Contemplating Wedding Attire

As I was thinking about the wedding I need to find a dress for tonight, my mind wandered into the territory of weddings I've been in.  I have been in four, and despite the way Hollywood frequently shows women having to wear horrendous frocks as bridesmaids, I have not had to wear one that I didn't like.  I would have actually have liked to have worn all of them at least once again.  Unfortunately, I did not manage to wear more than one again before I gained too much weight to fit into it again.

I do not know if my good wedding attire run has to do with luck or with friends with really good taste.  Or maybe Hollywood over-blows the whole "horrendous dress" stereotype (highly possible).  I cannot really think of any bridesmaids dresses at any wedding I've been to that were horrendous, but it's entirely possible I've forgotten.  After all, I was there to see the bride and groom, not their wedding party (plus I haven't taken pictures at every wedding I've been to).

I happen to have a few of the dresses I've worn as a bridesmaid on my hard drive, so I thought I'd share.

Dress 1, 1996

It's not obvious form the picture because of my friend's hand, but it has an empire waistline.  That little bit of white you see on the sleeve is actually a rhinestone button embellishment.  It was either tea length or floor length and my favorite color.  I loved this dress.  I also love the bride's dress.  Yeah, she has good taste.  :)

Dress 2, 1996

I thought I had a picture of this one on my computer, but I cannot find it.  Maybe I'll have to find the hard copy and scan it later.  Oh, well.  It was a Christmas wedding, and the dress was dark green velvet with a matching satin bow on the back.  It was very basic, with a tea length skirt.  It was simple and elegant.

Dress 3, 1997

I do not have a picture of this one on my computer, but it was a floor-length black dress with a white v-shaped "collar" that went down to the navel and white lace over black fabric between the edges of the collar.  It was the one dress I wore for a fancy date night with my then-boyfriend, now husband, in 1998.  

Dress 4, 2003

This one all the bridesmaids got to vote on.  We went for something simple, and we chose this dress partly because it had an accompanying maternity version, and I was trying to get pregnant.  It was a basic dress in navy blue, and it was floor-length.  That's my mom with me in the picture.  (I had to crop out my hubby.  He's internet shy.)

So, was I extremely lucky, or have other people managed to never get a bridesmaid's dress they don't like?  If you've had some horrible ones, what was so horrible about them?