Are wedding dresses true to size?
Have you heard the rumour that bridal sizing is different to the high street? Well it’s true and not just that, but it varies hugely from Designer to Designer.
The thing that many brides forget is that wedding dresses are very fitted. They follow the line of your body perfectly. And most aren’t stretchy or loose fitting like our every day clothes. This means that there is a little less wiggle room in the sizing than say a flower summer dress or a stretchy pair of joggers.
But don’t let numbers get you down.
You will vary from bridal designer to bridal designer (just like the variations on the high street)
Don’t be surprised if your wedding dress is a few sizes bigger than you normally wear.
You have not ballooned as you walked through our door… You’re exactly the same size! So don’t let the fact that you may have an order an 18 instead of your usual 14 get you down. Why should it? No-one else will see the size label of your dress. It’s just a number and means nothing.
Please don’t let some tiny numbers let you convince yourself that you are worth less than if the number was 1 or 2 digits lowers.
The other thing to bear in mind is that you could be a 12 in one designer, a 14 in another and a 16 in a 3rd. This is because they get to choose what their size 14 looks like. And it is often totally different to the measurements another designer chooses.
Take this example:
Your waist measures 36 inches. On the marks and spencer website, this puts you as a size 18 waist. Having a look at our designer size chart, you would be a Uk18 in Madison James, UK20 in Eva Lendel, a UK22 in Couture Collection! Same waist size, 3 different dress sizes. If you were to purchase a Madison James dress, you would walk out of the boutique feeling confident as it is a size you are comfortable with. However if you were to fall in love with a Couture Collection dress, ordering a size UK22 might trigger feelings of disappointment, upset or eve anger (believe us we have seen it all!) This is so sad that something as small as a number can cause this upset. Your poor waist is still exactly the same size!
Sizing is a minefield so do not let it dominate your mind negatively
So how does it work in the boutique?
We stock dresses in our store in sizes UK8-UK26.
These are for you to try on. They are ‘sample’ gowns. Once you have said “yes” we will order you a new dress in your size.
This means that when you try on our sample gowns, some will be too big and some will be too small.
However we have magic tricks to make them look like they fit you.
Bear in mind nothing will fit you perfectly during your try on. all our bodies are soooo different. That’s where alterations come in before your wedding.
With our sample gowns, we do have some flexibility in sizing. If the gown is an aline/ballgown skirt (ie a flowy loose skirt) we can usually make them fit 4-5 sizes either size.
If the skirt is fitted/straight cut it is a little trickier and we can usually go 1 (sometimes 2 if the fabric has some stretch!) size bigger and a few sizes smaller than our sample.
Once you have found your dream dress with us, we will then check those designer size chart and choose the correct size for you.
