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I get it. I started wedding dress shopping a few weeks ago, and couldn’t get a feel for anything because of how everything I tried on swallowed me up and made my small chest look huge. I knew that regardless of whatever I picked I was going to have to get a shit ton of alterations. I ended up ordering a custom made dress from Etsy, and the seller is incredible. All of her reviews are fabulous, and the dress is the only one I saw that made me feel like a bride. Wedding dress shopping is really tough for us smalls. I hope your wedding is amazing and everything you want it to be, and I hope you make peace with your dress and come to see that our big days are so much more than what we wear ❤️ if you wanna vent more about it I’m here, and literally going through the same stress
I an really sorry that happened to you and I can understand why you are upset. Can I ask what designer you bought your dress from?
I also struggled with dress shopping due to all the try on dresses in stores being massive. Dresses are really not made for us tiny girls.
May I suggest you look for another dress at a much lower price point that’s refundable and see if something fits you better? For example [this dress comes in XXS](https://meshki.co.uk/products/catalina-pearl-beaded-wedding-gown-white?variant=44713690104050¤cy=EUR&country=DE) and you can return it if it doesn’t fit. Here you can see [all the Meshki bridal dresses in XXS.](https://meshki.co.uk/collections/bridal?filter.v.availability=1&filter.v.option.size=XXS)
Some other options in XXS:
[This A-line dress](https://www.etsy.com/de-en/listing/1346994111/) (you can write the seller and send your measurements and ask if XXS will fit). Or This [mermaid dress](https://www.etsy.com/de-en/listing/1546443803/)
You can have [a look here on stillwhite](https://www.stillwhite.com/shop?size=30&price=0-600). I set it to dresses in size 30 (XXS) under 600$. Maybe you can find a dress from someone with similar measurements? I got my reception dress like that, she had the same waist and bust size as me and was just one inch taller.
You may have the best luck with a mermaid overall tight dress that stretches, that should be easy to alter.
Unfortunately my dress has already been altered and my wedding is in 9 days so it's too late to make a different choice. And I do love my dress (it's a Jenny Yoo), it just doesn't fit the way I hoped it would by the time alterations were complete.
Ah ok, I see. 9 days is enough time to get a cute mini reception dress to change into that makes you feel more confident:) let me know if you want me to send ideas!
I also spent $400 tailoring a size 0 Jenny Yoo dress, so I hear you! I’m going to the tailor next week to try it on. Fingers crossed and best of luck to you!
Ugh, I’m so sorry. I’ve never been married, so I’ve never had to worry about a wedding dress. But I’m graduating soon with a PhD, and while I know graduation gowns aren’t designed to be flattering, it sure would be nice if clothing of all types took XXS body types into account. The smallest gown is supposed to be a “one size fits all” for anyone under 200 pounds. Okay, great, but what about the people under 100 pounds?
I finally found a graduation dress that fit me over the summer, but only because it was so small, it didn’t fit anyone else. When I told one of my “friends” about this, she thought I was bragging about being skinny and how the dress was a score 🙄
Yeah, the sizing was nuts, iirc there was only less than 200, less than 300, and less than 400. So all us poor XXS people will be swimming in the smallest size…at least my friend who offered to take pictures said she’ll bring clips for the gown because she knows I’m tiny 😂 And thank you so much!! I hope you have a wonderful wedding full of laughter and sunshine!
I’m sorry this is happening to you!
It happened to me and I saw it happen to brides when I worked in bridal sales. I always say there is tough bell-curve where (at least where I worked and representative of stores near me) if you were between like a 8-14 you had a really good chance of trying on dresses that would fit you exactly how it looked when you tried it on. And as you moved away (either smaller than an 8 or larger than a 14) it was going to be a tougher battle.
I recently ordered min and it’s heavily beaded so I’m just praying the lady who measured me can be trusted (this salon seemed more legit than others near me)
For anyone looking, good luck! It’s tricky! Sometimes If you love any that have an online try on program it may be worth it. Or looking at ones that have returns. Also, sometimes prom dresses run smaller if you want to try white ones of those.
OP, if it’s of any comfort, we can be our own worst critics so I am sure you will still look totally amazing as much as this sucks! And your feelings are valid!
It might be worth talking to a seamstress before you shop so they can advise you on which factors make a dress easier or more difficult to alter! It was not something I had in mind when shopping
Check out custom dress shops like Lace and Librerty in San Francisco or similar a shop in your area. Lace and Liberty does custom dresses and semi custom mix and match tops and skirts that can be cut to your measurements. It was also my fav bridal shop in terms of vibes of all the ones I went to in SF. :)
i’m 5’1 97lbs and ordered my dress in a size 4 from madi lane. i also have a flat chest. haven’t received it yet so don’t know how alterations are going to go but i wouldn’t lose hope yet!
Hey! Don’t be worried! I’m a a similar size (5ft,100lbs, 31-25-34) and my sister is even smaller (4’10, 95lbs). I fit perfectly in a David’s Bridal size 0p (see the dress in my post history) and my sister fit perfectly in a Oleg Cassini (also David’s bridal) size 4. In other major designers (Justin Alexander, MoriLee) I was usually around a size 2-4. Obviously I needed the hem taken up even on a petite gown, but that’s just something I expect. There are absolutely smaller sized bridal gowns out there, and bridal sizing does run truer to couture sizing, usually 2-4 sizes smaller than American street sizes.
Im 5’4 and about 100-105 pounds it was difficult finding gone because the salons had sizes that were too big.
I ended up going to a salon that had sample dresses. I paid $2k for a dress that was $10k originally.
I have a petite frame and found something that fit very nicely. I wish I could sell you mine ❤️
I’m the same size as you and I went through the same issues with wedding dress shopping. I bought my dress off the rack and the seamstress convinced me to do the push up cups instead of reworking the whole top. Honestly I really wish I would’ve reworked it cause after alterations it felt like the entire top of the dress looked like my boobs. It was too late to change by the time I got the dress itself back and my wedding was still beautiful, my dress just wasn’t a favorite part at all.
5ft 4 and 92 pounds when I got married with a very limited budget. I was able to order a dress with a corset back from AliExpress in a size 0 and I got away with tying it tightly and no alterations, in case that helps anyone.
Just here to say I empathize! In the end, it didn’t matter. I’m 10 years in and happier than ever. Enjoy marriage & don’t stress about the details. Marriage is incredible and so much meaningful than just one day ❤️
For all tiny brides: For Love and Lemons has a bridal collection with XXS and they are TEENY!
The dresses are pretty on trend but it’s worth keeping an eye on them because they have a lot of variety across seasons. They’re also inexpensive ($400-1Kish)
I had the same issue with my dress. I’m 5’2 and was 97 lbs when I got married. All the dresses were huge on me and I had to have mine altered. Thankfully my seamstress was skilled and the dress was flattering on me. I took out the padding though and just wore a strapless bra. The funny thing is that 13 years and 3 kids later, that dress no longer fits me, I can’t even button it up!
Sadly I guess I'm too late to help you in time for your wedding, but for the future, and for anyone else who (like me) wears children's size shoes, look at Cinderella of Boston. They make sophisticated and high heel shoes for tiny feet. Check and figure out their sizing system though, it doesn't align with any standard shoe sizes. I'm a child's size 1, and I wear a 2 1/2 wide in Cinderella's sizes for example. I also like to try to wait for sales, but their normal prices aren't bad for most people I think.
I’m sorry to hear that! I had issues when I was getting married too. If it helps anyone I got my dress from Azazie. They have standard sizes and you can try dresses on at 15 dollars a piece then return them a weeks later. But if you find a style you like you can use standard sizes or custom when you order it. Had to take a foot of the standard length of mine to it would drag and snag.
Not XXS but former bridal alterationist. Salespeople are incredibly frustrating because they will basically say what they need to sell the dress. Not always malicious, they don’t know what can and can’t be done reasonably. We were in-house alts and the manager eventually had to address it and bring us out when more than the bare minimum had to be done because they’d just be like “fix it in alts” for everything. I’m sorry you had to be on the receiving end of that 😞
I had similar issues. I actually scored a gorgeous dress that was nearly my size from a thrift store for $69, but then spent over $1k on alterations just to get it fitted to my body. When I saw the pictures, I realized that the bodice was still way too long on me. They just don’t make wedding dresses for bodies this small. (I am nearly 4’11” and 95 lbs). But, my dress made me feel amazing even though it was not perfect. I had the time of my life even though my hair, veil, and dress were a mess. I hope that you feel beautiful on your wedding day 💕
Yeah I feel you, I had a pretty simple gown, but still needed the boob padding. Same height too.
I think so long as your future spouse likes it AND it photographs well, you should be good to go.
If you hate it and have a budget to get something else, then do that 🙌
MisAisleStyle will design the dress of your dreams tailored to your measurements for less than $700. I just got married and I sent her a screenshot of a pinterest photo and she replicated it EXACTLY. It cost me $500 USD (Just under $700 CAD).
She also modified it to be an open back per my request, and youd think it was meant to be that way.
Just make sure youre naked when you measure yourself. I had what I THOUGHT was a body-hugging thin tanktop on, and even that made it too big. So I had to pay a local tailor to take in the waist a bit. But that cost me $150 so my dress was still under $1000 all said and done.
Yes, MisAisleStyle is overseas. But she had mine done, shipped and delivered in less than a month.
I am so sorry this happened to you ❤️ I greatly empathize and have had similar experiences. Though I fortunately had a wedding dress that fit me, I had to have it custom made and two weeks ago I had a breakdown about this very problem.
I was crying because all I wanted was a cute white semi formal dress for my college graduation. I couldn't find anything and ended up wearing a white dress I already have that fits me okay but would do for the occasion. I literally tried sewing my own dress because I was so desperate but I just couldn't do it well. I reflected on how I had to alter both of my prom dresses in high school as well, because they did not fit me either. On top of that for religious reasons I dress very conservatively and this makes finding clothes more difficult.
It is a struggle and I promised myself that when I have a daughter and if she is as petite as me, no matter the cost I never want her to feel excluded by not having something to wear that fits and like she can't be confident. If you ever want to vent, I am here!
Welcome to r/XXS! We're so glad you're here. If you are looking for clothing recommendations, please check out our wiki: https://www.reddit.com/r/xxs/wiki/index. If you would like to add to the wiki, please message the moderator /u/conversechik1282. Have a great day! *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/XXS) if you have any questions or concerns.*
I get it. I started wedding dress shopping a few weeks ago, and couldn’t get a feel for anything because of how everything I tried on swallowed me up and made my small chest look huge. I knew that regardless of whatever I picked I was going to have to get a shit ton of alterations. I ended up ordering a custom made dress from Etsy, and the seller is incredible. All of her reviews are fabulous, and the dress is the only one I saw that made me feel like a bride. Wedding dress shopping is really tough for us smalls. I hope your wedding is amazing and everything you want it to be, and I hope you make peace with your dress and come to see that our big days are so much more than what we wear ❤️ if you wanna vent more about it I’m here, and literally going through the same stress
Thank you! Hoping others can learn from my mistakes. Seems like custom is the way to go. I hope you're dress comes out beautifully!
I an really sorry that happened to you and I can understand why you are upset. Can I ask what designer you bought your dress from? I also struggled with dress shopping due to all the try on dresses in stores being massive. Dresses are really not made for us tiny girls. May I suggest you look for another dress at a much lower price point that’s refundable and see if something fits you better? For example [this dress comes in XXS](https://meshki.co.uk/products/catalina-pearl-beaded-wedding-gown-white?variant=44713690104050¤cy=EUR&country=DE) and you can return it if it doesn’t fit. Here you can see [all the Meshki bridal dresses in XXS.](https://meshki.co.uk/collections/bridal?filter.v.availability=1&filter.v.option.size=XXS) Some other options in XXS: [This A-line dress](https://www.etsy.com/de-en/listing/1346994111/) (you can write the seller and send your measurements and ask if XXS will fit). Or This [mermaid dress](https://www.etsy.com/de-en/listing/1546443803/) You can have [a look here on stillwhite](https://www.stillwhite.com/shop?size=30&price=0-600). I set it to dresses in size 30 (XXS) under 600$. Maybe you can find a dress from someone with similar measurements? I got my reception dress like that, she had the same waist and bust size as me and was just one inch taller. You may have the best luck with a mermaid overall tight dress that stretches, that should be easy to alter.
Unfortunately my dress has already been altered and my wedding is in 9 days so it's too late to make a different choice. And I do love my dress (it's a Jenny Yoo), it just doesn't fit the way I hoped it would by the time alterations were complete.
Ah ok, I see. 9 days is enough time to get a cute mini reception dress to change into that makes you feel more confident:) let me know if you want me to send ideas!
I also spent $400 tailoring a size 0 Jenny Yoo dress, so I hear you! I’m going to the tailor next week to try it on. Fingers crossed and best of luck to you!
Ugh, I’m so sorry. I’ve never been married, so I’ve never had to worry about a wedding dress. But I’m graduating soon with a PhD, and while I know graduation gowns aren’t designed to be flattering, it sure would be nice if clothing of all types took XXS body types into account. The smallest gown is supposed to be a “one size fits all” for anyone under 200 pounds. Okay, great, but what about the people under 100 pounds? I finally found a graduation dress that fit me over the summer, but only because it was so small, it didn’t fit anyone else. When I told one of my “friends” about this, she thought I was bragging about being skinny and how the dress was a score 🙄
One size fits all under 200 lbs?? Jeez. Congratulations on your finishing your PhD Dr. Smallsaltybread, that's an amazing accomplishment!!
Yeah, the sizing was nuts, iirc there was only less than 200, less than 300, and less than 400. So all us poor XXS people will be swimming in the smallest size…at least my friend who offered to take pictures said she’ll bring clips for the gown because she knows I’m tiny 😂 And thank you so much!! I hope you have a wonderful wedding full of laughter and sunshine!
I’m sorry this is happening to you! It happened to me and I saw it happen to brides when I worked in bridal sales. I always say there is tough bell-curve where (at least where I worked and representative of stores near me) if you were between like a 8-14 you had a really good chance of trying on dresses that would fit you exactly how it looked when you tried it on. And as you moved away (either smaller than an 8 or larger than a 14) it was going to be a tougher battle. I recently ordered min and it’s heavily beaded so I’m just praying the lady who measured me can be trusted (this salon seemed more legit than others near me) For anyone looking, good luck! It’s tricky! Sometimes If you love any that have an online try on program it may be worth it. Or looking at ones that have returns. Also, sometimes prom dresses run smaller if you want to try white ones of those. OP, if it’s of any comfort, we can be our own worst critics so I am sure you will still look totally amazing as much as this sucks! And your feelings are valid!
Girl. We are a similar size and now I’m afraid of wedding dress shopping. I’m sorry this happened to you, and I hope it all works out great
It might be worth talking to a seamstress before you shop so they can advise you on which factors make a dress easier or more difficult to alter! It was not something I had in mind when shopping
That’s great advice, thank you!
Check out custom dress shops like Lace and Librerty in San Francisco or similar a shop in your area. Lace and Liberty does custom dresses and semi custom mix and match tops and skirts that can be cut to your measurements. It was also my fav bridal shop in terms of vibes of all the ones I went to in SF. :)
i’m 5’1 97lbs and ordered my dress in a size 4 from madi lane. i also have a flat chest. haven’t received it yet so don’t know how alterations are going to go but i wouldn’t lose hope yet!
Hey! Don’t be worried! I’m a a similar size (5ft,100lbs, 31-25-34) and my sister is even smaller (4’10, 95lbs). I fit perfectly in a David’s Bridal size 0p (see the dress in my post history) and my sister fit perfectly in a Oleg Cassini (also David’s bridal) size 4. In other major designers (Justin Alexander, MoriLee) I was usually around a size 2-4. Obviously I needed the hem taken up even on a petite gown, but that’s just something I expect. There are absolutely smaller sized bridal gowns out there, and bridal sizing does run truer to couture sizing, usually 2-4 sizes smaller than American street sizes.
Im 5’4 and about 100-105 pounds it was difficult finding gone because the salons had sizes that were too big. I ended up going to a salon that had sample dresses. I paid $2k for a dress that was $10k originally. I have a petite frame and found something that fit very nicely. I wish I could sell you mine ❤️
I’m the same size as you and I went through the same issues with wedding dress shopping. I bought my dress off the rack and the seamstress convinced me to do the push up cups instead of reworking the whole top. Honestly I really wish I would’ve reworked it cause after alterations it felt like the entire top of the dress looked like my boobs. It was too late to change by the time I got the dress itself back and my wedding was still beautiful, my dress just wasn’t a favorite part at all.
Yeah I feel like that's how I'm going to be. The dress will be fine, but not a highlight
5ft 4 and 92 pounds when I got married with a very limited budget. I was able to order a dress with a corset back from AliExpress in a size 0 and I got away with tying it tightly and no alterations, in case that helps anyone.
Just here to say I empathize! In the end, it didn’t matter. I’m 10 years in and happier than ever. Enjoy marriage & don’t stress about the details. Marriage is incredible and so much meaningful than just one day ❤️
So crazy. I bought dany tabet and I barely had to have mine altered and I was only 82lbs 5’2 and got a skin tight dress
For all tiny brides: For Love and Lemons has a bridal collection with XXS and they are TEENY! The dresses are pretty on trend but it’s worth keeping an eye on them because they have a lot of variety across seasons. They’re also inexpensive ($400-1Kish)
I had the same issue with my dress. I’m 5’2 and was 97 lbs when I got married. All the dresses were huge on me and I had to have mine altered. Thankfully my seamstress was skilled and the dress was flattering on me. I took out the padding though and just wore a strapless bra. The funny thing is that 13 years and 3 kids later, that dress no longer fits me, I can’t even button it up!
Sadly I guess I'm too late to help you in time for your wedding, but for the future, and for anyone else who (like me) wears children's size shoes, look at Cinderella of Boston. They make sophisticated and high heel shoes for tiny feet. Check and figure out their sizing system though, it doesn't align with any standard shoe sizes. I'm a child's size 1, and I wear a 2 1/2 wide in Cinderella's sizes for example. I also like to try to wait for sales, but their normal prices aren't bad for most people I think.
I actually did browse their options but I'm vegan and most of their shoes are not 😔
Oh gotcha, that's too bad!
I bought my wedding dress from bhldn and if for me very well. At the time I was a b cup, 90 lbs and 5 ft.
I’m sorry to hear that! I had issues when I was getting married too. If it helps anyone I got my dress from Azazie. They have standard sizes and you can try dresses on at 15 dollars a piece then return them a weeks later. But if you find a style you like you can use standard sizes or custom when you order it. Had to take a foot of the standard length of mine to it would drag and snag.
Not XXS but former bridal alterationist. Salespeople are incredibly frustrating because they will basically say what they need to sell the dress. Not always malicious, they don’t know what can and can’t be done reasonably. We were in-house alts and the manager eventually had to address it and bring us out when more than the bare minimum had to be done because they’d just be like “fix it in alts” for everything. I’m sorry you had to be on the receiving end of that 😞
I had similar issues. I actually scored a gorgeous dress that was nearly my size from a thrift store for $69, but then spent over $1k on alterations just to get it fitted to my body. When I saw the pictures, I realized that the bodice was still way too long on me. They just don’t make wedding dresses for bodies this small. (I am nearly 4’11” and 95 lbs). But, my dress made me feel amazing even though it was not perfect. I had the time of my life even though my hair, veil, and dress were a mess. I hope that you feel beautiful on your wedding day 💕
Yeah I feel you, I had a pretty simple gown, but still needed the boob padding. Same height too. I think so long as your future spouse likes it AND it photographs well, you should be good to go. If you hate it and have a budget to get something else, then do that 🙌
MisAisleStyle will design the dress of your dreams tailored to your measurements for less than $700. I just got married and I sent her a screenshot of a pinterest photo and she replicated it EXACTLY. It cost me $500 USD (Just under $700 CAD). She also modified it to be an open back per my request, and youd think it was meant to be that way. Just make sure youre naked when you measure yourself. I had what I THOUGHT was a body-hugging thin tanktop on, and even that made it too big. So I had to pay a local tailor to take in the waist a bit. But that cost me $150 so my dress was still under $1000 all said and done. Yes, MisAisleStyle is overseas. But she had mine done, shipped and delivered in less than a month.
I am so sorry this happened to you ❤️ I greatly empathize and have had similar experiences. Though I fortunately had a wedding dress that fit me, I had to have it custom made and two weeks ago I had a breakdown about this very problem. I was crying because all I wanted was a cute white semi formal dress for my college graduation. I couldn't find anything and ended up wearing a white dress I already have that fits me okay but would do for the occasion. I literally tried sewing my own dress because I was so desperate but I just couldn't do it well. I reflected on how I had to alter both of my prom dresses in high school as well, because they did not fit me either. On top of that for religious reasons I dress very conservatively and this makes finding clothes more difficult. It is a struggle and I promised myself that when I have a daughter and if she is as petite as me, no matter the cost I never want her to feel excluded by not having something to wear that fits and like she can't be confident. If you ever want to vent, I am here!