I've been dress hunting with several friends in the past few months and my concern is that I've only seen formal-ish gowns at these shops and I'm looking for something shorter, a little more casual, and I'd like some type of sleeve. I fell in love with a made-to-sew dress on etsy but sending my measurements to California and hoping for the best worries me. I'm not huge but also not petite - just measured as a size 16 bridesmaid dress and it was pretty embarassing trying to squeeze my ass into size 8 sample bridesmaids dresses.. not to mention it's impossible to see if you 'like' a dress thats 3 sizes to small on you! I'd really like to avoid that again. Any suggestions on bridal stores or any stores in general to check out? Or a reasonably priced seamstress who could help me in creating my version of the etsy dress? Thanks in advance!