We garment technicians would be without a job if everyone was a perfect sample size and 5′ 10″ tall! Every wedding dress would fit perfectly and there would be no need for all those fun fittings in your gown on the lead up to your wedding.
However, the real challenge is not in fitting a dress around a variety of shapes, but around the variety of changing shapes and sizes.
Picture the scene… a gaggle of six bridesmaids come in to be measured for their dresses nine months before the wedding: one aged 10, one aged 17, two ‘high-street’ size 12s (one pear-shaped, the other ‘athletic’), one size 16 and the last a comfortable size 26.
By the time the wedding day is fast approaching the 10-year old has started developing a bust, the 17-year old has put on a dress size due to overeating with exam stress, the size 16 has fallen pregnant and will be 6 month’s along by the wedding day and the size 26 has gone on a major lifestyle change and is now down to a size 20 and is still dropping about 2lbs a week. The two size 12s have stayed the same but one has bought in a different bra to the one they were measured in (and that they fully intend wearing on the day even though it adds a whole dress size to the bust).
Now this example is pretty typical of a wedding party and as a garment technician we are very used to undertaking these adjustments. However, this all comes at a cost, but please don’t be surprised when the store charges for these services. It’s a real skill to adjust dresses to fit every shape, but even more so for the sales assistant to be expected to predict every possible change that may or may not happen within your wedding party.
If you’re privy to knowing any of that information in advance (a bridesmaid is trying for a baby or someone is planning to join a slimming programme for example), then let the store know as they have probably dealt with this before and can advise you on the best course of action together with the costs you might incur for the relevant adjustments.
So, pop a little extra money aside in the budget for those unexpected alterations. Whilst we are all here to help you, one cannot possibly predict every eventuality before the wedding and last minute adjustments can sometimes come at a premium (especially at the height of the season).
Till next time
