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I just realized something today. (Yes, sometimes I’m a bit slow on the uptake.)
I was thinking about all of the dresses that I’ve tried on, and I realized that the top two contenders had something in common: they were the only two samples that fit me perfectly.
There was this one from David’s:
Personal Photo
And the Enzoani that I ended up with:
Personal Photo
Out of the dozens and dozens of dresses that I tried on, these were the only two that would require no alterations (beyond shortening).
It makes me wonder how many other dresses I would’ve liked if the samples had actually fit me. And it makes me wonder if bridal salons would make a lot more sales if they had more than one size sample in each dress. I don’t pretend to know how bridal shops work—for all I know, they need to pay the designers for the samples, and I’m sure that these big gowns take up a lot of space.
But wouldn’t it be better for all involved if bridal shops stocked samples for all women, not just the thin ones?
What doesn’t get me is the street sizes. Yeah, they carry the sample sizes of like, 4, 6, 8, and 10 primarily. But those translate into the real sizes of like 2,4,6, and 8. Sorry but I can’t fit into an 8. and if that’s the biggest size they have they don’t deserve my business.
I know what you mean. One of my dear friends owns a bridal salon (she also helped coordinate my wedding) and I helped her out in the shop for a couple of months. Luckily, they knew their demographic, and supplied a lot of samples in a wide range of sizes (from 28 to 0). Unfortunately, it just isn’t cost effective to have more than one sample in each dress, especially for small, privately owned shops 
It’s rare to ever sell one of the sample gowns, so these stores have to eat the cost of buying ones for brides to try on, and it’s a fine line to tread. I know how you feel though, being a small-framed woman is tough in the bridal world too. The dresses are too large to get a good idea of how they would fit, and clipping doesn’t always help. I’m glad you found a great gown though, you look radiant!
I don’t get it either…if they would just make the sample a 12 or 14, it can be clamped to fit the tiny girls. You can’t add material for us non-size-2s.
True story. I bet it isn’t practical for them, but would make it so much easier for us! I had a really hard time picturing dresses in my size, too, to be frank. It’s hard when you have a bunch of extra fabric clamped and you still can’t tell what shape the dress is supposed to be on you, so it’s a skinny girl problem, too :/
I agree. It would make it SO much easier to tell what a dress actually looked like on. Though yeah, probably not terribly practical for stores but in an ideal world…
In my case every single dress I tried on was WAY too big and I felt like I was swimming in them. Was pretty discouraging.
Around here, the only sizes shops tend to carry are 16s, which makes it impossible for me to try one on even though I’m a bridal 12.
I noticed that my favorite dresses were the ones that fit me correctly. Either way, too small or too large, I lack the imagination to risk spending THAT much money.
It’s so hard to tell what something looks like when it doesn’t fit, whether it’s too big or too small. I feel you girl!
I’m totally with you. Although I love the dress I chose, I was so anxious and upset with the process I definitely rushed through it. I think I chose a great gown for me, but I wonder what other styles could have worked if there had been a way for me to try them on.
I totally agree. I was very lucky that most samples I tried fitted me without clips - but I’m an 8 and I believe the UK average woman is a 14/16! That’s a huge part of their demographic they’ve alienated right there.
In the UK shops usually sell their samples off when the dress is withdrawn - it can be a great way of getting a bargain (and is how I got my dress) IF you are lucky enough to be sample-sized.
I think they would!!! I always felt SO much more inclined to buy dresses that actually fit! It was impossible to imagine a dress too small fitting. I felt the dresses outside of the main city area where I live had more reasonable sample sizes!
So true! 2 of the bridal boutiques I went to carried a wide range of sizes, so that was really good to see. I think that, depending on your area, bridal shops are realizing that they need to have more selection for everyone.
It felt sooooo good to try on dresses that actually zip up.
Unfortunately it’s also a “skinny” problem too :/ I’m on the small end of skinny, with extremely small boobs, and I’ve found that the samples have to be clamped so much that it’s still hard to tell how it fits. And I often can’t fill out the boobs. It really makes me feel bad about my boobs, and makes me less likely to like the dress.
I would absolutely agree. I definitely was more likely to love dresses that I could see ON and the way they’d look in “real life”. The ones that I had to clutch shut in the back or otherwise try to squeeze into just didn’t seem to do it.
A few PoB gowns were 6 (”runway size”) instead of 8. They bunched above my hips - the fit was so distracting. I’d imagine my experience would have been vastly different if they’d all been too small or too big. Can totally sympathize!
I realized the same thing - the dresses that fit me were the ones I liked the best! In fact, I ended up purchasing the sample dress.
I believe it is a burden on the bridal shops, but I wonder if the bigger ones could at least purchase different sizes from the same designer so that you could get a better sense of how the dresses fit.
That’s funny, I bought the dress that fit me best too! Though I had trouble because everything was so big…I don’t think they’re really stocking for thin/small women, but for an unrealistic average.
I definitely noticed that! I actually thought I really liked one in particular, until I realized I only liked it because I actually fit into it :P.
I tend to be right around the range of the sample sizes and think this is definitely the case. Even though I’ve only tried on a few dresses that are more than a size or so off, the ones I’ve liked the best so far have been the ones that didn’t need any clips at all.
I don’t know how feasible it is to stock dresses in multiple sizes, but I do think it would be great to stock different sized samples within the different styles of a line.
I think my region must be unique because I have seen samples in a lot of different sizes locally. I do think that is the only edge that David’s Bridal seems to have… but by the same token… you are taking home the sample that has been tried on and abused by others. (Something that isn’t really a big deal in regular stuff, but for your once in a lifetime gown… it’s not really exciting.
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Ms. Sloth, Philadelphia Age and Occupation: 35, Account Manager and Fashion Blogger Fiance's Age and Occupation: 30, Design Admin Engagement Date: December 25, 2009 Wedding Date: May 2011 Venue: Bartram's Garden About Me: I'm an internet junkie and music snob with a good eye for a bargain. I couldn't live without thrift store shopping, cheeseburgers, sushi, Coke Zero, websites devoted to silly photos of baby animals, Photoshop, and Mr. Sloth. Speaking of which, he and I are a pair of goofball homebody nerds who love our beagle (the most ridiculously adorable dog EVER) to an embarrassing degree. We're planning a low-key and intimate yet festive and quirky outdoor wedding with DIY details and deeply personal touches, and it's all taking place in the city where we fell in love and call home: Philadelphia.
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