Wedding
DRESS FITTING 101
ONE APPOINTMENT THAT SHOULDN'T LEAVE YOU FIT TO BE TIED
BY MIRANDA LIGHTSTONE
Alright, so you’ve found your wedding gown. Kudos to you! Finding
the perfect wedding dress to fit your style, personality, wedding
locale and budget is not an easy thing. Often, the dress is the
hardest piece of the wedding puzzle and brides agonize over this
purchase for months, sometimes even years. So, congratulations
on checking that one off the list.
But it’s not over just yet... Sure, you’ve purchased the gown and
ordered the size, but now you are eagerly awaiting your first fitting.
And that’s when the panic usually sets in.
Your first fitting shouldn’t be stressful, but it often is.
Why? Brides tend to either forget what their dress looked
like to begin with (and so they doubt their choice) or it’s
a weight issue (have I gained, or have I lost?) or it’s just
general anxiety of “Did I make the right decision?” thoughts.
So, let’s put some of those restless thoughts to rest right now.
FIRST AND FOREMOST
Do not order your wedding dress a few sizes smaller than you
normally wear on the street. Wedding dresses are made small.
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Generally, wedding dress sizes run 2-3 sizes larger than you would
normally wear. So, if you’re a size 4 and you’re told you need a size
7 wedding gown, now is not the time to become an anorexic, nor
is it wise to order your gown in a size 4 because that’s what you
always wear. This will only end in disaster. No one is looking at the
size tag of your wedding gown, what they will be looking at is how
you can’t breathe or sit down because you ordered a gown that
was clearly too small.
Ordering a gown a few sizes smaller than you should to prompt
yourself to work out and lose weight is also a poor judgment
call. Women often feel they need motivation to lose weight, and
I have to agree. A big event, a pair of jeans we’ve been dying to
get back into, a sickness we want to overcome… I get it, I really
do. But stressing yourself out over a gown you know you won’t fit
into unless you lose 20 lbs in 11 months is not going to make your
wedding planning and prepping any easier.
NOW, ABOUT THOSE FOLLOW-UP FITTINGS...
Seamstresses can be pushy. It’s not a universal fact, but it seems
to generally be the case. They know their trade and you don’t,
therefore if they tell you something needs to be pinned, sewn or
STUDIO G.R. MARTIN
hemmed, you generally listen. Well, in this case you shouldn’t.
How do you feel? How do you look? Can you move? Can you
breathe? Can you walk? Move around the fitting room in your
dress. Bend down, sit down, dance; make sure you can do all the
things you are going to be doing on your wedding day. Standing
still and twirling isn’t the only thing you’ll have to do on your big
day (unfortunately). And if a seamstress pins something that
hinders your movement, tell her. There are always other solutions
to adjustments, and they can be found.
REMEMBER
Fabric can be taken away, but it’s much harder to add fabric (and
sometimes impossible). Order your dress in your gown size (which
will be larger than normal) and if you happen to lose a few inches
then that’s fantastic and the dress can be adjusted as needed in
the follow-up fittings.
BRING YOUR WEDDING SHOES
Brides often leave their shoes as the last purchase. This isn’t
always wise and the dress needs to work with the shoes. It is, after
all, an ensemble, and the clothes must work together to make you
the beautiful bride you were meant to be. So, bring the shoes to
every fitting and make sure you can walk. If you can, test out stairs
as well as carpet and tiled flooring. Really road-test your dress,
you’re going to be wearing it for a very long day.
STUDIO G.R. MARTIN
BRING YOUR WEDDING UNDERWEAR
Don’t laugh, it’s true. Do you plan on wearing a special bra?
Strapless? Crossback? Will you wear stockings? Boxers (it might
happen)? A slip? Try and have as much of your entire wedding day
outfit with you for the fitting as you can. Why is this important?
Well, imagine for a moment if you will that your seamstress brings
in the bust of your dress because you have a strapless and have
done all your fittings sans bra. Then, on your wedding day you
break out your fancy new strapless bra with padding to give your
girls a wedding-day oomph. With the bra on and the girls up, your
dress no longer zips up. Major panic. Don’t let this happen. Have
your dress fitted with everything you plan to wear under it.
LASTLY, BRING SOMEONE WITH YOU.
At least one set of extra eyes will do the trick: mother, sister,
best friend, MOH, bridesmaid, brother; anyone who you think
will give you an honest opinion. This isn’t a “purchase the dress”
trip, so you don’t need an entire entourage. What you need is
someone who will tell you if you’re popping out somewhere or
the dress is hanging strangely in the back where you can’t see it.
Bring someone you trust, and someone who knows your style.
The seamstress is a salesperson and won’t always give you
honest feedback. They’ve done thousands of gowns like yours
and they don’t have time to be picky with your details, which is
why you have to realize what you need changed (with the help of
a buddy) to tell them what to do precisely.
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