FINALLY..... Pretty wedding dresses

maryritaw

I am happy to FINALLY see pretty dresses with different necklines. Too bad my wedding was 6 months ago. I envy those of you hitting the stores now. Thanks for letting me vent.

chaiteachick

Which ones do you like the best? As for me, I'm still shying away from traditional wedding dresses... I'm trying on Sherri Hill, all the way!  

QueerFemme

I feel your pain.  I fell in love the the new Mori Lee line this spring... it pisses me off!

chaiteachick

I love sleeves. I wish I could find more dresses with them... I mean, pageant gown designers do add more interesting touches, LIKE sleeves, interesting necklines, etc., because that's all about finding a gown to flatter YOU, not, you know, looking like you jumped out of a big, fake wedding cake. 

Anyway, again, that's why I'm going to look at Sherri Hill designs first. 

seshat303

Ohhhh this vent is right up my alley today!  I've been trying to find a dress with straps and am rather frustrated with the whole process.  It doesn't help that I'm really anti-sparkle and decided I'm more comfortable in a tea-length dress so I've already seriously limited my options.  I found a Mori Lee that looks great and it seems like nice looking straps can be easily added to it, but I have to buy additional fabric.  Fine.  At $30/yd.  Also fine.... but then they charge $15 for shipping.  $15 to ship a yard of fabric???? Are you kidding me?  It's small, light, not even remotely fragile, and given that the dress would take 11-15 weeks there's definitely no rush.  Argh!  I know it's not a lot of money, but it's one of those situations where I feel like they jacked the price because it's Wedding Stuff and that just annoys the heck out me.  Unfortunately I'm seriously leaning towards this dress because I think it will look the nicest with straps.

@CMGr I feel your pain on short dresses too.  I've bought 1 or 2 that are shorter than knee length but only if I think "Hey, that'd look cute over leggings."

maryritaw

EXACTLY!!!   You guys are so right!  Wedding dress shopping was so frustrating.  I too, walked into shops and figured I was in the room with all the strapless dresses.  Nope, that was their inventory.  What?!!  Who decided that we all had to shove ourselves into strapless dresses.  I seriously don't ever want to see a strapless dress ever again...ok, maybe I am exaggerating a little.  It is fine if there are strapless options for those looking for strapless.  I personally had to buy the best strapless dress I could find and then pay someone to fix it, while minimizing the possibility of back fat as much as possible.  So in the end, it was still built like a strapless dress. I did end up liking it, I don't even remember how much I had to pay my seamstress to fix it.  By that point I was just like, do what you have to do.  But seriously, I had to buy the best dress I could find, then pay someone to do the best they could with it to fix it.

Rachel, I am different than you in that I was intentionally looking for a traditional dress.  I would have loved a boatneck, possibly sheer neckline (maybe lace or just some sort of subtle detail), but the majority I found wer dropped waists, mermaid, feathers, ruffles, etc.  Again, I think these should be options.  I think there are many people who have personalities that fit these dresses.  Also, I would have been open to styles that were just a little more fluffy than what I wore if I were a younger bride, but would have felt silly in them now.  I never thought looking for a traditional dress would become mission impossible.

Anyway, I am glad for all the current brides to be that there appear to be more options FINALLY hitting the stores.

maryritaw

Also, most people take off their headpiece.  So, in pictures, many times you can't tell that you are looking at a picture of a bride.  If it is a close shot, many times it looks like a naked girl dancing/hugging a guy.

kipnus

My sister had straps added to her gown. I had my whole dress custom made. Strapless dresses simply aren't flattering!

loca4pook

I wanted sleeves, too..The dress I wanted was just not around. I ended up getting a Casablanca dress and paid to get cap sleeves put on it....

 

I am happy to see the new trends, too...so pretty

button6004

@kipnus, I really disagree that strapless dresses aren't flattering. Just because they aren't your style doesn't mean they don't look lovely on people who want a strapless style.

It's perfectly fine to want diversity in gown selection but there isn't any reason to put down what other people do like.

short+sassy

I was DETERMINED I did not want a strapless gown.  I thought they were so unflattering, unless they are perfectly fitted.  I'm a bigger gal (size 14) with a very large bust.  I thought there was just no way.  And was frustrated before I even went shopping because it seemed like 90% of all gowns are strapless.

I reluctantly agreed to try on a strapless gown...just to firmly rule out the style.  And boy was I wrong!  Strapless, a-line dresses were by far the most flattering for my figure.  I'm still in shock about it and that was a few months ago, lol.  One of the big differences between wedding dresses and other strapless dresses or tops, is that wedding dresses are much more structured and so you don't have that constant "drooping and hitching up" dance going on. 

clg1213

shopping a few weeks ago at two boutiques and DB, I saw a number with sort of pseudo-cap sleeves that I think were pushed down when worn (so they end up in line w/ the neckline).  I knew sleeveless was what I wanted but totally believe they need more options!  they could us bolleros or other such items for trying on if they didn't feel like having the sleeved-dresses on the rack

 

s&s -- you're getting's close!!!!!

lovesclimbing

I didn't want a strapless dress either.  There are some girls who look absolutely gorgeous in them but unless you have the right body type, they can look very unflattering.

Also, I know a girl who was slender, tall, probably wore a size 2 or 4 and the dress fit her perfectly.  Her strapless dress was absolutely GORGEOUS on her.  And yet, there's a wedding pic of her hitching her dress up.  That's unavoidable, no matter how great your dress fits.And you don't want that captured.  That's one reason why I didn't get a strapless dress.  

And I know at girl who got her dress back after alterations and even though she'd gone to fittings and stuff, she lost weight or the measurements were wrong or something and the top was too big.  She had to stuff the top and keep her arms pressed against her side or against her chest to keep it up for her whole wedding.  At least with straps, you don't have to worry about that unless the dress is REALLY too big.

Lowell14

Im going to look at this dress next weekend. Its actually a BM dress that can be done in ivory. I LOVE the fact that i wouldnt have to worry about hitching it up all day...hopefully it suits my curvy shape...

kennede

Oh, how the lack of sleeves in the bridal world irks me.  At first I thought they were just out of style.  I am now conviced that it is just easier for the designers to make a strapless dress.  I definitely did not want to show my arms and hated that the consultants kept trying to sell me a bolero.  I am shaped like an inverted triangle (2 sizes bigger on top than the bottom) with broader shoulders.  Boleros make me look like a line backer!  Happily I ended up with a talented and open minded seamstress that added sleeves the way I wanted them to my gown. They were originally meant to be over the shoulder, but I wanted them off my shoulder covering the part of my arms that bothers me most.  Plus I just felt like the sleeves looked younger, fresher, sexier and more romatic off the shoulder. This required adding some elastic so that I could give hugs and dance. It just seems like designers need to realize that we are not all cookie cutter and a variety of necklines and sleeves options would be GREATLY appreciated. Oh....and another pet peeve....calling a dress with thick straps sleeves. If they don't cover at least part of your arm, they are not sleeves!  Here is a picture of the sleeves I added.

CaitlinM1987

I just got my dress and it's by Mori Lee! I adore it. *hehe* 

plumander

I've been looking for a short, lace dress with long sleeves, and it's been almost impossible! Luckily I found some I like by looking in normal dress sections instead of just at wedding dresses.