that some brides should not choose strapless dresses.....

[PosieParker]

Just saw another collection of pictures with a bride getting married in a dress where humongous breasts are nearly falling out and arms are huge. Now I've seen a few curvy girls look lovely like this and so it's not a size thing, but more of a suitability thing. I am not large but my arms are not small and so I wouldn't wear this. Why do some folk not know their own shape?

[TattyDevine]

I tend to agree and tend to avoid this kind of dress myself.

I got married years ago but you would be AMAZED at how little choice there actually is in terms of dress style for those who like a little more coverage round the shoulders and arms.

Everything seems to be strapless or shoestring style straps (which may as well be strapless), or off the shoulder bodicy types.

If there is something with sleeves or more coverage, it is often out of season or frumpy or wrong in some other way, or god forbid, a meringue, and the nice ones are £3000+ (that I found anyway)

So YANBU but despite all the hundreds of dresses out there, brides are not always spoilt for choice...

[MardyBra]

YABU
If they feel comfortable and think they look lovely, then then should wear what they bloody like.

[TattyDevine]

Also, if you are getting married in a church, you want the vicar to be speaking of the body of christ, not muttering "christ, what a body" as you walk down the aisle.

But generally I think brides should wear what they are happy and feel beautiful in.

[booooooooooyhoo]

YABU

it is up to each individual bride what she wears on her wedding day. thsi is one day where she definitely should be suiting herself and not listening to anyone else's rude comments about what she chode to wear.

[saffy85]

YANBU I personally would never wear a strapless dress without some hefty scaffolding under my boobs to keep them up.

Not all styles suit all brides. I refuse to believe that all brides look gorgeous on their wedding day. My stepmum looked too bog round the hips and her maid of honour looked like a very cheap sofa. Serves them both right for being brutally honest when trying on dresses.

[ISNT]

YANBU but also agree with tatty that if you want something other than strapless there is very very little to choose from. I hate my armpits (don't ask!) and had a helluva job finding a dress with little sleeves. They were all strapless or with full length sleeves + full coverage everywhere else = aimed at much older brides. It was very strange.

[PosieParker]

Perhaps there is a market for a more conservative dress! Even when, when I got engaged, I was a tiny six I hated my arms and so wouldn't have wanted a strapless dress.

[saffy85]

big not bog.

[bigfootbeliever]

YABU - live and let live.

No-one is forcing you to wear one.

[ISNT]

I mean strapless is not an easy look to wear, IMO. I would've looked shit but it was a total PITA finding anything else.

Shame really.

[PosieParker]

Interesting that what is available is the trap of not looking ones best, true even for you winter evening dresses!

[PosieParker]

I know I am projecting my own insecurities.

[kveta]

well I'm rotund on the large side and had a shoestring strap type dress and it looked ok (I think!). my parents spent all the time before the wedding telling me it would look ridiculous and I'd be an ugly bride then decided on the day it wasn't so bad (photo on profile). I'm not sure whether you're being unreasonable or not tbh!

[LabMonkey]

I found loads of sleeved dresses on French and Italian sites when I was looking but couldn't find anything in the UK. I'm lucky with a Mum who made my dress for me - with sleeves. I think it depends if the bride is comfortable rather than size. I'm a 10/12 and I look hideous in strapless dresses. The UK wedding industry has convinced brides it's the only option so it's all you get.

[TattyDevine]

Its true about evening dresses. When I see a really chic dress with some kind of sleeve, I snap it up.

I'm not totally paranoid about arms, as such - but I dont always like the total strapless held there by your boobs thing. Depends a bit on the occasion.

In terms of ballgowns, there is VERY little else. Its all prom style stuff and strapless or silly straps that are so silly it may as well be.

I guess its hard to design a dress with more coverage that doesn't look casual or matronly...

[perfumedlife]

YANBU I wore one and bitterly regret it now. I was slim, but that bit of breast fat/skin at bust height always hangs out.

What can I say, I got married in a hurry

[booooooooooyhoo]

kveta, i think you're wedding dress is gorgeous and also, my ds has that reindeer suit aswell.

[MardyBra]

I have one word for the evening dress dilemma:

PASHMINA

[twilight3]

it's not just brides though, is it? I see all the time people, especially young women, who would look absolutely gorgeous had they not tried to squeeze in clothes that are two sizes too small for them.

[JaneS]

I do think the current trend for identikit, strapless + corset dresses is a bit cruel. Both my girl cousins are big girls and both went on and on about how slim they looked in their dresses (because they've suddenly got waists). It would have been lovely, except one of them burst into tears when she saw her photos because she hadn't realized what she looked like above the waist.

I could cheerfully have gone and yelled at whoever sold her that dress, and I'm not even particularly fond of her.

[TattyDevine]

Oh yes the pashmina thing of course, and there are loads of shrugs and boleros and the like but I just wish there was more choice from an all-in-one perspective. Particularly in the middle of winter etc. Pashminas are a faff, always dipping the fringe in my champas

[Trubert]

I had my wedding dress made because of this. I designed it myself and it didn't cost that much.

I also had two evening dresses made, again to my own design. I am a large woman and I regard it as money well spent in the public interest. I need to be covered up.

[MissMarjoribanks]

YABU, but only because its all you can get.

I had visions of a dress with sleeves to get married in. Could I find one? Not a chance, unless I wanted to pay £3k. Ended up with a strapless dress and a gorgeous lacy cardigan thing to go over it, that the bridal shop's alterations lady actually made for me.

And I had the opposite problem - strapless dresses make me look like an ironing board. Particularly when (again unless I wanted to spend ££££££) bridal bras (i.e. white, strapless) couldn't be found in a smaller size than 34C.

[PiaThreeTimes]

YANBU. Not flattering if you're a larger lass.