Not so great shopping experience :-(

dresses are stupid sizes. Those shops must have been stocking dresses in the smallest sizes. Not all shops are like that. Im a 12 as well and my dress is a UK 14, US 12. Its an alfred angelo one. maybe if you suss out some of their stockists.

Don't worry about it they do come up small from my experience. I am a 10, and the first dress I tried on in that size I got stuck in with the zip halfway up!! The dress I have now that fits perfectly is a 12-14.

It does depend what shop you are in, I have been in one where they were lovely and helpful and another where they looked me up and down like I was trash, virtually laughed at my budget and told me I was basically an idiot for not already having a dress for my October wedding!! Charming!

You will look lovely no matter what label is in the dress.

That women sounds lik a right cow. Sorry you had such a bad time. A 12-14 is nothing, not even big, all her sizes mucst have been ridiculously small.

Dresses do come in funny sizes tho. I tried an 8 in one designer that fitted and a 14 in another!

I know how you feel. I'm currently a size 18 and the dresses I tried on in my one and only shopping trip was awful. I ended up in tears and I'm now having one made as I couldn't face the stress and trauma of that again.

If you're already felling selfconcious bridal shops cam make you feel 100% worse. Hopefully it was just that shop as I thought being your size you wouldn't have had a problem. try another one and stay clear of that shop. Doesn't sound like the shop for you x❤️

Hi Lucie

as the other girls have said when trying on dresses don't worry about the sizes they all differ from dsigner to designer. I'm a 14 and some size 12 dresses fitted nicely and one size 18 I couldn't even get done up. My dress ended up being a size 16.

Don't let it ruin ur experience or ur confidence (easy to say I know). Not all shop assistants are rude like the ones u have encountered. They don't deserve your custom.

Fi

xx

Hi just want to say i can totally relate to this, i had a bad time when i was trying dresses on as well. A size 12 - 14 is just normal, i hate it when people think people should look like stick insects to be beautiful just because thats what we have been told to think by watching all of the skinny celebs on the tv.

I took my mum with me when i picked my dress and she was no help either and made me feel so stupid.

im sure that on the big day you will look fab because you will have the drress that fits you, no matter what the number on the tag is ( to be honest i dont know why they have tags on them anyway as each designers sizes are different). People won't be looking at the size label.

I felt so much better the next time i went to try my dress on, i went with my bridesmaid and said this is the dress ive chosen and she thought it looked fab, i came out of the shop feeling 100% than i did the first time .

Anyway, did you find a dress or style of dress you like?

Thanks everyone, im glad to see it isn't only me that has experienced this problem. The dresses which seemed to come up small were Blue by Enzonni. I love the dresses but all came up soo small. I tried on some Sophia Tolli and i was a confortable size 12 which made me feel a little better but the damage was done unfortunatly!

I have found a style i like... now to find perfect one..its a long road ahead lol!!!!

I had the same problem, non of the dresses in the shop fitted me at all, when i got measured for the dress i wanted she said i would need a size 12 for the bust , a size 10 for the hips and a size 20 for my tummy lmao, i wear size 12 normal clothes but i had to order a size 18 dress, sooooooooooooo not impressed, decided not to diet but then got ill and lost a stone in weight so now im in a tizz as to how much the dress is going to have to be altered , its about time all the wedding dress designers too note of what size ppl really are and sized their dresses accordingly

I'm a UK 12 but with the designer I chose their sizes are 2-4 bigger than the UK so a 12 is a 16 (a 20 would be a 24). It does make you feel really cr*p, luckily the people in the shop I used were lovely and made me feel much better about it

Wedding dresses are stupid sizes. I did make the women who measured me show me the size conversion table so I would accept what size i was! As for your mother... I'll send a lovely little anonymous letter for her, just say the word!

Go shopping again, chose a different shop and take someone else with you. Hell if you're near me i'll come along, i love a good shop and I don't allow shop assistant that I will be giving a lot of money to be rude to me. I walked out of several shops that didn't believe that I was actually getting married. A few thought I was a joke and pointed me towards the prom dresses. Grr!! I still get ID'd to buy a lottery ticket, but I am actually old enough to get married! Hell I'm 21!!

Sorry that turned into a rant!

I know all the other ladies have said similar... but I'm with you on how silly dress sizes can be.

Why the designers decided to make things tiny I don't know... If I were a designer I would make it so that everyone could get in a dress a size smaller than normal (eg. making my size 10 dresses fit size 12 ladies) so then we'd all feel mega sexy.

No shop assistants have been nasty about the size, but when i say I'm a 12-14 they always go 14 upwards. But often they don't tell me which size dress I am trying on until I ask. I too have hips that affect my dress size unfortunately.

Sorry, I'm not really offering much help. Just sharing your annoyance!

Ahhh what a rotten experience. i can only echo what the other girls said.

Go to some more shops (don't go back to the meanie one). Take some other people or go on your own I quite enjoyed the trips I made on my own plus you can narrow don't what you want with out others personal preference getting in your way.

I have to say while it took a lot of shopping trips to find a dress ( I tried a lot of dresses silly numbers) most of my experiences were posative aprt from one so I know there are pleantly if nice shops out there.

Hey I love a good dress shop so I will even volunteer to go with you. I am queen of not looking at sizes to the extent I have no idea what the measurments are for my dress now, all I know is I love how i think it will fit.!

I worked in the fashion trade for a while when I was younger as it's just as bad with normal clothing to be honest. A lot depends on which country it's made in. Italian dresses are very tiny and generally, people find they need two sizes bigger at least to get into an Italian dress. German clothing is generous and you can usually get into a size smaller if not two sizes smaller. I find the same with shoes too. I'm a size 3 and a half but need a size two in continental shoes and a 4 in British made shoes. The size is very much irrelevant these days - if it fits, it fits. I always cut the labels out anyway on clothes as they annoy me especially the scratchy ones.

I'm sorry your first major trip was so crappy! It sounds like it was nothing to do with you but the shop and the assisstant - who sounds awful!

First of all size 12-14 is NORMAL!!!! Actually, its less then average cos if I remember rightly the average dress size in the uk is 16-18, so heaven knows why some shops only stock size 10 in the samples!!

As others have said - dresses come up ridiculously small, and you do have to be careful because some shops will say you need a dress in a much bigger size then you really do so that they can charge you loads for alterations.

I've only been to 2 shops - one shop all sample sizes were a size 12 and I thought to myself - thats not very clever! It must lose them sales because not everyone can tell how it would look on them in their size (I might add that some of the dresses were too small for me and I'm a size 8-10!!!!)

In the other shop the lady had sample sizes ranging from size 6-22 which I though was much more sensible. And when I took my bridesmaids to another shop my sis was worried cos she's a size 16 and the other two are a size 8, but as it turned out all the bridesmaid sample dresses were in a size 16 so my sis looked gorge in them all and the other 2 still did cos the assistant clipped them with bulldog clips at the back!

So I suppose my point it... don't let it get you down. Start afresh, perhaps take somebody else shopping with you and don't feel embarrassed to ask the shop what sizes their samples come in before you go if it makes you feel better. Good luck - you will find the one!!

xx

Lol, I share your pain!!! I'm nearly 27 and have had a few strange looks when I've walked into the bridal shop and said I'M the bride- not my younger sister who was with me. I look 18 and she looks 25!!!!

Most of the shops i went to only had their dresses in size 14 plus.

I am a size 10 normally and the size 14s were blimmin tight - they come up really really small!

Quite disheartening really.

try lots of other shops - it sounds like you have had a bit of bad luck!

x

Do not go back to that shop, that's an order!

How dare the assistant and your mother make you feel like that.

Echoing what the others have said about the sizes - it always comes as a bit of a shock I must say, but I think most dresses are always 1/2 sizes smaller than you are depending on who makes them.

Please don't feel disheartened. Go shopping to a couple of other shops, take a friend, go out for lunch, make it a better experience. Once you've narrowed it down, then I think take mum just to show her (or not!). I'm sure she was just trying to help, but comments like that are not good for a girl's confidence.

ETA to say 1/2 dress sizes smaller , cos i is a thickie and not really thinking before i type lol!

Ah thanks, i feel so much better after reading these replies!!!! I'm so pleased it isnt just me!!! Stupid dress sizing, gonna try some different shops locally over the next couple of weeks.

I actually think its disguisting as the sizing, comments are how eating disorders begin. You can see why us girls feel pressured into being stick thin!!!!!!

That's a shame you had a bad time with your first big shopping experience. I went to three shops in total, the first shop stocked size 10/12, the second shop only stocked 14/16 of every style. And the third shop ridiculously only had size 8s of every sample! Can you believe it, I think the shop assistant expected me to feel embarrassed as she couldn't get the dresses on me, but I just thought it was ridiculous her shop only stocked those sizes - so she was the one with the problem!

I went in 'proper' bridal shops and eventually bought a 'proper' wedding dress in a size 14 - size 12 bridal dresses were snug on me. I'm actually a size 10/12 normally. Then I changed my mind about the dress I bought and found a dress in Monsoon that I loved. Size 12 hung off me so I've bought a 10. I really wouldn't worry about the number, I think the shops stock small sizes to justify their prices. If the sample is a terrible fit and then you get your made to measure gown with all the fittings and alterations done and it obviously fits like a glove the huge price will seem justified. That's my theory anyway!

I've been to some bad shops too. not so much on size but more like assistants who were rude/not bothered. one woman made me feel like i was inconveniencing her even by being in the shop and daring to want to try on a dress (i had made an appointment not just walked in!!!)

needless to say they didnt get my business!

i even chose my dress in a shop that was ever so slightly more expensive than id seen the same dress in elsewhere as the fitting lady was SO lovely! and i want her to do all my fittings etc.

My dress is a size 10 - I'm a size 8-10 and it's so tiny I'm going to have to corset myself into it otherwise it ruches around the rib cage. Can't have it let out because of the crystal pattern on it would be ruined.

I'm sure I won't even care on the day, I'll be so excited but I'm not going to diet, I'm not changing the dress, it's staying as it is and I'll just not eat that much on the day so I don't get too uncomfortable with the corset on.

I had evil shop people and was really disappointed at how unfun the whole day was. I went to about 10 shops, spending a whole Saturday trying on horrible dresses and only about 1 shop was nice and then I ended up buying the dress I tried on first! (Which no other one could compare to and I still love it after 6 years!)

I even got thrown out of one shop...