Gown Shopping Tips

• Take a day off and go out with a bunch of friends just to look at what’s out there. Leave your wallets at home, and don't make any final decisions that day. It'll be fun, but not stressful.
• Don't bring a lot of friends with you when you are making a final decision. Bring one trusted friend, or your mom. If you have a whole bunch of people in on the final decision, all you will end up with is a headache. You can get all the girls together to go accessory shopping after you’ve got the gown.
• Try to avoid busy shopping times, like Saturdays, Pre-Christmas shopping, etc
• Don't leave it to the last minute. You MAY fall in love with a gown that needs to be ordered in, or requires major alterations. Starting early keeps all your options open.
• Bring shoes that you that match or are approximately the same height as the shoes you expect to wear to with the gown.
• If you are planning on wearing structural undergarments like a push up bra, a corset type bodysuit, or anything like that, that will alter your shape at all, wear it when you are trying on gowns. It WILL affect how it looks in the end.
• On the flip side, if you are going for a dress that you won't be able to wear a bra with, don't try gowns on with a push up bra on!
• Even if you have your heart set on that princess dress with lots of lace and pouffy frills, try on a bunch of different styles. You may be surprised at what looks, and what FEELS the best on you.
• If you are using magazines to help shop for styles, don't rip pages out of them. A lot of times, gowns can be searched for using the page number of the magazine it is in.
• Don't spread yourself too thin, and don't expect to find your perfect gown in one trip. Try to space it out over a few trips, and set a limit to how many gowns you will try on in a trip. Once you get to, say, the 100th dress on a given day, you'll be sick of it all. Twelve hours of gown shopping would be a killer! At that point, you'll probably either buy whatever (no matter what it looks like), or pass up a dress that would be perfect!
• Be wise when it comes to listening to salespeople. Many are paid on commission. Trust yourself, and any of your shopping companions first!
• Realize that the sizing guides upon which sample gowns are created are VERY different from the average figure. Average women are shorter in the waist than the fit models used, and this can translate into a poor fit in a gown.
• Not that all gown shops try this, but some do. If you have to order a gown, or all your bridesmaid gowns in, compare your measurements to the chart, and order the size it has on the chart. If you try a size 7, and it fits well, don't be talked into getting a size 9. Some shops actually order larger than needed, to make more money on alterations.