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?

Ah well, mine was strapless, and i was a size 14 and had rather large boobs.

I loved my dress, and still do now, it was quite a high strapless too,well it was on me anyway.

So, I do not really care, loved it and still love it now.

It was this one

I've just been looking at my wedding pictures again

Still very glad about the jacket, however my strapless dress was VERY high. Almost higher at the middle than the edges so there was no cleavage on show.

Makes a difference I think.

those de la Renta gowns are gorgeous, diddl. so classy.

i don't think that gal looks fab, Balloon. i think she looks like every other strapless wedding dress i've seen even on models, like she forgot to put her dress on over her underwear.

imo, no one looks good with that much of their top on display at their wedding.

Oooh, I was just thinking about starting a MN thread on this topic.

Why why why are so few wedding dresses, and bridesmaid dresses, designed without straps or sleeves? Are sleeves evil? Do straps try to strangle you, mid-wedding? I don't get it.

Very few people look good in strapless gowns, but the majority of gowns are designed in this way.

When I get married, I'm hoping to be able to find something like this or this

Not that I'm picky or have expensive tastes or anything ...

That's interesting, diddl, that's the exact style of dress that my wedding dress was altered into. It was strapless (see earlier post) but the sleeves I had added on were like the sleeves in the gown you link to.

Alteration's always an option if there isn't s sufficient range of non-strapless dresses

Grace Kelly was the most beautiful bride in the history of brides ever. I was married in a v hot climate or I would have gone for chantilly lace as well.

Oh I want to do it all again!

OP - YANBU. I had a strapless wedding dress but had a matching shrug (which covered arms and made a lovely diamond neckline with the dress) for the day and went strapless in the evening - and in preparation for it I spent 3 months working out hard at the gym to have lovely toned arms and a fab toned upper back. Am pleased to say that there was no back fat or ham arm to be seen in my wedding photos. If I hadnt got the results I wanted, I'd have kept the shrug on all evening too. If you're going to commit to a strapless dress you need to make sure you do the ground work to ensure it looks good on you.

hmm...nah, could not be bothered with "groundwork"! Still I think I looked nice in my dress, or as nice as it was possible to look, and if anyone at my wedding thought different, well tough! They matter not one jot to me, dh thought I looked lovely.

And anyway, after all the free wine and booze we had flowing, I bet even those people thought I looked lovely!

the problem with strapless is that it creates huge bulges at the back. Not a nice look. At all.

when the back has bigger cleavage than the front it is not a great look!

There is nothing wrong with dressing to flatter your figure - and being realistic about what that means.

Let us not forget that strapless dresses can look just as bad on thin women. They look awful on me because I've got a rather bony chest. I went to a wedding where the bride looked positively skeletal in her strapless gown, with disappearing boobs to boot.

diddl, I love that Christos gown! Their dresses are gorgeous.

BalloonSlayer - on the uptight-clothing turquoise dress, I have always loved the embroidered train on that dress and actually had it already saved in my embroidery patterns file.

True, Bue. Which is why I think they're just a bad idea in general for wedding dresses.

There's on on Wedding House right now. Designer tried to make her a lovely shrug, but there she is with her big ol' cooked ham arms out.

It doesn't look good. She might think she looks amazing, but to the rest of the world, she looks like a main sail in Force 7 gale.

I think strapless dresses are dull and boring.

YABU and mean spirited

AbsofCroissant, those are beautiful gowns. I love the one you are contemplating, so lovely.
It is lace without being "fussy".
Sigh.

Agree with expat!

Went to a colleague's wedding last Sat and she had the strapless dress uniform, complete with ham arms and back overhang.

NOT a good look. Being a bride doesn't automatically make you look gorgeous.

Ooooh this thread is interesting!

My close friend is getting married in the autumn, we were discussing wedding dresses & she is adamant about not wearing a strapless dress, she has an, ahem, very strong dislike of them.

She is tall (5 ft 10) and slim (size 8-10) with a reasonable bust so I think she would look gorgeous in strapless. Just goes to show that one style does not suit/appeal to all, despite their figure.

Just having a think back to all the weddings I have attended since summer 2009- all 5 of the brides wore a strapless wedding dress...all but one of them were church weddings. 3 in England, 2 in France/Italy.

Having a snoop browse on FB, most of the brides are in strapless too...I agree with the poster about brides being too skinny for strapless.
One girl I know from primary school had an exquisite looking strapless wedding gown in her pictures on FB, but her chest looked so bony and the dress kind of looked too small to cover her top half, as if it finished too low down and her minimal cleavage got all squished down.

I am yet to be married & I am taking notes...

I have to add- damn that K-Middy & her wedding gown last year...she nicked my idea!

That is the kind of bodice style I would love to have- is so Grace Kelly and beautifully elegent IMO.

Still, won't stop me wearing a dress like that one day!:)

I think the fashion for sleeveless dresses (not just wedding dresses) is an evil ploy by manufacturers to get us to spend more because many people will end up buying a shrug or cardigan as well.

YANBU

I agree, and it is so dull that EVERYONE has to wear the same style of wedding dress these days...I also think that the standard white wedding dress doesn't actually suit that many people without the looks and figure to carry it off. People should think what looks good on them, not what is the "done thing".

Nothing wrong with my arms, but I definitely wanted a wedding dress with sleeves, and found a beautiful blue vintage dress and veil that were gorgeous. I remember looking for a dress and seeing these women trying on dresses that looked HIDEOUS on them...

Aww, my DS was only a week old when this thread was started...

My mums dress was like Kate Middletons when she married my dad. Except for the neckline. I always wanted one like that.
My wedding dress was knee length and had short sleeves. It was white though (well, you know, ivory :))

I tend to agree with the op.
Very few brides suit a strapless dress, infact most would look better in another style.
I think for a strapless dresss to work you have to have a decent bust but be very toned on your upper body. Preferably with a slightly defined collar bone and toned or slim arms.
I also am a lover of sleeves of some sort on a wedding dress. It helps to balance out an imperfect shape. I was so glad that Catherine Middleton did no go down the strapless route.