fabric matters more than decoration here. Our jacquards and satins, developed with our own fabric mills, hold their shape for twelve hours, which is the real difference between a dress that still looks right at midnight and one that does not. Lighter chiffon, georgette and organza are the answer for a hot climate, where a full sleeve in a light fabric is cooler than a narrow one in a dense fabric.
Colour, and the other mother
White, ivory, cream and champagne belong to the bride. Ask the couple what the bridal party is wearing and stay clear of those too. Beyond that you are free, and navy, plum, bronze, sage, dusty rose and deep teal all hold their depth in daylight and under evening light.
One phone call with the mother of the groom saves an awkward photograph. You do not need to match. You do need to agree roughly on length and formality, and to avoid the same colour.
Before your dress ships
We write to you before your order leaves us to check the size you have chosen is the right one. If you are unsure, reply with your measurements and we will confirm before it goes. If you are between sizes, take the larger, and that is especially true of a sleeved dress, because arm width varies far more between women than waist measurement does.
For sleeve shapes and which suits which arm, read our ranking of sleeve lengths. For a dress for the wedding itself rather than the celebration around it, see our wedding guest dresses, and for something more formal, evening elegance.