DRESS RANT!!!

futuremrsnickyp

So, I've been looking for a wedding dress for the last few weeks in Columbus, OH. Literally every dress that I've found online and hoped to find in store is a discontinued style. Great. So I actually go into the store and every dress that I really like is a battered clearance sample... and I'm talking BATTERED. No thanks. I am now just feeling totally down on myself and pretty confident that I'm going to end up in a subpar dress. I never realized how apparently unfashionable I am. Has anyone else had a similar problem? Why are discontinued dresses still on the designers website!

 

End Rant.

climbingsingle

What place did you go to? Did you try a smaller bridal salon, or did you go to David's Bridals? 

futuremrsnickyp

I have been to about 6 or 7 different shops ranging from Davids Bridal to an independently owned small boutique. I also went to an Alfred Angelo store because I had heard that they can alter dresses to make them more what you're looking for but I couldn't even find a base of a dress that I liked enough to commit.

 

Next week I am taking a day off work to drive down to Cincinnati on a Wednesday (so there are no crowds) because they have a bridal district of ~ 10 bridal stores all within a mile of each other. If I don't find something there... I don't know what I'll do.

doeydo

What do the dresses you like look like?  Do you have any pictures of them?  Perhaps we can look for similar gowns that hopefully aren't discontinued. 

Dignity100

I drove from Cleveland area to Universe Bridal which is like 1 1/2 hours from Columbus because I heard they had an excellent selection for reasonable prices in the clearance room - the dresses were in bad condition like you mentioned (makeup stained, pieces missing, snags/pulls in fabrics, missing beading, etc); plus they clipped the designer label out of the gowns so you couldn't look for it cheaper elsewhere. If there's a dress you love and it's listed on the desginer's website, perhaps you could contact the designer and see if you could get it. Or maybe you could try on the sample and go through somewhere like Pearl's Place to see if they are actually still available to be ordered.

missdelilah

A lot of designers list their collections by seasons.  Is it worthwhile looking on individual designer websites and seeing their new or recent collections?  

And don't worry.  I fell in love with a couple of discontinued styles too.  My wedding isn't a fashion parade.  I always imagine that ladies who buy super trendy styles end up regretting it in later years (think about hilarious photos of family members weddings from the 80s and 90s) and I really didn't want that to be the case.

Don't worry.  You will find something that you love that you can get your hands on. 

cowgirl8238

Dignity100 said:

I drove from Cleveland area to Universe Bridal which is like 1 1/2 hours from Columbus because I heard they had an excellent selection for reasonable prices in the clearance room - the dresses were in bad condition like you mentioned (makeup stained, pieces missing, snags/pulls in fabrics, missing beading, etc); plus they clipped the designer label out of the gowns so you couldn't look for it cheaper elsewhere. If there's a dress you love and it's listed on the desginer's website, perhaps you could contact the designer and see if you could get it. Or maybe you could try on the sample and go through somewhere like Pearl's Place to see if they are actually still available to be ordered.

Don't give up!!  Also, I have heard good things about Pearls Place, if you find a sample that you like which is less than par.  Final thought...Many people here are amazing at finding dresses, so if you have something you like you can post it and I'm sure the girls here can find something similar! 

futuremrsnickyp

Thanks for your encouragement! I feel like I have pretty set tastes for what I'm looking for, but the dress I have been lusting over is the Angelina Faccenda style 1275. It's got everything I want so if anyone out there knows where to find something that looks very similar to it, I would appreciate it very much!

 

futuremrsnickyp

That picture was tiny... trying for a larger one

Maggie0829

This one by Allure is kind of similar...http://www.allurebridals.com/products/9024.  It doesn't have the lace and you can easily add a beaded belt, but the shape that you are leaning towards is there.

Maggie0829

Then there are these two by Sophia Tolli...

http://sophiatolli.com/wedding-dresses/y11571/?fc=

http://sophiatolli.com/wedding-dresses/y21439/?fc=

And Sophia Tolli has a lot of visually similar dresses under their Best Sellers section (http://sophiatolli.com/dresses/bridal-dresses/#best) but as to if they are still available that is something you have to ask a salon who sells that designer.

emanon321

futuremrsnickyp said:

Thanks for your encouragement! I feel like I have pretty set tastes for what I'm looking for, but the dress I have been lusting over is the Angelina Faccenda style 1275. It's got everything I want so if anyone out there knows where to find something that looks very similar to it, I would appreciate it very much!

 

What in particular do you like about the dress? That could help us with finding something similar. The color? The bandage style top? The lace on the bottom?

missdelilah

This where you need @doeydo if she's got some free time.  She's definitely the best at this sort of stuff.  But I second emanon.  It will be easier to help you find something if we know what you love about this dress, and your budget.  Are you sure this is discontinued?  It's still on the Mori Lee site, which makes me think it should still be able to be ordered.

Here is a link to Best Bridal Prices, which I've been repeatedly told offers real gowns for sale, and claims to have it in a number of sizes, but please don't buy anything you haven't tried on.

Have you tried on similar styles to make sure they look great on you?  You may be in love with the dress on the model, but not on you.  It's worth it to keep an open mind in these matters.  

missdelilah

You can also try giving Pearl's Place a call (clicky).  They will only let you place orders over the phone, and won't sell you a dress unless you've tried it on in person.  The prices are, I'm told, extremely competitive, and the company is wonderful to deal with.

ETA: PP mentioned Pearl's Place and I completely forgot about it.  But I definitely recommend giving them a go as they've had such great reviews here.

hyechica81

the dress you love is by mori lee she only has the dresses on her website that are still available if a salon told you its discontinued but still on the website that is false information.

my dress was a mori lee style 3098 from the Julietta collection  i got married this past june my dress was from the 2011 collection the salon i got it from said it could be discontinued because they discontinue twice a year. turns out it was not 

most salons to make room for the new stuff will get rid of older sample dresses that are not selling sometimes the designer does not carry them anymore and that is one reason the other reason is that brides are not purchasing that dress as often as a more popular style 

just went on the website and the dress is still there so you should be able to order it from a salon go on her facebook page and ask them to locate a sample for you to try on also she just redsigned her website and my dress is still listed there so there is no way the dress you love is discontinued maybe from that particular store they are not carrying it but the designer still is 

doeydo

PP's gave some great suggestions.  Here are a few more similar gowns:

http://www.miasolano.com/m1303l/

http://www.alfredangelo.com/Collections/Alfred-Angelo-Sapphire-Gowns/886

http://www.davidsbridal.com/Product_Mikado-Fit-and-Flare-Gown-with-Tulle-Skirt-VW351169_Bridal-Gowns-Shop-By-Silhouette-Mermaid-Trumpet

http://enzoani.com/view-collection/blue/current-collection/gainesville

Some of the dresses from this collection: http://eddyk.com/adk-2014/

and from this collection: http://eddyk.com/eddyk-2014/

LarraO2530

Just throwing it out there, if one of the shops you have gone to sells Casablanca gowns, that designer will custom-build you a gown based on measurements, photos and fabrics. The small boutique I bought my dress from gave me that little gem of info when I first started looking and was worried the style I liked would be discontinued before I was ready to purchase. My consultant reassured me that the cost would be similar to that of the original dress/manufacturer because Casablanca would make the dress from all the same fabrics etc. 

futuremrsnickyp

These are all great suggestions! Thanks!

 

My budget is ~$2000. I love everything about this dress except the color on the photo (but it is said that it comes in ivory which is my color of choice) I especially like the cut and the ruching (I have tried on a similar dress in terms of cut "fit and flare" I think? I'm not really 100% on the verbiage but it was too plain.) I really like the small amounts of bling on the neckline and the belt and I think the lace skirt really adds the wow factor I'm looking for.

I know that this particular dress is available for purchase on netbridal.com, bestbridalprices.com, rkbridal.com etc but I just don't want to buy a dress I haven't tried on.

atlastmrsg

Consider pre-owned?  Those are more likely to be styles from year's past.

doeydo

Thanks @butterscotchjbeans