Dress beading and underarm chafing?

Shel79

Hi ladies,
  I'm torn between two lovely dresses. . . the one I am leaning towards, though, has beading all over the bodice and I am worried about my arms being rubbed raw on my wedding day!  That really is the only thing keeping me from buying this dress.  I read that there is a product called BodyGlide that athletes use in various areas for chafing problems.  Does anyone know if that works with the beading issue?  Does anyone have any other ideas for this? 

Thanks for your help!

opalsky007

BodyGlide works best for sweat-related chafing, if I recall, but I don't know what effect it would have for beading.

Was the beading painful when you tried on the gown, or is this just something you think *might* be a concern? If it's the latter, you might want to try to spend some more time in the gown before making a decision.

Knittibell

I agree- if it started to feel a bit iffy/chaffey the moment you had it on, I'd pass.

JennandJoel2010

It wouldn't hurt to ask the alterations person if they can do anything. I think they can take some of the beading off under your arms to prevent this, without altering the look of the dress.

jagore08

My sales lady told me that if the beading is bothering you there's nothing you can do but remove it.  If it doesn't have a lot of beading then removing it may not be noticeable under the arm but if it has a lot of beading then you should look for another dress because taking it off will look odd.

hz80408

I used Body Glide for running...and the pp's are correct.  It's primarily for the sweat related chaffing.

My dress doesn't have beading but it was rubbing when I went in for my first fitting.  The alterationist said once it's fit to my body it would go away...but I don't know if that's applicable to the beading.

Last summer for a wedding I was in, one of the BMs had her dress altered under the arms so that they cut away part of the dress there and it dipped down lower, thus her arms didn't rub at all.  Perhaps you could do this?

csupalla

I was at a bridal shop and wondering the same question.  The saleslady said that any wax from a fabric store can be used to cover the beads and they won't rub against your arms or cause irritation.  Just go in and ask for a wax that can do that, and they should be able to point you in the right direction.  I know that's my plan! 

rosie7997

My dress has alot of beading under the arms as well, when I brought this up as a concern, the bridal shop told me to rub parafin wax on the beads to help my arms glide over them for the day. 

jmkes

I noticed this too the day I went dress shopping.  When I got home I had major scratches on the inside of my upper arms.  My dress has beading, but I don't think it's the one that did it to me.  I tried on so many dresses that day there's no telling.  I was wondering about the wax.  I may keep some on hand just incase.

tashammiller

I've been told by the seamstress to replace the 'glass like' beads with plastic ones (under the arm) and/or use paraffin wax paper and rub it on the beads. It gives them a wax coating and doesn't require spending money on replacing the beads. I'll let you know if it works. Still awaiting my dress to arrive.

JoanE2012

tashammiller said:

I've been told by the seamstress to replace the 'glass like' beads with plastic ones (under the arm) and/or use paraffin wax paper and rub it on the beads. It gives them a wax coating and doesn't require spending money on replacing the beads. I'll let you know if it works. Still awaiting my dress to arrive.

This post is FOUR years old.  If you have a question or want to chat about a topic, please start a new thread.

FWIW, I had lots of beading on my dress and no problems with chafing.  I would also never replace beads with plastic (still could irritate the skin) or put wax on the beads.  I spent too much money on my dress to do things like that.

@KnotPorscha - zombie thread.