Gowns-- Is anyone else put off by the models?

[galeteia]

When I look at the runway collections of gowns on theknot.com, etc, there are so many times where I think "Ugh, the cut of that gown is HIDEOUS" only to realize that it would look much different (and better) on a woman who actually HAD a bosom, and not the balloons-in-a-circus-dart-throwing-tent-look that so many of them are sporting, if you know what I mean. (And I'm talking the POST-yay-I-won-the-bear look of the balloons!)

Or a derriere. Or ANYTHING. I notice that some designers use slightly more normal-looking women to model their gowns, and the gowns always look the better for it.

I don't know why, maybe it's because the runway models look like 12 year old girls in their first training bra, and it puts me off.

Am I the only one feeling this way?

 

[alyson423]

What, you mean you''re not 5''10", 115 lbs?

I know what you mean. They tend to "undersize" dresses too, so that a street-size 12, for example,

can barely squeeze into a 16 in some lines. What''s that all about?

Don''t worry, just try on everything, whether you think it might be flattering or not. I ended up with a very different style dress than I thought I would get at the beginning. Good luck!

 

[galeteia]

I''m still pretty far off from actually trying on a dress, and I expect I''ll end up getting one made for me.

But that hasn''t stopped me from pouring over gowns. It seems like 95% of the gowns out there have a very Gwynneth Paltrow in her Infamous Oscar Gown look, if you remember that. Support garments are a woman''s best friend, regardless of her cup size. It''s not about size, it''s about SHAPE.

Dresses are undersized? Oh god. Think I should warn my S.O. now so he''s prepared to deal with the tears and the wails of "I''m a walrus! You deserve a thinner wife!" when I come home from the boutiques?

 

[ocbride2007]

I know what you mean... I thought that the dress I am probably getting looked lovely on the model, then I realized once I tried it on that the model had no backside to speak of, and it actually looked quite lovely on my near- JLo sized booty. I was pleased, actually. Even thought I was a little frustrated when I tried on the sample size, a 10, that fit perfectly even though I am usually a 4 or 6. You would think that dress manufacturers would want a bride to feel beautiful and skinny and thus label it smaller, instead of making a slim girl angry for having to buy a gown in a size she never thought she would wear!! Seriously, never thought of myself as needing to lose weight til I tried on a gown. They really should re-think their strategy.

 

[San Diego Bride]

you know what gets me? the models in the bridal magazines. why is it that majority of them look like they are either stoned, are completely shocked, are streetwalkers or just got out of bed (with full makeup of course)! i found myself flipping through the magazines getting irritated at the models/poses instead of paying attention to the dresses.

trying dresses on can be frustrating too. i was prepared for having to go up a size when i went in, but was ok with that. what bothered me is that many of the dresses would have required me to be a foot taller and have d cup boobs in order to fit. i''m not sure exactly who the gowns are made for. if i really had d cups on my frame i think i''d fall over! but hey, the dress would fit! one of several reasons my dress is being custom made.

 

[Mara]

i actually found myself more drawn to gowns in magazines that had beautiful (and not gaunt or stoned looking) models in them...because yes the gowns look better when there is a little bit of meat on the bones typically! i loved the carmela sutera gowns and i think pronovias had some normal girls too.

i am blessed with a tallish 5'8" frame, but am no means stick thin, but luckily was able to fit into a store sample of a rena koh gown which was a long sheath. i had tried on a bunch of things but nothing really was working for me mentally, i'm so not the princess bride type and when we got married 2 years ago, the simple sheaths were not as popular as they are now so it was very hard to find something. anyway the lady told me that the dress looked fabulous on me and that not many people have even tried that gown on since not many 'had the figure to wear it'. oh bless you store sales gal, i love you.

of course after that, i ended up buying the sample and getting a discount, because she said it had hardly been touched!

that bridal sizing thing is a total racket in general. the bridal industry is definitely not making the girls feel good about trying on gowns 3-4 sizes larger than they typically are!!

you'd think it would be the other way around!! how many girls would be jazzed to find they are 2-3 sizes smaller than typically? woo hoo. whoever comes out with that line of bridal gowns will make a mint!

 

[Snooper]

It is frustrating. I don''t understand the reasoning behind the size difference in wedding dresses. I mean, how do they get that magic number when it''s 3x larger than what you normally wear. It puts a damper on one''s self esteem. And I second Mara''s idea of having these designers/manufacters in that [they] should make the dress size number smaller. Like if you''re a size 6, how fabulous would it be to try and buy a size 2!!!

 

[ForteKitty]

Bridal gown sizes have never changed while all other manufactures have changed their sizing to accomodate the modern population. If you compare vintage sizes to bridal gowns, you''ll find them comparable.

 

[ponderer]

ForteKitty is right on.

My mother is a seamstress, and if you purchase patterns today and make clothing the pattern sizes are closer to what you see in wedding dress sizes than in retail clothing sizes.

I am 5''8 and 115 lbs with no bust or butt to speak of (but as I approach 30 the butt seems to be increasing

). I normally wear a retail size 1 but in patterns I am a size 6-8.

I can actually remember wearing a size 5 when I became tall enough to shop in the womens department, but as the years passed the sizes became smaller as I grew bigger.

I guess wedding dresses are not trying to make us feel worse, but retail is trying to make us feel better.

Remember the important thing is not the size of the dress, but how beautiful you look in it.

 

[galeteia]

Date: 5/28/2006 4:45:24 AM
Author: ForteKitty
Bridal gown sizes have never changed while all other manufactures have changed their sizing to accomodate the modern population. If you compare vintage sizes to bridal gowns, you''ll find them comparable.

Really? Interesting...

I know that back then, size 9 women''s shoes were ''obscurely large'', whereas in today''s shoe stores, I can never find a shoe to fit my size 9 feet because they''ve all been sold out, and the size 5 shoes are all still there-- the reverse of what it would have been ''back in the day''.

The fact is, with all the growth hormones and things in our food, women are getting taller, have bigger frames, and are more muscular as well as have more body fat. Things need to be updated.

I think this is part of the problem with the BMI index-- if my Italian housemate weighed my goal weight (which is what the BMI tells her) she''d look clinically ill. Her wristbones are huge, and she''s got the shoulders of a linebacker and the hips of ... well, an Italian

 

[ocbride2007]

Don't mean to hijack a thread here, but I realize there are a few other 5'8" girls here... SanDiegoLady and Ponderer, did you order extra length on your gown?? I find that they are coming about an inch or two short depending on the height of my heels, and I would really like to wear heels!!! But I'm not sure wearing higher shoes is worth the $100-$200 extra and longer wait for the dress.

Oh, and I had heard that dresses on retail have become oversized over the years. However, I agree with Galateia - looks like women are evolving into proportional people (wouldn't it be lovely to be able to have that Scarlett O'Hara figure), but maybe dress designers should think of evolving as well.

Although, do you think David's Bridal is starting to do that a bit? I noticed the 6s and 8s fit there, while it was 10s in the salon. Of course, they also have more than one dress size to try on, what a revolutionary concept!!

BTW, I was 5'8" and 115 in high school... flat as a board front and back. Then 15 pounds later I got some curves. Well worth the extra pounds!! I wouldn't go back to 115 even if I could... so boring!!

 

[LizzieC]

that bridal sizing thing is a total racket in general. the bridal industry is definitely not making the girls feel good about trying on gowns 3-4 sizes larger than they typically are!!

you''d think it would be the other way around!! how many girls would be jazzed to find they are 2-3 sizes smaller than typically? woo hoo. whoever comes out with that line of bridal gowns will make a mint!

WATTERS! This is totally what they are doing... their gowns run huge! That''s why I was freaking out about mine fitting after I ordered, because I thought there''s no way in heck I''m a size 0... but in Watters gowns I am... yee haw!

I''d really just be happy if the clothing industry just standardized sizing! I wouldn''t care if I was a "size 100" if I knew I could go to any store, and a "size 100" would fit!

 

[LizzieC]

And my gown looks totally different on me than in the super skinny model pic. If I had seen the model pics first I wouldn''t even have tried it on, because I don''t think it looks pretty at all. But on me it looks like an entirely different dress. So I don''t think you can really tell much by the model pics.

 

[galeteia]

Date: 5/28/2006 7:29:25 PM
Author: LizzieC
And my gown looks totally different on me than in the super skinny model pic. If I had seen the model pics first I wouldn''t even have tried it on, because I don''t think it looks pretty at all. But on me it looks like an entirely different dress. So I don''t think you can really tell much by the model pics.

That''s exactly my point. I look at the dress and think the dress is ugly, but then realize it just looks terrible on the model. My first thoughts are "Ugh, that dress makes your bosom look nasty!" but then I realize it''s not the dress that makes it look that way.

I think maybe it''s because the designers really are making them with real brides in mind, since that''s what their customers look like, but the models they show them on just can''t fill the dresses out.

I remember looking at a Claire Pettibone dress and thinking "Why did she put the under-the-bust ribbon halfway down to the waist? Oh wait. It''s because the model is so flat the fabric is drooping down that far. Yow."

 

[chickflick]

I was so terrified to go dress shopping that I put it off and fretted over it needlessly, just because I don''t look like those models and NEVER will. That''s a genetic fact. I even posted on here about how much I dreaded it.

Once I finally bit the bullet and went, I loved it! The right dresses looked very flattering on and I wasn''t the only girl in the shops asking for size sixteen dresses.

Of course, what I really hate is when the genetically thin use plastic surgery to obtain what I have naturally, bust-wise. There should be some benefit of being curvy that skinny girls can''t have!

 

[ky6]

Don''t mean to hijack a thread here, but I realize there are a few other 5''8" girls here... SanDiegoLady and Ponderer, did you order extra length on your gown?? I find that they are coming about an inch or two short depending on the height of my heels, and I would really like to wear heels!!! But I''m not sure wearing higher shoes is worth the $100-$200 extra and longer wait for the dress.

Just wanted to respond to this. I am 5'' 7.5" and not getting the extra length on my dress is my biggest regret in wedding planning thus far. I LOVE to wear heels. In fact, I am much more comfortable in heels. However, I could not see paying $150 extra to get the extra length on my dress. I thought it was silly. It was a HUGE ordeal to find appropriate shoes for my dress that were completely flat. A kitten heel would have made my dress too short. But not only that, I find that I don''t get that long lean line that heels give me. Instead I just feel stumpy and short. I just don''t feel like myself. So I would suggest that you really consider it carefully...would you feel comfortable in a dress and flats? Also, maybe take a look to see if you find many flats out there that you would like enough to wear that day.

Okay, that''s my $.02...HTH

 

[ky6]

Guess I need to modify my response a little....rather than asking yourself if you would be comfortable with/can find appropriate flats...maybe just if you''d feel comfortable in the shorter heel.

Sorry, should have read that better. Anyhow, I guess what I am trying to say is, this is a day that you are going to want to feel as comfortable and beautiful as possible. And if that means wearing a higher heel, you may want to consider the extra cost. I just wish I hadn''t been so frugal when it came to that.

 

[galeteia]

Date: 5/28/2006 10:09:59 PM
Author: chickflick

Of course, what I really hate is when the genetically thin use plastic surgery to obtain what I have naturally, bust-wise. There should be some benefit of being curvy that skinny girls can''t have!

AMEN!!!

As I''ve frequently said: if you want have the body of a skinny girl, you''ve got to bite the bullet take the skinny girl bust. If you want the bust of a hefty girl, you''ve got to bite the bullet and have a hefty girl body.

No more of this size 2 body with size 12 bust.

 

[San Diego Bride]

as a smallish girl with a smallish bust i couldn''t agree more. yet i feel like a few of the dresses i tried on would have fit much better if i did have a size 12 bust. oh yeah, and if i was 6 inches taller!

i was surprised that the dresses at david''s bridal seemed to fit me a better than dresses at more high end stores. as ocbride mentioned i think they''ve done a better job of keeping up with sizes.

 

[firebirdgold]

I am so glad I'm not the only who's thought the dresses look dreadful on the models. I thought Vera Wang dresses were terribly unflattering until I saw one online from a discount site. It was on a dress form with curves and looked so much better than on the vera wang site.
There are several lines of dresses that I've just totally discounted because they looked unappealing in the photos. What possess them to make dresses that look good on normal women then try to attract customers by putting them on sticks with no underwear on?

ETA: I don't mean to offend women who are not particularly curvy. My sister has a much smaller frame than me and has a quite small bust, but she looks vastly better than those models.

 

[tawn]

If it''s possible, and there is one in your area, you should try to get to a local Bridal Show! They have everything, vendors for anything weddingish, and you get to see real women modeling the dresses! I think they''re generally in the early spring though, so this could be totally useless advice!

We had friends that owned a Bridal boutique, and they recruited all their women friends over 5''8" to model for them...because the gowns were all unhemmed. I did it 2 years in a row, and loved trying on all the gowns and wearing them....but I just hated having to do the runway part and had major stagefright!

The women would come and ask us how comfortable it was, and get an idea what looked good on what body type, etc...and get to sample all the wedding cakes! Yummy!

 

[ponderer]

OcBride2007

I dont recall the exact length of my dress (its been 5 years) but I did not order extra length. My seamstress took at least 1-2 inches off the bottom and that was when I was wearing 2.5 inch heels. This all became a moot point when at the last minute I decided to wear my Nike running shoes down the aisle

, nobody knew unless showed them as my ballgown skirt was large enough to hide a small town under. I made the dress about an inch too long but it was the best decesion I ever made, my feet were the only body parts that did not hurt the next day.

 

[ilovesparkles]

Date: 5/28/2006 12:48:34 PM
Author: Galateia

Date: 5/28/2006 4:45:24 AM
Author: ForteKitty
Bridal gown sizes have never changed while all other manufactures have changed their sizing to accomodate the modern population. If you compare vintage sizes to bridal gowns, you''ll find them comparable.

Really? Interesting...

I know that back then, size 9 women''s shoes were ''obscurely large'', whereas in today''s shoe stores, I can never find a shoe to fit my size 9 feet because they''ve all been sold out, and the size 5 shoes are all still there-- the reverse of what it would have been ''back in the day''.

The fact is, with all the growth hormones and things in our food, women are getting taller, have bigger frames, and are more muscular as well as have more body fat. Things need to be updated.

I think this is part of the problem with the BMI index-- if my Italian housemate weighed my goal weight (which is what the BMI tells her) she''d look clinically ill. Her wristbones are huge, and she''s got the shoulders of a linebacker and the hips of ... well, an Italian

SERIOUSLY! If I weighed what the BMI said I should, I think I would be hospitalized for annorexia or something! The problem with it is it does not take into account the proportion of muscle to fat. For some people it works, but for many it does not!

And this whole dress size thing is ridiculous!