Wedding Blog
I love wedding magazines. Most of all, I love the pictures of dresses. When I first starting thinking about the type of dress that would fit my body, I immediately thought “mermaid”. Buuutt, when I searched around for dresses classified as mermaid fit, they were kinda, well, too mermaidy. I thought of myself waddling down the isle and trying to dance, and it just didn’t seem like it would work out. So I looked more toward a “modified A line” fit; still a mermaid look without the waddle factor.
Fortunately for us brides, the Kleinfeld website has a wonderful search option that allows you to search dresses by designer, silhouette, neckline, waistline, straps/sleeves, and of course price. It’s great because they have so many designers and the search has brought me great results.
Since I’m a curvy gal, the mermaid fit and modified A line works for me. Unfortunately, curvy for me also equals curvy up top if you know what I mean. In the dressing room, this means that strapless is ok, but I have to be careful. For me, the sweetheart neckline was the most flattering.
Jim Hjelm style 31287097
One of my favorite designers is Jim Hjelm. This dropwaist sweetheart dress was one of my top picks, but it made me look a little short. Next!
Lazaro style 31460322
This dress, by Lazaro was also beautiful and the embroidery gave it a special touch.
Jim Hjelm style 31288855
Another Jim Hjelm. I loved this one, but couldn’t find it when I went to try on dresses…. pretty huh?
Melissa Sweet style 31134091 (Lia)
I love love this dress by Melissa Sweet, and I actually was able to try on this dress at Pricilla of Boston in my old stomping grounds, Back Bay Boston. It was gorgeous, and I seriously considered it…. just didn’t look the best on me.
Pricilla of Boston style 31400948
This dress was pretty as well, but definitely had the waddle factor. That’s a no no, so next!
Jim Hjelm style 31412851
Yet another Jim Hjelm. This was also a good contender, but didn’t have the “it” feeling.
The dress above by Melissa Sweet was so pretty that I actually did some investigating work when I got back from my dress extravaganza to Boston. I used the website Preowned wedding dresses which sells used wedding dresses, and it seemed that the Lia was the most popular dress! Another GREAT thing about this website is that you can see real brides in the dresses. It gave me an idea of what the dress would look like at a true wedding.
More to come on the dress extravaganza weekend, but I will tell you this- I fell in love with a dress I had never seen in any ads! Kind of ironic considering I thought I had the perfect style for my body all figured out. Sometimes you just really have to trust the dress consultant!
Anyone else “shop” around online for a certain type of dress you thought would look the best before you actually tried on dresses? Anyone have any success with a pre-owned wedding dress?
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Share this post: Waddle Me Down the Aisle
Those are all totally gorgeous, and that Melissa Sweet would REALLY accentuate a great booty! 
Definately Jim Hjelm #31288855 it’s sooo gorgeous!
if you haven’t found your dress yet, you may want to try trumpet…I think they are more flattering than the full mermaid…I found 2 I liked, one la sposa (that I bought) & one watters…but I didn’t want strapless, which looks like you are leaning towards. I am bigger than you overall (5′10″ and size 12), but also curvy, and I think these dresses would elongate a shorter person…
I got my dress from a wedding consignment shop (fancy for resale). I went in not expecting to find much, and most of the dresses weren’t what I was looking for at all. But, just as my mom and I were about to leave I spotted it, hiding behind two huge dresses. It was almost exactly what I wanted, but I have to say that I didn’t love it at first. It would work, but it didn’t catch me off guard like I expected “the dress” to do. However, my parents made the point that $300 for dress, repairs, and cleaning was just too good of a deal to pass up and went ahead and bought it. I went and tried it on again a few weeks later and it turns out they were right, I absolutely love it and can’t wait to start alterations.
Also, I loved some of the mermaid dresses I tried on (I’d had a horrible image of them in my head from overly emphasized dresses in runway shows), but there were some that were more subtle and so gorgeous! I love the 1st and 3rd dresses you have up there.
I also tried the Lia on at the flagship Priscilla of Boston, and like you I am a curvy (mostly boobs and jutted pointy hips) girl and the Lia looked amazing. I also loved loved it but then I was turned off when I found out just how popular it was. Sigh.
But if you like Jim Hjelm (I do too!) then you might love Tara Keely (a Jim Hjelm line)…I know I am falling more and more in love with this line.
love the dresses! can’t wait to see the one you picked.
@PrettyKitty: I completely agree that once I saw the popularity of the Lia, I turned away. It’s too bad- I love the dress!
I love your choices. You have great style! Looking forward to your final choice 
I love mermaid dresses in theory, never in execution. When I tried them on, they looked terrible. And (TMI ALERT!) I was so hot underneath my A-line dress, I can’t imagine how bad it would have been with a mermaid.
For sure the Jim Hjelm #31288855 (JH8715) is my favorite out of all those. Not sure what your budget is, but have you looked at Anne Barge dresses?
I have to say that I think the mermaid style is really ugly, but that gown in the last picture is gorgeous-if you have a perfect body. I don’t so I went with an A line!
Jim Hjelm is one of my FAVORITE dress designers! I too am a mermaid fan, but alas, have been given a not-so-mermaid-ish body type. i go dress shopping on August 30th so we’ll see what happens! I guess you don’t know till you try it on!
I have a mermaid dress for my wedding, and while i’m totally in love with it and I think it looks great on, its is VERY form fitting… I practiced sitting down at my second fitting this week and it was not the easiest task. I’m obviously super excited to wear it but definitely keep it in mind as you go shopping.
One reason I actually was happy to shop at David’s Bridal (though it wasn’t exactly the most pleasant service) was because I have a tricky body type. I’m 5′3″ and curvy size 10 - bust is definitely an issue too. It was nice to try on all kinds of fits and the style I ended up with was SO different from what I had imagined, but I just LOVED it.
Becky
This is funny. I never knew that the word “mermaid” was also used to describe dresses outside the Indian/Pakistani culture. Now I feel kind of bad rolling my eyes at my mom every time she describes Ms. Mango’s cultural wedding garb as “the mermaid cut” (only with a deep Pakistani accent). Who woulda thunk it ?
@Mr. Mango: Yep, it’s not just your mom! Mermaid, trumpet, modified A line… all kinda similar. Now go impress your mom!
I did buy dress off eBay from another bride. It was preowned. I got cleaned and altered to fit me. It was wonderful. I really would suggest it to any budget bride!
I am a curvy girl too, and the “mermaid” was the perfect style for me! I can’t wait to see what you picked!
i almost bought that lazaro dress (i’m also a little curvy) and then i found out that someone i knew from my hometown just wore it a few weeks ago. ummm no thanks. i ended up finding a gorgeoues BRAND NEW dress at the priscilla store, so I can be sure no one else will have it, and it suits the curves too for sure
You know, I spent weeks digging through Knot picks and scouring those “what-dress-looks-best-with-your-body” quizzes and had totally decided that a drop-wait gown would look horrific on me and that it would be a cold day in hell before I wore something traditionally “poofy” or haltered (I’ve always thought I had manly shoulders).
Then I went to the store, and wouldn’t you know it, the one I loved the most had an assymetrical drop-waist with a poofy skirt. And a halter. Lesson learned: looking online is all good and well, but until you actually try something on, you can’t know for sure!
[...] is, until today when a coworker asked me about my dress. I had forgotten how much I loved my dress! You’ve seen the styles I was interested in, but unfortunately non of them actually were “the one.” I had an unbelievable time in [...]
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Miss Champagne, DC/Vail/Colorado
Age and Occupation: 26, Eye Doctor
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 27, Attorney
Engagement Date: March 13, 2006
Wedding Date: February 2009
Blogging Since: July 30, 2008
Venue: Small church ceremony with mountain-view log cabin reception
About Me: I'm a small town mountain girl with a city heart. Found my way to the east coast, and Mr. Champagne kept me here so we're planning a wedding from afar in my hometown Vail, Colorado. I'm secretly obsessed with reality TV, Wii games where I can shoot a gun, country music, and Caesar: Dog Whisperer. I also spend time pretending to golf, backseat driving, having one way conversations with our MinPin Maxwell, loving champagne, and wedding perfecting… I mean, planning. I use way too many repeated symbols and letters when I write, and I'll love Mr. Champagne endlessly…
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