But Is It Really ME?: Your Dress

But Is It Really ME?: Your Dress

January 12th, 2009 @ 6:40 pm by Mrs. Glitter
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Since my post, What Type of Bride Are You?, garnered so many interesting and fabulous responses, I thought I would do a follow up post about how brides express themselves through the “art” of their dress. I’ve stressed time and again how brides today have so many options when it comes to dress design, silhouette, and details. But in reality, this is only true if you put the time in to do your research. During my dress search, I found that despite all of the pretty pictures I spotted in magazines, 98% of affordable wedding dresses looked sorta the same: strapless, white, and long. This frustrated me because although I wanted something simple and timeless, I was busy drooling over $6,000 gowns when my pocketbook said, “Spend no more than $1,000.” And the $1,000 or less pile was filled with essentially the same gown re-created over and over again. {Sigh}

So, the purpose of this post is to get the creative juices flowing and to showcase affordable reader dresses that step outside the box. Or maybe you didn’t “step outside the box”, but found a dress that spoke to you… for whatever reason. Or maybe you made your own dress or found a way to alter a pre-existing gown and make it your own. Or maybe you decided to wear or re-create your mom’s dress. {Love that concept, by the way!}

I truly believe that some of us want to individuality when it comes to dresses, but get intimidated when we walk into bridal stores and see the same stuff time and again.

I spent probably 40 hours + online searching for my dress. It was a fun project that, for the most part, I loved doing. However, some women don’t have the time, the patience, or the desire to troll around on the internet for countless hours. I hope that some of the responses to this post can help us find new, exciting, and plausible options so that every woman can have a shot at finding “the dress”.

Feel free to provide links to pictures of your dress or designers’ websites, or just leave a tidbit of advice you’d give to someone starting the dress search.

Tags: los-angeles, wedding-dress |

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45 Responses to “But Is It Really ME?: Your Dress”

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Guest

grumpybear722

Here’s my dress in all of her UNBRIDAL glory!
http://www.unique-vintage.com/style-black-white-polka-swing-dress-p-1531.html?osCsid=nqdv10od5vg8vd0m2hn05sl4s6

I was looking for a funky, rock star-ish white number but kept coming back to her. After talking to my FI I felt 1000% confident in my choice and pressed the “add to cart” button.
The best part is that everyone who has seen her thinks that she’s perfect for me!

1/12/09 @ 6:44 pm (reply)

Guest

Nicole R.J.

My initial idea for my dress was to get a bridesmaids dress ordered in off-white (or ivory) - not only would it not be traditional, it would also be between $200-$300! Of course you don’t even have to go white. I’ve since fallen in love with another dress (which I’ve yet to try on), but my back up plan is still go for a bridesmaid’s dress… so much more variety!

1/12/09 @ 7:03 pm (reply)

Guest

Erica

I had a similar experience! I was trying on dresses that were way more than my budget because I couldn’t find anything that suited me! I just did a post about some of these dresses on my blog, http://www.itakeu.blogspot.com . So many of them end in, “but this was too expensive”. After something like 30 dresses, I ended finding a great dress by La Sposa, a Pronovias line - I got the monica 2008 : ) it was $1000 - a lot of their dresses are around this price. I love it!
http://www.splasposa.com/ls2009/indexLS2009.html

1/12/09 @ 7:20 pm (reply)

Bee

Miss Meerkat (message) 3,216 posts, Sugar bee

I love Alfred Angelo and his dream in color line is perfect for me. I was tired of seeing all white dresses then I found these: http://www.alfredangelo.com/Collections/DisplayCollection.aspx?CategoryId=8b186130-0d63-4e3c-ac5c-aea0d9566e1c

I am getting this one with a tangelo back:
http://www.alfredangelo.com/Collections/ProductDisplay.aspx?productID=2039e191-e45b-4b44-bba1-6a2ac07f9712&categoryID=8b186130-0d63-4e3c-ac5c-aea0d9566e1c&pg=1

1/12/09 @ 7:21 pm (reply)

Bee

miss sunbeam (message) 545 posts, Busy bee

oh shoot, I wasn’t logged in. That last one was me!

1/12/09 @ 7:22 pm (reply)

Member

kosstobe (message) 232 posts, Helper bee

My dress (I hope) will be the same dress that both my grandmother and my mother wore for their weddings. My grandmother was married 65+ years ago so when I called to make an appointment for alterations, they told me not to get my hopes up because the lace may not have held up this long. Hopefully it will be in alter-able condition and it’ll be the dress worn for 3 generations in my family!

1/12/09 @ 7:29 pm (reply)

Bee

Mrs. Green Tea (message) 764 posts, Busy bee

dress shopping was horrifying to me. while i ended with a dress that i didn’t think was ‘ME’ in style, the process and reason behind buying the dress definitely was! i do envy those who find ‘the one’, but i wanna chime in and say that if the dress isn’t high on your priority list (as mine wasn’t), it’s definitely okay and won’t take away from the day to have a dress you’re not in love with! it’s all in your perspective of things

1/12/09 @ 7:29 pm (reply)

Member

catrelle83 (message) 292 posts, Helper bee

The miles and miles and miles of white dresses freaked me out with a capital “F,” and nothing fit the way I thought it would online. So…I made an appointment at David’s and let the consultant just bring dress after dress to try on and get an idea of what kinds of dresses looked the best…..when I finally decided that a solid white dress just wasn’t for me, that the styles that I thought I loved most were terribly unflattering to a large-busted girl like me, and that yes, it seemed like every white dress was the same dress with different beading, or a different neckline, or…whatever.

And then…I found my dress, in the window of a teeny tiny bridal shop I didn’t even know existed…
http://morilee.com/ViewLarge.aspx?C=1&D=2180&P=2
Except that I’m a pink and white bride, not a black and white bride.

1/12/09 @ 7:45 pm (reply)

Guest

Sara

I had the same problem when searching for my dress. I didn’t want to spend a ton of money, and none of the dresses that I tried on really felt or looked like “me.” So I ended up going with the trusty J. Crew Sophia dress that I found on clearance for $60. My mom and I added our own flair to it, based on a design that I had seen on a dressmaker’s website. We made a sash out of antique kimonos that matched beautifully. It made for a unique dress that was totally and completely me. If you can’t find what you’re looking for in a store, take a plain dress and make it your own.
Here’s a link to a picture - http://www.flickr.com/photos/mikeandsara_g/3093366302/

1/12/09 @ 7:49 pm (reply)

10.

Member

indecisivebride (message) 338 posts, Helper bee

It was definitely difficult sorting through so many beautiful dresses and trying to find one that was inexpensive and somewhat unique.

I didn’t want to spend the $$$ to buy my dream dress, but I loved the dress I ended up with and have no regrets - it was definitely ME (traditional, but a little whimsical), inexpensive, and my husband loved it

You can see my dress here:
http://www.weddingbee.com/2008/11/02/kid-friendly-wedding/#more-72250

1/12/09 @ 7:53 pm (reply)

11.

Bee

Mrs. Sea Breeze (message) 972 posts, Busy bee

You’re so right - so many of the <$1000 dresses look the same. I loved my dress and felt it was very ‘me’ but I didn’t find it in any of the online places I also spent houuuuurs researching. I actually found it by accident in an actual store where I didn’t expect to find anything. My advice would be, don’t write off a place or store just because you don’t think it’s your kind of store. You just never know.

1/12/09 @ 7:55 pm (reply)

12.

Guest

Smallgood

I fell hard for J.Crew’s Daphne but couldn’t find it anywhere for any cost I could afford. Lukily, I found a Shoshanna dress on Bluefly which was stylistically very similar. My mom added a longer skirt. I had written off the whole dress thing as sort of overrated and blown out of proportion by the WIC, but once I had the dress that was so utterly me, I felt phenomenal and bridal.

1/12/09 @ 8:12 pm (reply)

13.

Guest

Leah

I love the dress I am planning on buying and I found it at a bridesmaid’s dress store called Bella Bridesmaids. I have a very small, self-imposed budget for a dress. I went in planning on something short and gray but fell in love with a long dress and liked the champagne color the best. It is really simple and makes me feel long and lean, which is great since I am really short. I did try on a couple of “real” wedding dress but they were just not me and I wanted something that I still felt myself in, something I could see me wearing even if I wasn’t the bride.

1/12/09 @ 8:18 pm (reply)

14.

Member

FarmerNatesWife (message) 22 posts, Newbee

I really didn’t have the problem of everything being strapless, white, long, etc…. well, except for the strapless part. I needed sleeves and a higher neckline (no, I’m not LDS, just Mennonite, although my dress DID end up coming from an LDS company). I went into Alfred Angelo’s one time, just to try some different styles to see what I liked: a-line, beading, lacey, plain, ballgown, the whole works. Obviously I couldn’t find what I was looking for there, since sleeves AND a higher neckline are hard to come by. The second shop I visited is known for carrying more of the kind of dresses I was looking for, so that was my next stop. Except it was a Saturday and I didn’t know (duh!) that I should have made an appointment. But the consultants told me it was fine if I wanted to look through the dresses and come back another day to try anything on. So I went browsing through the racks and *angels singing* I saw it! Seriously, I gasped when I saw it. So I went and begged the consultant to let me try it on and she let me because someone else with an appointment had canceled. I tried it on and totally knew that it was the one. It had sleeves and a higher neckline. It had some floral embroidery and some beading (just enough- not too much, not too little). It had organza overlay that split down one side to reveal the satin underneath. It had a gorgeous (as opposed to plain-jane, boring, no beading or embroidery) train. In a few words it was simple, young, semi-elegant, pretty. I’ve always like lace, but I had figured out that lace just wasn’t ‘me’. This dress had enough floral stuff going on to please me, without any lace.
Here are a few links to pix of me in the dress: http://www.photoreflect.com/pr3/orderpage.aspx?pi=0WKR000P000313&po=313
http://www.photoreflect.com/pr3/orderpage.aspx?pi=0WKR000P000136&po=136
I’m glad to say that my dress was totally me. It wasn’t exactly what I expected to fall in love with, but to this day, I still love it.

1/12/09 @ 8:23 pm (reply)

15.

Member

FarmerNatesWife (message) 22 posts, Newbee

P.S. And it was only $40 more than the $500 I had budgeted for it- not bad, eh?

1/12/09 @ 8:24 pm (reply)

16.

Member

caribqueen (message) 170 posts, Blushing bee

YES, YES, YES! I would like to add “with tons of beading” when talking about the <$1,000 dresses. I felt I could not find something that was not covered in head to to beading. I am at the point of just buying something that I really like a lot and calling it a day. I try to remind myself that as long as I feel like I look good in the dress that is all that matters. My happiness will shine through.

1/12/09 @ 8:58 pm (reply)

17.

Member

cannotwait (message) 2,166 posts, Buzzing bee

I feel like the industry tries to make you look cookie cutter, especially if you have an under $1k budget. I feel a little sad when someone says they don’t want strapless, then they get one. I had a lot of things shoved at me after awhile, I started to wonder if I should get on the strapless train, but I am so happy I went for an “unpopular”/conservative silhouette (this year). It was the only one I tried on that didn’t show cleavage or wasn’t strapless.

1/12/09 @ 9:44 pm (reply)

18.

Member

stpetebride (message) 45 posts, Newbee

I looked at many dresses in magazines and picked a different styles. It helped that I knew nothing of bridal designers except for Vera Wang. I branched out and even picked out and tried on styles I didn’t think I would like. That’s my advice, try many different dresses.
I got lucky, the dress I found had details I’d never seen, so it was unique to me, and it’s way under my budget. My dress is Pronovias Dango: http://tinyurl.com/96zrok

1/12/09 @ 9:54 pm (reply)

19.

Guest

Take a Dress, Make it Your Own « BridalCheek

[...] Trolling around on Weddingbee, I found these amazing pictures from Sara who added her two cents to “But is it Really Me?” article. I am blown away! She went with a simple dress from J Crew and made it uniquely her own by [...]

1/12/09 @ 10:07 pm (reply)

20.

Bee

Miss Glitter (message) 986 posts, Busy bee

I am loving all of your responses! I applaud all of you for doing what feels or felt right and appropriate for you. Stay true to yourself!!

All of the advice and links are greatly appreciated. You could really be helping out future dress seeking brides. Keep ‘em coming!

1/12/09 @ 10:17 pm (reply)

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