Dress shopping

To be honest most shops i have been in the samples have been biggers sizes 16/18 and then they pin them and clip them to show you what they look like.

you will be fine!! Alot of dresses are corset backs aswel so they can be made bigger/smaller to show you what they look like.

Ian Stewart dresses are expensive!!! you will find lots similar to that style in most shops

have fun!

Oh well that's good to know, thanks!!

I know they aren't cheap and i may well find something similar and cheaper but i LUUUUUUUUUUURVE that dress so much. I think i'll always wonder about it if i don't even try it on.

I know what you mean

I kept finding ones i liked on the internet and then found that they looked totally different in the shops!

Where in the country are you?

I live in Kent...so have found a few stockists down here and a large one in London (that was who just sold their sample). Most shops can get it in for me to try but it will cost to do so, just spoke to one lovely shop in Surrey who said they can do it for free though so i think i will try to get over there.

In a way i hope it'll look awful and something cheaper will look amazing!!! I could stretch my budget to an Ian Stuart if i found one i totally fell for so hopefully it's not a disastrous plan!!

I should have gone shopping with you as most of the ones I tried on were 12/14!

It's not really that bad if they are too small. I probably average out at an 18 all over but the sample of my dress was a 14. You get a fairly good idea of whether it will look OK or not, you just won't be able to get it done up. The only problem I had was when one of the samples was an 8. The asistant said 'Well you can just hold it up to your front and put your arms through the straps to get an idea'. As if I'd spend hundreds of pounds on a dress that I couldn't get on!

Im in Surrey - where abouts was the shop?

I am going dress shopping AGAIN this weekend so ill keep my eye out for that dress and ask around

Count Duck - i havnt tried on a single dress smaller than a 14!!

The shop was Mamfi bridal in Knaphill, the lady was lovely on the phone!! Sounds like Surrey is the place to go then if 14 is smallest you've tried!

Good luck with you shopping, if you do see any Ian dresses or similar styles, let me know!!!?

Maamfi are just down the road from me and are supposed to be quite good. I never went there though as I found my dress before I really started to look properly. I seem to remember Belles in Woking having quite a good selection of sizes, might be worth checking them out as it's only 5 minutes from Knaphill.

Most of the dresses in the shops I went too were 14+...although typically the two dresses I really wanted to try were a size 8 (how crazy is that). I found my dream dress which was out of budget and I did actually consider buying it secnd hand...have you tried looking on some of the websites that people use to sell their dresses (after all they are only worn once). I finally managed to get a deal on my Alan Hannah dress so was happy. Hope you find what you want...be sure to try loads on and try on some that you wouldn't normally think as my dress is nothing like I'd imagined it would be and I LOVE it!

Thanks. I am definitely going to try loads on and will keep an open mind, just feel like i need to try this one...to rule it out if nothing else!

It's good to hear about the sizes.

I'm a size 10 and found that all the dresses came up quite big in the 8 shops I went to. I think they tend to order them in more generous sizes as it's easy to pin smaller people in to a bigger dress than vice cersa so I think you'll be fine.

ETA: I love the dress, not overly keen on the flowers on the side but I'd be surprised if they couldn't be removed if you wanted to . You probably don't want to though!

AR - that dress is lovely. I tried on an Ian Stuart just because my CBM wanted me to try on one of the expensive ones, it was beautiful but so heavy and so much material! I was worried about getting too hot but it is personal taste and if you love it, you have to at least try it on.

The shop where i got my dress was The White Boutique in Bishops Stortford. They stock Ian Stuart dresses, although not the exact one you want, they have very similar ones i.e. same at the bottom but strapless or halterneck. They have a website http://www.thewhiteboutique.co.uk/ianstuart_bridal.html

If it's too far to go, i'm sure you'll find somewhere nearer that does Ian Stuart dresses. At White Boutique their samples varied in size. The dress i chose was a sample size 16.

Good luck and have fun!

Ooooh, lovely dress!

I agree with the others- don't worry too much about sizes as most dresses I've tried on have been a 12/14 and they have ways of making that size fit almost everyone! ?

I was in a shop recently and I felt so bad for the girl as she could not have been more than a size 6 and the dress much have been at least a 12/14! She had to try it on with her jeans underneath to pad it out a little!

Thanks guys, feel much better about the sizes now. Really looking forward to it!!