The Dress Debacle

Whew, I have not posted in quite a while!  Life got a little busy over the past two months as the new school year started and my schedule had to be adjusted.  I was also planning to get things prepared for the trip I took to Florida last week for my sister's wedding!  She gave me her blessing to talk about her wedding on my blog. =D

Anyway, by now you're probably wondering what the title of this post means.  Well, my sister had no problems with her dress.  She found her wedding dress with little trouble, received within a reasonable period of time, and got it tailored to fit her perfectly!  She was so bee-yootiful!

I, however... her maid of honor... rather her "braid of monor" ... ::wink wink::... was not as lucky.
Hit the jump for the story~



So around July, my boyfriend accompanied me to David's Bridal to help me pick out a dress.  My sister's only requirement was that the color of the dress be cognac.  The style was entirely up to me and the same went for the rest of her bridesmaids.  Since the wedding was not a super formal affair and was being held during the day, we all agreed to aim for skirts that went up to the knees.

I tried on a few and found a strapless number that I really liked and the boyfriend agreed that it looked good on me. I had tried on a size 6 and it fit me like a glove.  I wouldn't have to do the chicken dance at all.  An associate measure me to verify my size and placed the order for me.  The color cognac is always a special order for David's Bridal.  I was told that my dress would be ready by October 1st at the latest.  The wedding date was October 12th.  I figured that even though October 1st was the deadline, I'd probably get it earlier.

I let the other bridesmaids know that I got my dress.  About a week later, one of them went to a David's Bridal, found a dress she liked, and placed the order.  She got her dress with in the month.  I was a bit puzzled that I hadn't heard from my store yet but waited it out through August.

By mid-September, I was getting a bit antsy.  I also started to worry about the dress size as I realized my pants were feeling a little tight.  What if it didn't fit?  I called the store to check on the status and they said it wasn't ready yet while also reminding me that I still had until October 1st.  I called a week later and got the same response.

Finally on September 28th, they called me to let me know my dress was in.  I went the next day with my friend to pick it up.  I went to the fitting room to try it on and... =O No matter how hard she tried, the dress would not zip up the last 2-3 inches.  We got the top buckle to hook but it didn't help.  T.T  I thought I was gonna cry.  I mean, what the heck was I going to be able to do about this when the wedding was three weeks away???

My friend tried to comfort me saying that I might have been bloated since I just finished up my period.  Honestly, I felt that this only confirmed that I had gotten extremely fat since July when I ordered the dress.  Part of me was suspicious that the dress was made incorrectly as it strained against my ribcage.  I went to the counter to see if there was anything that could be done even though deep inside I already knew... David's Bridal could do nothing for me.  There was no way I could get the special order cognac dress in three weeks.  Nor did I even want to argue for one considering this one dress took 2.5 months.

I walked out of the store vowing to go on a emergency diet.  That first week, I drank TONS of water, cut down on carbs and snacks, and went jogging every day.  It didn't take long for me to realize how bloated I had been.  At the end of the week, my boyfriend helped me try on the dress again.  Since he was with me the first time, I knew he would be able to pinpoint the issue better.  Again, the zipper would not go up the last few inches.  I tried flattening my chest but no dice.  My boyfriend admitted I had gained a little weight but not to the point where the dress couldn't be zipped up to the extent.

I was somewhat relieved that it wasn't all me (thought I still felt like a fat cow) but no diet would help me now.  I mean, I can't make my ribcage or my bust just shrink in diameter!  I decided to take a risk and take it to a tailor to get it let out.  I asked around for some suggestions but no one knew of a good tailor who could handle letting out a dress.  I did some research on-line and found a tailor nearby.

I tried the dress on for them and they measured out how much extra material would be needed.  According to a lot of message boards I read, most David's Bridal dresses contain extra material in the seams.  Was it a fact?  At the time, I wasn't so sure.  But the seamstress examined the dress and said she could do it.  I left the dress with an uneasy mind until I picked it up later that week.

I finally called my sister and updated her on the past week.  Lord, I love my sister because she has no ounce of bridezilla in her.  She was super sympathetic and assured me that we could find a way to make it work if the tailor failed.  "We can safety pin the back and cover it with a shawl," she said.  Which was better than my boyfriend's solution of punching holes in the back and lace it up like a corset.  -.-;

So this place ended up doing an amazing job on the dress.  I could not detect any trace of previous seams on the dress where they had let it out.  The seamstress told me that she gave me all the leeway she had available.  I tried it on and crossed my fingers, letting out a sigh of relief when the zipper met the hook at the top.  SUCCESS~~  I felt like kissing this lady!  I happily paid the $50 and skipped out of there!

Just in case, I continued maintaining my exercise regime and monitoring my diet.  The wedding day came and the whole day went smoothly.

Personal Image

Interestingly, I ended up doing the "chicken dance" anyway....

Personal Image

... so did my sister.  LoL!  Just so this post isn't left with an impression of her silly pose, here's a good one:

Personal Image

Personal thoughts:  I felt it was ridiculous that I had gotten my dress three weeks before the wedding while the other bridesmaid got hers so quickly.  I do feel that the dress I tried on and my dress were not the same size at all.  We did consider that maybe the floor sample stretched out but that material does not easily warp like that.  All in all, I will probably avoid David's Bridal in the future.  Which is a shame because they do have some nice things at affordable prices.  =T

Also, I'm still feeling a little fatty so even though the wedding has passed, I am continuing my regime.  I'll keep posts on my progress.