wedding dress for short people

BGSUSIE

Right now I am in the process of finding the perfect dress.  Although I have one in mind as the perfect dress, I am not 100% sold.  I am very short, 5 foot, so finding a wedding dress is hard.  I am focusing on empire and natural waiste gowns and steering clear of any dropped waste gowns.  Anyone out there around 5 foot and what dress did you find and/or any tips?

Thanks everyone for all your help!

arv266

I am 5'1" and I didnt have any issues either.  Most of the gowns that I tried on were available in Petite, but these dresses were too short on me (as I insist on wearing 4" inch heels).  Don't rule out any style of dress -- you never know until you try it on. 

Princesaambar7

Maggie Sottero lets you order any of there dresses three inches shorter so you have less you need to hem. This is what I did. With my shoes I wont need a hem at all.

teedove

I am 5'2 1/2 amd the seamtress just cut and rehemmed my botom. You can also get a hem......

christikao

I'm 4'11 and didn't have too much issue trying on dresses. I actually went with a San Patrick mermaid dress which wasn't recommended for a petite bride but ended up looking great on me. Also dresses with a lot of details or beading around the hem line will be harder to alter. Like what PP said, don't rule anything out before trying. 

The Real SImple mag has a list of great petite designers: http://www.realsimple.com/holidays-entertaining/weddings/dress-attire/wedding-dresses-petite-00000000006508/index.html

GJones27

I'm 5'2" and I ordered my dress from Priscilla of Boston (Melissa Sweet).  They do a muselin fitting where they tailor the dress to your exact measurements.   That was great for me, because I have broad shoulders, a tiny waist and chest, and fuller hips.  I did find a dress there that fit that was ballgown (more A-line) and dropped waist and looked beautiful on me.  Check out their Harlow dress!  I'm also wearing the dress with 3.5 inch heels which will give me some height.

http://www.priscillaofboston.com/dress_detail.jsp?gid=1&sfid=51096

faithhopeinlove

I had a similar issue. I have a very wide rib cage and my thighs are not ballerina legs... I found a dress that did not make me look like I had a triangle for the bottom half, those just made me look shorter. Mine had a beautiful waist line and made my body look taller than I actually am 5'2" or something like that... here is a link and a picture:

http://www.davidsbridal.com/Product_Taffeta-Pick-up-with-Beaded-Metallic-Lace-Bodice-T9325

Me in the dress: 

One of the not-so-flattering styles:

Ashes_3

I'm 5'1 and there were a few dresses I said umm NOOOO on b/c they didn't hit right in certain spots, but I found a lot that did. You just have to look. There out there!

hlbjfk11

I'm 4'10 and didn't find much trouble when I went searching a few weeks ago. I ended up ordering a Casablanca dress.  What sold me on Casablanca is that they will custom fit the dress to your height measurements so you don't loose any details and every aspect of the dress shifts with the measurements.  I was also advised prior to dress shopping that A-line dresses make short girls look like rock stars :-)

orangejulius

I'm 4'11 and so far the natural/empire wasted A-line gowns have been my favorites. I think just trying on a bunch and seeing what looks good on your particular body, regardless of height, is you best bet. My proportions are different than other short girl's, and so are yours. For example, I have a shorter torso and longer legs than my sister who is my same height. Dropped waisted gowns have looked terrible on me! Good luck with your hunt!

mjmartel

I did the same as a PP.... I am 5'1" and I ordered a Maggie Sottero dress w/ the hem already pre-cut 3 inches. It work perfectly!

emelydiaz87

I am shorter and the dress that I ordered comes in mulitple lengths. Mori lee offers three different heights to choose from!

skyler1108

I am 5'0 and i personally thought that dresses with a drop waist and super huge shirt were just too overwhelming on me. I chose an A-line shirt with a natural waist.

The dress I chose (click)  

meganb1977

I'm 5'0" and everything would have to be hemmed but other than that most of the strapless dresses with a natural or empire waist fit me fine, although I do have a long torso.  Once you try on different styles and find something that fits you well except in the length, most dresses can be hemmed although it's easier and I think cheaper if the dress has a straight/unembellished hem...you can even ask before you try a dress on, if there is a lot of detail around the bottom and you are concerned about affecting the character of the dress.  I ended up going with a strapless slim A-line dress with a natural waist, that didn't have any detail around the bottom but that wasn't because I was worried they wouldn't be able to hem it.  I tried on a more lacy dress with a fancy edge around the hem and if I had chosen that dress they said the seamstress could shorten it with no problem.

tor1234

I ended up choosing a ball gown that hit the natural waist.  It was surprisingly flattering on my short figure and didn't overwhelm me.  Just make sure to try on different styles before you rule out a certain style.

sjersey86

I'm 5' and didn't have a problem finding a dress.  Like others said the problem with the dresses I did try on was that the torso was to long but when they measured me they ordered my dress in a shorter size & when I tried it on it fit perfectly & I'm still probably going to have to get it hemmed (not sure because didn't try on w/petticoat but w/just shoes it does).  My dress is an Aline... http://www.alfredangelo.com/Collections/ProductDisplay.aspx?style=1136

Solo1018

A big tip for shoter people. These days dropped wastes are becoming super popular, bad news for us vertically challenged girls. It seems a shame that we have to rule out gowns that are so pretty just because they have dropped wastes.

So here's a tip. Gowns with just about any waist line can work (except mermaids for this). Look for gowns that have seams at the skirts or gowns with skirts where the top layer is tacked. Then during alterations you can have the seamstress move the waistline up. My gown that I bought had a dropped wast, just too low for me. The skirt  has an outer tacked layer so I'm going to have the skirt part move up. It will cost very little since they would have to untack it to take the dress in anyway.

BGSUSIE

Thanks everyone for all of the bests.  Lots of tips to use for my wedding dress hunt.  I love the pictures of everyone in their dresses!