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Original poster

Wedding dresses for petite bride

30 replies

HollowTalk · 01/02/2020 21:16

I hope someone here can give me some good ideas. My son is getting married and his fiancee lives abroad. She wants me to look out for some good sites for wedding dresses. She's 5'1" and size 8. A lot of the dresses I've seen say the model is 5'10" and I know the dresses will swamp her.

She's not going to spend a fortune - upper limit is around £400 - and I've suggested she looks out for bridesmaid dresses (for herself) as well as wedding dresses, though she does want white/ivory. She's not after a huge wedding dress. I love the Ghost dresses and think they're the sort of thing she's after, but they are just too long for her.

I'd love some ideas for sites if anyone was in the same position. She won't be in the UK for a few months so can't go to local shops.

OP posts:
Andahelterskelterroundmylittle · 01/02/2020 21:26

www.styleaisle.co.uk/wedding-dresses-c-68.html?flt_12_30=30
I love these for petite brides ... within your budget too. I'm afraid I can't comment on quality or anything but they look cute

Original poster
HollowTalk · 01/02/2020 21:44

Thanks so much for answering! I'll have a look at them.

OP posts:
EnriqueTheRingBearingLizard · 01/02/2020 22:05

Have a really good search through ASOS using various key words.

Here's an example
www.asos.com/maya-petite/maya-petite-bridesmaid-v-neck-maxi-tulle-dress-with-tonal-delicate-sequins-in-silver/prd/11127492?clr=&colourWayId=16287387&SearchQuery=wedding

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Clothing General style & beauty
CurbsideProphet · 01/02/2020 22:10

I'm 5ft and wore a dress from LouLou Bridal Smile They do a lot of tea dress length bridal dresses. Mine was about £300 from a bridal shop selling off their end of season samples.

Original poster
HollowTalk · 01/02/2020 22:14

Thank you! So in LouLou Bridal you find the dress you like then find the stockist?

OP posts:
Ihaveamind · 01/02/2020 22:21

Your bridesmaid dress idea is good, my SIL did that as she is 5"1.
She wore white with a veil and was a beautiful bride.
She got hers in a traditional bridal shop because she wanted to be able to try it on with help (clips etc) before buying and altering.

Original poster
HollowTalk · 01/02/2020 22:25

The trouble is that she doesn't live in a place that sells the sort of clothes we have here, so she really wants something from here. I think she'll be able to get it altered but obviously some dresses would be really difficult to alter.

OP posts:
elaeocarpus · 01/02/2020 22:36

Why not get a dressmaker to make one? That's what i did, same height/size

Original poster
HollowTalk · 01/02/2020 22:39

She's from quite a poor area - they met in London and she'll live here afterwards but for the moment she's not in the UK. It's a risky thing but my son will take it over to her (if we find one) and he can bring it back or she can sell it online over there if it doesn't fit. I know, it's an odd way of going about it!

OP posts:
KatyMac · 01/02/2020 22:44

I help alter wedding dresses so if you send me pictures of one's she likes I can probably tell which will be impossible to shorten

I some shops you can order a dress in a 'shorter' length

minipie · 01/02/2020 22:50

What about looking for a second hand dress that belonged to someone similar sized? Usually there are anonymised pics of the dress being worn so she can see whether they look like the same sort of size and shape as her.

I’m petite and the simpler styles definitely worked best for me. Anything too complicated or structured just drowned me.

Tea length would work but is quite a vintage/1950s look which may not be her thing.

caringiscreepy · 01/02/2020 22:53

I got mine from phase eight for around that price. Got it turned up but otherwise it fitted perfectly , good luck!

Original poster
HollowTalk · 01/02/2020 23:02

Thank you, @katymac. I'll message you when she's found something she likes.

OP posts:
Original poster
HollowTalk · 01/02/2020 23:03

I'm a bit reluctant to recommend a used dress - I know it's normal here and my daughter would be up for that, but I think it might not be something she'd want. I'm being very careful to be a good MIL! The last thing I need is her starting threads on me!

OP posts:
KatyMac · 01/02/2020 23:07

No problem - I don't do it any more but I have some good experience about it

I now make dresses from reclaimed/vintage fabrics & excitingly tomorrow I have my first brand photoshoot possibly in the rain

Original poster
HollowTalk · 01/02/2020 23:29

Oh that's exciting! How's your daughter getting on?

OP posts:
KatyMac · 01/02/2020 23:30

She is modelling one of the dresses! (It has been exhibited in London as part of a display on reducing waste)

She is a free-range dancer and I see her rarely!

Saisong · 01/02/2020 23:34

Phase 8 do petite sizes. I got mine from there in the sale and was under £250. Not a white fluffy meringue either, bit still appreciably a wedding dress.

Kinsters · 02/02/2020 04:19

I'm 5'2" and size 8 and wore quite a classic a-line wedding dress that was altered to fit. It was fairly simple, just lace with a ribbon around the waist, no embellishments and all one material. It had an almost empire waist which made me look a bit taller and wasn't particularly wide (but not fitted).

The most important thing is the fit in my opinion. Being short and slim I'd think most styles would work as long as they're properly fitted (maybe not fishtail or very puffy/embellished, you can't have too much going on if you're smaller)

Underhisi · 02/02/2020 07:31

I'm the same height and was a size 10. I went for a classic slim A line style with vertical embroidery and a short train. I avoided dresses with obvious horizontal features. Mine was from a standard bridal shop. Most dresses can be made to fit but if there are a lot of alterations it becomes expensive. Mine just needed shortening.

minipie · 02/02/2020 10:24

Slim A line with a high ish waist here too. Seems to be a good style for petites.

Original poster
HollowTalk · 02/02/2020 12:56

Thanks for all your comments. She knows the style she wants, so that isn't the issue. I was just wondering whether anyone could recommend online stores that they'd used.

OP posts:
mencken · 02/02/2020 13:02

a dress that will only be worn for a few hours should be second-hand, and as it is a wedding dress the previous user will only have worn it for a few hours too. New frilly frocks are an easy lose if we actually do give a tiny stuff about the planet.

as an aside I find 'petite' quite nauseatingly princessy. If a description is needed why not 'short and thin'?

Original poster
HollowTalk · 02/02/2020 16:59

Yes, 'petite' sounds awful, but it's the label used on the websites.

It's not up to us to say whether she wears secondhand or not. I think people who have a lot can wear secondhand much easier than those who don't, tbh.

OP posts:
happypotamus · 02/02/2020 17:24

I am 5ft and was a size 8 when I got married. I got my dress off the rail at a wedding fair so it was a normal length and not a size 8 (and cheap because it was end of season). The wedding dress shop that it was from managed to adapt it to fit me perfectly. I don't know how, as it was a completely different size. Obviously this added to the price but it wasn't horrendously expensive and the dress was cheap in the first place in the sale. Is that an option? Are there very good dressmakers where she is who could either make one or adapt one to fit?