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She’s WEARING THE SAME DRESS!

Janet Camilleri · 16/10/2017 ·

Have you ever gone to an event – only to realise that somebody else is WEARING THE SAME DRESS as you?!

Awkies much?!

middle aged woman in evening gown

I’m not backwards in coming forwards, if I find myself in this situation I’m the one that will go up to the other woman and make light of it, usually complimenting her on her awesome taste! (And hope secretly that I wore it better … 😉 )

Earlier this month I attended the Telstra Business Women’s Awards at Brisbane City Hall. One of my clients was a finalist, and I was invited as one of her guests (I have some great clients!).

at least we're not wearing the same dress

I *was* just going to wear one of the cocktail dresses I had on hand, after attending the Redland Business and Retails Awards two years in a row … but with the invitation clearly stating “black tie” I panicked a little and splashed out on a long dress instead (any excuse LOL).

I’d fallen in love with this particular formal gown ages ago while browsing the City Chic website, and it was now less than half price, so I gave into temptation. (Besides, gotta follow my own advice – an evening dress is one of the five dresses every woman should have!)

Well, you guessed it. When I got there, I noticed another woman wearing the same dress! 

She’d gone for the strapless version, while I wore straps, but other than that they looked identical at first glance.

I caught her eye and pointed at her dress and then back at myself, grinning hugely (ya gotta laugh or you’d cry!).

She looked at me strangely and then turned to look behind her to see who I was communicating with – clearly she didn’t realise that we were pretty much wearing the same dress.

Upon closer examination, our dresses weren’t exactly the same, but they were pretty darn close!

Wearing the same dress

Still, it could have been worse – at one wedding recently, SIX women were amazed to discover they were wearing the same dress – and no, they WEREN’T the bridesmaids!

So tell me, has this ever happened to you – and how do you normally handle it?!

Filed Under: Fashion & Beauty

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Ness says

    16/10/2017 at 10:22 am

    It’s never happened to me. Probably only because when I was young my mum made most of my dresses, and these days I never go to any events. I think I would just laugh it off as you did. And the dress looks amazing on you, so I’m sure you wore it better!

    • Janet Camilleri says

      17/10/2017 at 2:06 pm

      Naww thanks Ness!

  2. Natalie says

    16/10/2017 at 12:12 pm

    Yes I wore the same dress as another guest at my brother’s wedding, but thankfully it wasn’t the same colour as hers (and it was a simple dress design so it wasn’t immediately noticeable by others!). But gee, six guests at the one wedding? What are the odds of that happening?!

    • Janet Camilleri says

      17/10/2017 at 2:07 pm

      Whew, lucky you wore different colours. Yeah what are the chances SIX women wore the same dress? It was nice, but not that nice?!

  3. Leanne says

    16/10/2017 at 1:44 pm

    I saw the pic of all those women at the wedding in the same dress – hilarious! And I will point out that you look MUCH better in your dress than she does – and good on you for having a laugh about it. I’ve only been caught out once at an end of year work dinner – there were only a dozen of us there and I managed to have the same dress as one of the other girls – oh well…..

    • Janet Camilleri says

      17/10/2017 at 2:08 pm

      Miss 20 read this blog post and reminded me it happened at the International Women’s Day function we attended earlier this year – another woman at our table wore a dress in the same fabric (slightly different style) – we didn’t care we were happy to be twinning!!!

  4. Kez @ Awesomely Unprepared says

    16/10/2017 at 1:59 pm

    I had this happen at a wedding once! I had searched far and wide for something I didn’t feel too self conscious in (I had put on weight and I was not too comfortable about it and hadn’t figured out how to style myself at that size). I felt fairly good about myself and then saw a lady much much older than myself wearing the dress version (I had the top plus a skirt). The print was SO distinctive and I was really disappointed that my efforts to be unique had failed! In saying that, I don’t see the point in having a sook about that happening. It is what it is – may as well just have fun.

    • Janet Camilleri says

      17/10/2017 at 2:09 pm

      Miss 20 just reminded me that it happened to me at an International Women’s Day function earlier this year. Another woman at our table wore a dress in the same print – bold black and white polka dots with red roses scattered across it. And yes, we complimented each other on our great taste 🙂

  5. budget jan says

    16/10/2017 at 8:46 pm

    It has happened to me, but I can’t remember where or when or even which dress lol.

    • Janet Camilleri says

      17/10/2017 at 2:10 pm

      Now that I’ve thought about it, it’s happened to me quite a few times but it really doesn’t worry me.

  6. Nola Passmore says

    17/10/2017 at 7:32 am

    Janet, you should send your pics in to those women’s mags that have the ‘who wore it better’ section. You’d win 🙂

    • Janet Camilleri says

      17/10/2017 at 2:10 pm

      Why thank ya kindly Nola 😉

  7. Liz (Good Things) says

    17/10/2017 at 7:52 am

    Gah, yes, this has happened to me once or twice. It’s annoying when you’ve been told by the store manager that it’s the only dress of it’s kind in your city! Someone I know went to her sister’s daughter’s wedding in a brand new gown only to find out that the bridesmaid’s were all wearing that dress!

    • Janet Camilleri says

      17/10/2017 at 2:11 pm

      Oh that would be awful – and believe me I know. I went to a winter wedding when I was pregnant with Miss 20, and made my own dress in a bottle green crushed velvet. Guess what colour the bridesmaids were all wearing?!!!!

  8. Deborah says

    18/10/2017 at 10:19 am

    It’s happened to me a couple of times and something I’m very much in danger of in Hervey Bay. The only plus-size store in town is TS14+ and so I never buy anything patterned from TS14+ for fear of seeing the same outfit out and about.

    I remember a Maggie T top I had years ago and then I saw someone in the same shirt at a concert (and they looked very fat and it wasn’t flattering and I was mortified).

    • Janet Camilleri says

      18/10/2017 at 5:20 pm

      Imagine if you could sew – it would never be a problem again!

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Janet Camilleri is an Australian bloggerHi - I'm Janet Camilleri aka the Middle Aged Mama; crazy cat lady, award-winning business woman, and mother of two grown children. I might be a middle aged woman, but that doesn't mean I've lost all interest in looking stylish! I love chocolate, chick lit, cruising holidays and the husbear - and not necessarily in that order wink. I live in Brisbane, Australia, and I'm learning how to fashion a new life now that we have an empty nest - did somebody say "travel"?!

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