I'm great at public speaking but not so great at public dressing.

I am the worst when it comes to dressing myself for high profile events. I always end up leaving it to the very last minute (I'm talking, like, 30 minutes before I have to walk out the door) and because of this, I always feel like I look a little unkempt. During Austin Fashion Week I wore an ill fitting dress that made me look like I was smuggling a pillow underneath and threw my wet hair into a bun. During Texas Style Council's dress-up party last year, I donned a plain black frock with a tank top underneath-- no interesting jewelry, horrible choice of shoes. And although I liked what I wore to my StyleX panel, it wasn't indicative of my own style nor did it photograph well.

Austin Fashion Week | TxSX'11 | StyleX

I am determined to step-up my game this year, but I am also determined not to spend a boat load of money stepping up my game (I'm saving up for an 85mm/ 1.8f camera lens and the iPad 3 when it comes out in the spring). I figured my best bet was to rent, so I turned to (who else?) Rent The Runway. After a lot of thought, here's what I chose:

Mark & James limelight dress | Erin Featherston Running Wild Dress | Jay Godfrey Draped Dress | Shoshanna Basket Weave Dress

March is, once again, going to be a crazy busy month for me, but I am so excited to host The Texas Style Council and be able to speak in public at SXSW and StyleX again. Did I mention I'm going to be on panel with The Man Repeller? This is going to be like when I was on panel with The Glamourai last year. Because so many people will be taking her photo, I'll be stuck in the crossfire. When this happens, I'd like to look good, you know? Anyway, I'm excited to hear her insights on blogging.

I'm also excited that I'm not going to be scrambling the night before (or the hour before?) to figure out what I'm going to wear. My RTR order was placed last night, and now all I have to do is figure out my shoe situation. I even started a new shoe board on Pinterest, and I am going to try really hard to not ruin a perfectly good dress with a bad choice of shoe. Any style suggestions for the above dresses?