say AAARG! to the dress

My oldest stepson is 25 and getting married this March.  I adore that kid.  He lived with us during high school and for a few years after, and even with the teenaged him in our history together, I still love him.

Rose is going to be a bridesmaid--she has a lovely dress in a soft apple-red chiffon.

My husband is the father of the groom--he has a stunning tuxedo rented with apple-red vest and tie.

Me?  I'm the stepmom of the groom and I am left to fend for my fashion self while finding something attractive, appropriately festive, and flattering, that coordinates with apple-red but isn't red, black, or white, also which won't duplicate his or her mom's dress color or style (as of yet unselected), but will coordinate with his and her mom's dress color and style.  Also, it should fit me.

I thought I'd found a dress that fit the bill.  On sale.  From J. Crew.  But available only online.

To wit:

Lovely, no?

Unfortunately, it arrived Friday and (with great excitement) I opened the box.  Much like Schrodinger's Cat, the possibilities were endless until I opened up the darn thing.

Turns out the chiffon is sort of crinkle textured (read, looks more casual) and the size is smaller than expected (which is probably a nicer way of saying I'm bigger than I expected--I ordered the smaller of the 2 sizes in range since I'm working on losing a few pounds, but, well, there is a difference between "snug" and "honey, shouldn't that thing be able to zip?").

So, now I just need to decide what's worse.  Not eating for 6 weeks (cringe, plus just plain a bad idea) or (cue horror music) going back to shopping for a dress that works...