Wedding Wedding dresses for short girls.

[Diamond Confused]

I am 5''2" how does that work when hemming the bottom of the dress?

 

[violet02]

I am 5'' 3". I bought a mermaid dress and I haven''t noticed anything odd about the length of it. They do need to hem it but it''s not disproportionate.... I never really actually thought about tall vs short when I tried on dresses. weird!

 

[Sabine]

It really depends on the dress. I''m 5'', and I thought I really wanted a dress with detail at the bottom when I was first looking, but it was difficult. A lot of dresses have extra room at the bottom before the detailing starts, and most of the ones I tried on would have to be trimmed all the way up to the detailing to fit. There were a few that just would not have been possible. And then there are some dresses that have detailing all around the bottom, and that part can be taken off, the dress hemmed, and then the bottom trim added back on. And then there were some dresses that could have been taken in by pulling up from the waist. I ended up buying a dress with no detailing at the bottom, but that was just because I ended up feeling like the detailing overwhelmed me and made me seem even shorter.

 

[neatfreak]

There are two possibilities depending on budget

1. You buy a dress and they order it, then you get it altered. Like Sabine said, this can be a PITA if the dress has a ton of detailing on the bottom or can't be taken in from the waist instead. If not, or if you are wearing heels, it isn't a big deal usually.

2. If you have more $ in your budget many designers will custom make a gown to your measurements, including the length. So EVERYTHING about the dress will be proportioned down to fit your height. If you have a big dress budget I would recommend going this way if possible, it's just easier. Make SURE that if they tell you it will be custom ordered in your measurements that it says it on the work order. There are some unscrupulous shops that tell you one thing and do another, so get everything on the work order.

Good luck!

 

[NewEnglandLady]

Seconding NeatFreak.

I''m short. I avoided dresses with any detailing on the bottom unless it could be made to my exact measurement. I noticed, however, that most of the high-end designers would easily make a dress at any length you wanted. Of course, you had to know your shoe height before ordering.

Some styles need to be tailored for shorter ladies. I had a mermaid dress and when I tried on the sample, the part where it started flaring out didn''t hit me in the right place. When I ordered the dress, I had them take a little bit of length off so that the shape was right for my short frame.

 

[palomablancabride]

Ditto PP.

I''m 5''3" and I avoided detailing on the bottom of my dress. My friend is 5''2" and she had kenneth poole dress with swarovski crystals on the hem and even though she ordered it hollow to hem it was still too long and she had to have it taken up at the waist. She had the money to spend on all that, though!

 

[modernsparkler]

I am 5''2" and I ordered my dress with hollow to hem.... I measurment from the middle of your chest where your clavicles come together to the point on the floor where you want the dress to hit (with shoes). It was only an extra $100 but totally worth it because my dress has lots of beading. It is kind of mermaid style and I like how it looked, but I would use caution as a short person with the dropped waist styles. Not all of them are made proportionally and you can imagine how a droped waste dress made for a 5''7" girl would look if the waist were at the same point but 6 inches were cut off the bottom.... It was something I had not even thought of befoer my sales consultant brought it up.

Good luck.

 

[jcrow]

i''m 5''. my dress had detail on the train. everything turned out perfect.
i think they *may* take it up from the waist?

 

[doodle]

i''m 5''2" as well, and my dress has detailed lace all the way around the hem which would cost me a SILLY amount in alterations, so i decided 5" platforms would be far cheaper, and the ones i got are actually REALLY comfortable...BUT unless you''re good on heels or are goofy enough that nobody''ll think it weird if you wind up kicking them off and toting your dress around hiked up over your head the whole night (doesn''t my plan B for the reception sound CLASSY!?!), i''d recommend getting a dress that isn''t so detailed at the bottom so it can be hemmed without costing you the college tuition of all your potential future children. as far as flattery goes, i had a really hard time with finding a dress because i''m also a size 16, so at that size, it''s like they expect you''ll want to hide everything you''ve got, so all the dresses were really poofy, and i felt like it cut me in half visually. if you''re thinner, that may not be the case, but honestly, i think the fuller skirts shorten anyone who is on the shorter side. good luck and post lots of pictures!

 

[kittybean]

Ooh, I like the short girl party here. I''m 5''0", and sometimes I feel like I''m the only short one in a sea of giants.

I am in the process of finding a dress now, and I have been looking for those that can be hemmed more easily, i.e. minimal or no detailing on the bottom. If you do find one you love with lots of detail on the bottom, you can do the hollow-to-hem, but I found that it would be very expensive when compared to a seamstress bill for hemming a less-detailed dress. Hollow-to-hem is less expensive than having a seamstress try and move up a bunch of embroidery or beading, but it is quite pricey.

As long as the rest of the proportions fit you well when you try on the sample dress, I don''t think you need to worry about the hem skewing the rest of the look. The dress I am seriously considering is a straps-optional sheath-type gown, with beading to the knee and slightly flared chiffon (no detailing) the rest of the way. The original gown doesn''t have a train, but I will likely ask them to make a sweep train with the extra length. I think slimmer-fit dresses are generally more flattering on shorter girls--many of the big ball gowns really do cut you in half.

If you are just beginning to go to bridal salons, it might be a good idea to call and see whether they have any smaller samples. I''m very thin (boyish shape) in addition to being very short, so with some dresses, it was impossible for me to tell what the size 12 dress would begin to look like on me. Some salons I checked with carry some smaller samples, and it was nice to be able to try a couple things on that were closer to the right size.

 

[WishfulThinking]

I am so terrified about this! It''s nice to see some other short women here. Sometimes I worry I look so young [add to that that I am already pretty young, comparatively] salespeople will think I am a silly child bride. This talk of shortness makes me feel better.

I am 5 feet even, and already looking at dresses in a very, very low pricerange, so the thought of having to pay for more expensive alterations is terrifying. I am doing my best to pick styles that don''t have a lot of detailing on the bottom, but it''s hard to have that constraint in addition to all my other ones.

 

[anchor31]

Date: 8/14/2008 3:18:56 AM
Author:Diamond Confused
I am 5''2'' how does that work when hemming the bottom of the dress?

It depends on the dress. I''m 5''1" and can''t really wear heels so I was about 5''2" with my shoes on, and I had so anxiety over the hem because my dress has beading and embroidery on the skirt and a coloured trim at the bottom... I didn''t want to lose the detailing on the skirt, or the coloured trim! Thankfully, I had the option of ordering the dress in a 3" shorter length, so that helped, and I was able to have the extra 2 1/2" removed without ruining the dress. I think I only had just an inch left between the embroidery and the trim though, so it was close.

 

[zoebartlett]

I''m under 5'' and my dress has detaling on the bottom. My dress has a lace overlay with a wide satin ribbon at the bottom of the underneath layer -- if that makes sense. When I ordered the dress, they took all my measurements and ordered the dress according to my height (with 3/4'' or 1" heels -- I can''t remember). The seamstress still had to take quite a bit off the bottom but I didn''t lose any detailing at all. All of the alternations were done from the bottom of the dress, not at the waist. I was nervous about it at first but it''s not a problem and it can be done without noticing that the dress was altered. I was really happy with how it looked at my wedding.