**Newbie-be gentle**dress buying-tiny sample sizes-has anyone else had this problem?

Well done for losing all that weight.

It is disheartening to find pretty much nothing in your size but I suppose the shops have got to pick the most popular sizes for samples. Most i tried on were 12s and 14s and I am most definitely not that size! I could get them on and get an idea but it would be nice to see what they look like in your own size. You wouldn't go and try on a pair of size 10 trousers on the hight street when you are a size 16 and think 'Hmmm, yes I'm sure they'll be fine in my size'. Still, that's the price I have to pay for being fat ?. Even though the sample of the dres I've ordered was about 3 sizes too small, I could still see that it would be flattering in my real size.

Well done on your losing weight!

I can sympathises, but from the other side. The shop I went to had all larger sizes - good so that most people can at least get into them, but.... I am usually a size 8 and thre dress I tried on was a size 20. As I result, I am now feeling rather self-concious about how low the back is on my dress in the size10 that has arrived and fits me. I just couldn't tell when I tried on the bigger size.

I just don't think they can please everyone. If they are going to have lots of styles in the shop, they can't really have lots of sizes as well.

Glad you are sorted now though!

Sx

Thanks I am really pleased to be back at my old size, well a bit smaller than before I had our son. Though my body will def never be the same again!lol

I see both sides, we want to fit into the dresses and see lots of styles. Maybe if they had 2 samples of each dress then you would only be a couple of sizes to big/ small depending which way it went?

I wnet dress shopiing with ,my friend who was a size 8 and bull dog clips were all they offered her to make the dress fit and that really did make th dresses look bad even though she has a fantastic figure. so I do see it from that perspective too. I think I'll open a dress shop with more samples, also gives a few 'budget' brides at the end of the season a chance for a cheap sample dress! we all win lol ?

It is a little disconcerting to find yourself 1 or 2 dress sizes bigger when you try on a wedding dress.

Like Sara252 I wear a 10 normally but my wedding dress is a 12. There is a reason for this - wedding dresses tend to have many layers to them or are made of much thicker fabric- so you may find that the innermost layer is closest to your normal dress size but the bit everyone size is technically a size or two larger IYSWIM

I was lucky that the size 12 fitted almost perfectly but in a couple of dresses/shops it was a pain to have a big sponge shoved down the back of the dress to make it fit.

My Sister took me to a Bridal shop to get me my bridesmaids dress for her wedding.

I was mortified when it turned out to be a size TWENTY TWO!! (I'm a size 16 btw)

They eventually told me the size isn't the inside of the dress but the outside (or something like that).

Needless to say when I got my bridal dress done for my wedding it was made to fit so has no specific size so now I don't feel bad ?

I don't think the numbers mean much, don't know if this helps any......

xXx

I had same problem as Sara - all the dresses were way too big and it is also difficult to tell what they look like with a load of bulldog clips pulling it together. Infact in the shop I bought my dress in there were some I just couldn't even try on as they were just too big. Maybe it just depends where you shop. My dress made me look like I had a good size pair of boobs becasue it was all boned etc. but was relative to the size of the dress, no idea what it will look like in my actual dress!

I'm a size 20-22 in high street sizes, so I went dress shopping fully expecting not to be able to try anything on in most shops and I was right. The sizes were so far off what I would have been able to fit into that I couldn't possibly have bought a dress from any of them. O nly one 'normal' shop I went to had a 'plus size' range, but they were awful.

I gave up on 'normal' shops and found a specialist plus size bridal shop luckily only about half an hour from me, www.thebigdayuk.com It was such a lovely experience being able to go and try on any dress in the shop without looking like an overstuffed sausage ,or being embarrassed about squeezing into a too-small dress in front of some skinny-minny assistant!

I don't have a problem with sizes so I wasn't too bothered what size I ordered, just as long as it fit me. Size is just a number, they vary so much from shop to shop anyway - in my wardrobe I have sizes from an 18 up to a 24, but I would say realistically I'm a 22. I actually saw the label in my dress last time I went for a fitting and was surprised to see it was only a 24!

I'm only a size 14-16 in 'normal' clothes but also had this problem in loads of shops. One dress that looked gorgeous on the hanger I couldn't get on and one I got stuck in!! Imagine dress with lots of net, me stuck inside with arms in the air, flashing my pants to my sister and the shop lady. I couldn't see or breath and just wanted to get the damn thing off. So embarassing.

At least if you're a skinny minnie you can at least put the dress on and get a rough idea, but when you can't even do that its just so frustrating. I also had to contend with the fact that I am 5'11" and all the dresses are made for shorter ladies. So not only is the dress stupidly small but it was really short as well.

I've therefore decided to boycott wedding dress shops and have ordered a made to measure dress online. I have tried the original on and loved what I could tell of it, but this way I know it will definitely be long enough without being charged the extra £200 the shop wanted just so they could make the dress an extra 3 inches longer and at the bargain price of £250 including postage.