Wedding sample size question

[Blair138]

So far I have been to 2 stores looking for dresses and at one store-the sample sizes seemed TINY. I am a size 2 normally and the dresses were fitting ME. Some were even tight (like in the sleeves/armpits). My sister is my MOH and she is same size as me, and the BM dress we love came in a 10-which in real life was more like a 4 because we BARELY had to clip my sister into it. Now here is my question-the lady at the store said they have to work with what they get and that''s the only sample. My other BMs wear bigger sizes than that dress.

Is it weird to think that other stores that carry the same line would have the dress in a different sample size or are they all pretty standard??? I was going to call around or go looking because I want all my girls to at least be able to try on the dress to see what it looks like but this store had samples that were way too small. THANKS!!

 

[neatfreak]

SAMPLE sizes are fairly standard, but some stores carry samples in an array of real sizes if that makes sense. Like David''s bridal has most dresses in most sizes. But designer samples often hover between a 2-6 in real sizes.

 

[MustangGal]

I went to a salon in a "bigger" part of town back home, and all the samples were size 14.

One of the huge outlet type stores here in Phoenix has samples in lots of sizes, so it might be worth calling other salons in your areas that carry that designer and see what they have.

 

[cara]

Bridal sizing is smaller than regular sizing - can be 1 to 3 full size steps off of street size (ie. the 10 on the label fits a street size 4.) And stores usually carry dresses labeled 8 to 12 as samples, except for "runway samples" which are often available at trunk shows and the like. These were usually worn by models "on the runway" and are labeled 2 to 6, and hence you are just fitting into them as a street-size 2.

Trying on dresses sucks, finding bridesmaid dresses sucks, so just do the best you can. Most people (brides and bridesmaids) do not get to try on the dress in the right size before ordering.

There is some information that can be gathered by trying on dresses in the wrong size if you can kind of get them on. For example, I am street size 16 and could usually form an opinion on size 12 samples, and occasionally a size 10 sample. Obviously they did not zip and some imagination was required. If they were fitted around the hips (mermaid or sheath) I usually couldn''t get them on to form an opinion so ruled them out. Sample 8s were also pretty useless for me. Asymetrical dresses were harder to evaluate when too small than the more symmetrical ones. I ended up with a strapless straight across neckline dress cause I could tell it would look good even in the wrong size, and a drop waist cause almost all the drop waist dresses flattered me. Almost all the natural waist dresses looked horrible on me, so that was a pretty clear decision.

So yes, you should look for a shop with larger samples, but more important is to get the right silhouette for your girls. For example, if you BM tried on three other natural-waist tea length dresses and they all look horrible on her, chances are that the natural-waist tea length dress you have picked out by a different designer isn''t going to look so good. My sister looked fabulous in 5 different natural waist dresses, I looked horrible in them all, we were both fairly consistent in what worked on our body and what didn''t. If you are confident a certain shape dress will work for them, and believe the sizing chart for that designer, I would be OK ordering without having them try on the actual dress.

 

[Blair138]

Thanks to you that replied! The reason I was kind of baffled was because I have tried on MANY dresses, now and in the past when I''ve been in weddings, and the dresses were all very big on me, but was able to ''visualize it''. I haven''t come across many that are as small as I did at the last store I was at. I''m going to look around at other stores and see what I can find...