5 Tips for Ordering Fitted Wedding Dresses

1. Dresses are Fitted to the Mid-Thigh, not at the knee

Don't be fooled by the images you see, almost all catalog images of dress designs are photographed so it appears that the break is just above the knee. This of course makes for a more dramatic shot/pose, but when you think about how you're supposed to still move and walk around in the dress, its most similar to wearing a fitted pencil skirt. The difference here is with the layers that make up a wedding dress don't allow for a same stretchy single layer fabrics you're accustomed to with normal pencil skirts.

When you try on a wedding dress sized to your hip measurements, it will hug your legs to the mid-hip so that you are still able to walk and move around. To achieve the look you see on the images, you'd have to balance the taper towards your knees with how much restricted movement you're ok with.

2. Fitted Dresses look GREAT on curvier brides

Most of the time, we see brides who are curvier try on A-Lines or Ball gowns, when in all honesty doesn't do their figure any justice. Fitted wedding dresses differ from regular dresses due to the boning and structure underneath. The boning behaves almost like a full-body corset, shaping and accentuating all the right places. Its no surprise that our fitted designs are most commonly ordered as bridal sizes 12 and up.

3. Great silhouette if you want a strapless neckline

Because the dress is being held up by your waist and hips, you can go nuts with having a sexy strapless design, and not worry about the dress sagging or having to constantly lift/adjust your top.

4. Order Custom Measurements or Corset Tie Back Option

If there's one silhouette we strongly recommend custom measurements on its fitted wedding dresses. The bust waist and hip measurements are super important because if any part is off by even an inch, it will cause all sorts of issues. If the bust measurement is off, it may make the dress not sit flush against your bust/chest. If the hip measurement is too tight it'll cause creasing at the waist.

Style 1729 shown as zipper back in a bridal size 8 (left) and shown as a corset tie back as a bridal size 16 (right)

5. If there's creasing at the waist... the answer is to let out the hips!

Everyone's first response is to adjust at the point of where the issue is, but when it comes to the dress not sitting flush on your waist, even just half an inch on each side of your hips will do the job. The waist creases not because its not fitting, its bunching up because its being pushed up at the hips. You want the dress to slide effortlessly along your hips so you don't have to constantly pull down your dress when it creeps up from walking around. Another way to think about this is, if your waist measurement was the issue... you wouldn't have been able to get into your dress in the first place.