Own! Birthday Dress 2012

If you guys have been loyal readers (first of all, thank you!) then you know that it's that time of year again where I embark on the journey across the sea of online shops in hopes of finding that one dress of perfection for my birthday.

This year, I have enlisted the help of a couple of my good friends and we have come together and created a Pinterst board.  There are so many dresses out there and the more I looked, the more I feel that dresses have become lazy.  Where's the fun and flare?

What if I don't want to wear:
- sequins
- metallic
- form fitters
- cleavage barers

I know- I can't believe I'm saying this either, but hey, the times are a-chaingin' and I'm not really out wrangle biscuits anymore (read: manhunt).  That being said, I thought that it would be easy to find something unique and still fun without being slutty (for under $300).   I want something with a cool shape in a fun color.  The runways were packed this year with these types of styles so I thought that would be reflected in some of the lesser-than-Runway designers.   BOY, was I wrong.  The pickin's are slim, in my opinion.

Usually, by this time, I have a plethora of choices and I'd have to painfully choose three to five to show you here, but truthfully, I only have about three in my consideration set right now...here they are:

I love this Friend Of Mine Dress.  Friend Of Mine is an amazing brand that I've seen on tons of Australian e-commerce sites and I've just been waiting for US sites to pick them up.  I'm so excited to see it at Revolve Clothing.  I've actually already ordered this dress, but I just feel like it's not jazzy enough to be a birthday dress.  I love love LOVE the color so I had to have it anyway.  I'm anxious to see if it will fit me the way it fits this model.

I'm really feeling the ocean-y colors here.  They're so calm and relaxing.  This dress is by Gypsy 05 which is a brand that I've never tried on before.  I love the style here, too.  It's so laid back and easy.  It's sexy without being slutty.

This dress is from ZARA!  You might remember that a while ago, I had been really opposed to shopping Zara just because I felt that their stores were a mess.  While their stores are still a mess, their online shopping experience is great and you really can't go wrong with free shipping and free returns.  Once this dress comes  into stock again, I'll probably scoop it up just because I love the colors and the patterns so much.

Notice anything weird here??  NONE of the dress are black!  This is a huge step for me.  To all you out there that are wondering if there's life after black, I think there is.

Let me know which dress you like best!  If there are ones out there that I should consider, I'm clearly open to options.