I will be in NYC next week and will be shopping for a dress for my sons wedding. Can anyone help me with stores or areas to shop. It's a late afternoon outdoor wedding so I'm not looking for anything too formal but still nice.

Bloomingdale's
Macy's
Lord & Taylor

Larger budget: Barney's or any of the designer stores on Madison Avenue

There are Anne Taylor Loft stores all over the city, as well as many other chain dress stores.

Are you looking for something more unique, like a boutique? What is your style like?

There are Ann Taylor loft stores all over the country.

$$$$$
Bergdorf Goodman
Saks
Vera Wang
Jeffry

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Bloomingdales
Barneys
Lord & Taylor

$$$
Macy's
Century 21

Start at 57th and Madison and work your way up (Madison) to, say, 85th St. It is literally impossible for you not to find something on that stretch.

Loehmanns Manhattan
7th Ave. & 16th St.
(212) 352-0856
Mon - Sat 9:00am - 9:00pm
Sun 11:00am - 7:00pm

love bloomie's.

If she's coming up to NYC to find a special dress, I doubt she wants chain stores or discount.

* Bloomingdale's for HUGE selection, all price ranges and designers.

* Barney's for high-end designers.

* Madison Avenue boutiques if you prefer that shopping experience.

Hi Jll, if you tell us where you live and what stores you already have in your city, we can help with suggestions for NYC only stores.

Nanette Lepore, Tracy Reese, BCBG, Nicole Miller, and Bloomingdales.

It would help if you gave us a budget or clue about what you're loking for. A $ amount would help = if not pick one of the folowing:

Modest? (This would include most of Macy's)
Moderate?
Upscale?
Designer?

There's always Kleinfelds (they're not all fru-fru).
Depends on what you want, how much to spend, regardless where you shop.

Thanks for all the suggestions so far.My price range is moderate to upscale. I will have 1 1/2 days to shop so my question is should I stick to dept stores or try areas such as Soho. I just don't know the city well enough to be running all around. I realize this isn't an easy question!

Jll, Soho is pretty much one big dept store, except you're walking outdoor instead of indoors. It has a lot of the big labels/ same brands you would get at saks, bloomies, even bergdorf, etc. I would choose the indoor AC over the 90-degree heat outside even though I'm a soho gal myself. There is a barneys coop and a bloomies in soho but both smaller than the uptown flagships.

If you were thinking about soho for hip or indie designer stores which many people assume are in soho, actually none of them is. They are in lower east side, Nolita, or if you have big budget, try meatpacking.

There are also alot of Bridal stores in the city and you might consider looking at some of them as well. There is one that is huge very close to Port Authority Bus Terminal just off 7th Ave. It takes up several floors of the building, and I'm sure if you google bridal stores in NYC you will find a listing for it probably on W38th or W39th St.

Have a great time while you are here.

I would first hit Bendel's and Saks. Both have a large selection of special occasion dresses and you won't see yourself "coming and going" the way you might if you shop a Federated store (Macy's or Bloomingdale's).

jll, moderate to upscale in Manhattan is $800-$3,000. Is that your price range?

You can find something that is "upscale" in bloomingdales for around $200-$300. The thousand dollar price tags on some items are only "upscale" because of the "name" attached. There would be plenty of nice, fancy, wedding appropriate things for less than $800.

Another important question is what is your style? Are you looking for typical "mother of the bride/groom" dress with sequins and jacket. Or are you more funky or more formal? If you want the typical "mother of the bride" than any bridal shop will have loads of options.

Untrue.

That is a misconception that you are paying just for the name.

You are paying for the quality of construction, fabric ($200 a yard silk chiffon does not translate into a $300 dress), and quality of garment.

GoTravel, I guess we'll have to agree to disagree.

IMO, I have seen plenty of dresses with a designer tag that are no better than similar ones 1/4 their price. Personally, I think only a sucker (or an extremely rich person with money to burn) would pay $3,000 for any single article of clothing.