For many plus size brides, wedding dress shopping isn’t always the exciting adventure they may have dreamed about. The reality of shopping in bridalwear stores when you are over a size 14 can, in fact, be pretty stressful – even depressing or humiliating. The unfortunate truth of bridalwear design is that very few designers cater for women who need a wedding gown in sizes 16-30, and so these brides-to-be often find that they are only able to find one or two dresses on the rail that will fit them.
There are a couple of other disappointing options for plus size brides in most traditional wedding dress shops. Some designers produce a few gowns in larger sized, but they tend to be badly-fitting upsized versions of smaller dresses without taking into account the structure and cut required for different body shapes. Another option is to send off for a bespoke dress to be made, resulting in extra cost and wasted time, and no guarantee that your finished gown is what you originally had in mind.
The majority of women aren’t the size zero that the fashion industry favours – curves and different body shapes mean that nearly every wedding dress needs to be adjusted and properly fitted by a seamstress so why don’t wedding gown designers accommodate the shapes of real women?
But there is still hope for women in need of bridalwear above a size 14! Several new designers are starting to release lines specifically for plus size brides that are cut, structured and designed to flatter and fit perfectly. Designing for a size 8 is a very different task than designing for a size 16, and subtle differences in the lines, structure and production help to accentuate curves and provide support and accentuation.
Every bride should have the choice of browsing through a wide range of wedding gown styles and designs when looking for ‘The One’, no matter what their size. An additional benefit of an off-the-peg collection of plus size wedding dresses is that they will generally be more affordable, rather than the thousands of pounds required for a bespoke plus size wedding gown.
So if you are a plus size bride looking for a well-fitting, stunning, affordable wedding dress, look for wedding dress factory outlets and designers who specialise in and stock gowns for curvier brides. No more battling with badly-fitting meringues or being told there’s nothing in your size! Look for a bridalwear provider who offers dresses for all brides, no matter their size or shape.