reflections on a dress

Now that all is said and done, there are a couple of thoughts I have about buying a dress.

-Do not spend any money in a place that treats you rudely. Your dollars speak loudly, and by refusing to spend money in a place that does not value all of their customers and encouraging others to do the same, the shop will eventually have no choice but to change the way they respect customers if they want to stay in business.

-Wear a strapless bra.

-Bring a hair clip (if you have longer hair) to hold your hair up. It enables you to see what you look like in a given dress with your hair up (and down).

-Be respectful, kind and courteous (remember that Girl Scout Law!) to the salespeople. They will (typically) respect you, if you respect them.

-Do try on dresses outside of your price range, if you are extremely confident in your ability to stick to your price range. No matter how awesome a dress was, I was absolutely completely unwilling to spend more than $1000 on a dress. I will (most likely) wear it once. But by trying on more expensive dresses- $4000+- I was able to know what high quality fabric and an extremely well made dress felt like. As bargain shopper extraordinaire, I am ecstatic about the quality of the dress I got for the price I paid.

-Filene's Basement Sale, at least in Cleveland, is absolutely worth going to. People were nice, there wasn't much pushing/shoving really at all, and it enabled me to try on lots of dresses really quickly. However, if you are not a street size 4/6/8, pickings are slim. It is also best if you are under 5'8" tall.

-If you will be 5'10" or taller (with shoes) on your wedding day, regardless of what size you wear, you can pretty much forget about getting a sample dress, or a used dress. I looked for eight months at least every other day at the usual suspects (preowned wedding dresses, the knot dress board, craigslist, and ebay), and during that time, only came across maybe 4 dresses that were long enough, and none of which were my style.

-Finally, don't dismiss bridesmaid dresses, or dresses from high end bridesmaid dress designers. Siri, Thread and Jenny Yoo all have gorgeous dresses that would work as bridal gowns.

(Left to right: Vivien by Siri, Hillary by Thread, Aliza by Jenny Yoo)

What valuable advice do you have about shopping for a wedding gown?