to not understand why strapless wedding dresses are so popular?

[Floogel]

I just think that on lots of people they are not the most flattering style. Yes they do look great on some people, but I don't get why 99% of the styles are strapless?

YANBU. This is not a bitchy thread, and you're going to get hundreds of posters saying "well I wore it and I looked nice!".

However, what I don't understand is whether it's a chicken and egg situation. Do brides always wear strapless because it's hard to get anything else? and then did designers think "Oh everyone's wearing strapless so that's all we'll make?" Is it a vicious circle?

When I bought my wedding dress in 2006, the only dress with sleeves was the one I bought and I wasn't in love with it. I didn't want a strapless/bolero combo but there was literally no other choice.

It's THAT that annoys me. The fact that 99% of wedding dresses are strapless and people looking for sleeves have to look really hard or go online or go to a dressmaker. Plus there are SOOO many strapless dresses that whenever you know a wedding is coming up, the bride's dress always looks the same to me.

I used to sell wedding dresses, and lots of women would walk in and say, 'I don't want strapless but that's all I can find everywhere else'. I don't think it is predictable who will look good in strapless to be honest - it's not about whether you're thin or fat or have big or small boobs etc, I've seen different shaped necklines and bodices look very different on various shapes and some very slim women look dreadful in strapless, others look great, same for those who are bigger.

I didn't want strapless as I have fat arms and a bony xylophone chest, so I had mine made - <a class="break-all" href="http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?um=1&hl=en&sa=N&tbo=d&biw=1024&bih=455&tbm=isch&tbnid=dn02Z3N05KPWzM:&imgrefurl=joanneflemingdesign.com/emma---nick.html&docid=RdCFoRbK6_w8RM&imgurl=sites.showitfast.com/49593/89585/site_html/emma---nick.jpg&w=1280&h=865&ei=xDPwUOaRCsyR0QWohoDgDQ&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=4&vpy=128&dur=277&hovh=184&hovw=273&tx=106&ty=98&sig=107945346174162943221&page=1&tbnh=132&tbnw=181&start=0&ndsp=14&ved=1t:429,r:0,s:0,i:82" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">me in my dress - any excuse! I got married in 2009 and it was either strapless or get it made....

emsy- you look beautiful, really classy.

I think strapless dresses expose too much and I really object to the fact that if you don't like them you have to go to loads of trouble to get a wedding dress from a dressmaker or order online and risk it not suiting when you try it on.

There's a massive business opportunity here, why can't strapless dress suppliers see it?

I think it is such a shame that there is still such an expectation that a bride will wear a white/cream/ivory dress, as well as the ubiquitousness of the strapless style.

For a lot of women this is the most they will ever spend on a dress, and the most time and attention they will put into choosing it. It is also a day above others that you will want to look your absolute best. So why stick with white? Why is going for a colour still seen as such an oddity?

I am getting married this year and will be having a dress with a square neckline, little cap sleeves, and it is a gorgeous dark gold colour. It has been really quite odd but I have had several people get all interested in asking me what it will look like, right up to the point when I say that it will not be white, whereupon they have abruptly lost interest and not asked a single other question.

Aaaah, thanks YouOldSlag - to be fair I think the fashion is starting to move forward. The mainstream designers like Alfred Angelo, Maggie Sottero etc will take a while to catch up, but the higher end ones are moving away from a fully strapless collection and if you have £££ to spend you can find non-strapless dresses - but if you're on a budget it's much harder, as non-strapless styles are the more fashion forward UK designers in my experience, and they are often made here and cost more.

Interesting point raised that strapless are easier to make and therefore have a higher profit margin... I'd never thought about it that way, but it makes sense. It's no doubt much easier to fit a corset-backed strapless dress on a variety of sizes than it is to make sure sleeves are placed correctly and straps sit properly with necklines in the right place etc.

I thought Kate Middleton's dress was lovely (for whoever slagged it off further up the thread).

YANBU, strapless suits so few. All clothes look better on the slim (hence models being skinny), so this isn't about size, but rather it is an unflattering style for just about everyone.

I was lucky, as my mum made my wedding dress - we married in 1993 (god, that long ago) and my dress was regency/jane austen stylee with a little short old gold velvet jacket. This was just BEFORE the infamous TV Pride & Predj with Colin Firth. My dress looked v much like something Jennifer Ehle wore, but I married before then so was not copying (gah!).

Thistledew - link please? (cheeky)

I have a thread in s & b which is very sparsely populated. Love the sound of dark gold

My SIL had a strapless dress which looked lovely on. However, a few drinks down the line she stood on the front of her dress and pulled it down to reveal her boobs!! Very embarrassing.

I think strapless dresses are fine, it's just the back fat and tattoos that make them look unattractive.

Sorry curry, but I can't link because it is being designed from scratch for me by a close friend of the family who is a dress maker! I have gone from being a bit 'meh' about the whole thing to being ridiculously excited about the dress. My friend is part way through making a toile at the moment, and I spent a few days over Christmas saying "how about a bit more of a tuck here, a flounce there, and angle on that bit", and seeing it starting to come together. I know I am very lucky in having a skilled friend who can do this for me without spending the price of a small house, but I know several women who have spent several thousand pounds and still just ended up with an ivory strapless dress.

Mine had removable sleeves and when I look at the pictures I looked much nicer when the sleeves were on.

My figure was (at the time, ha!) fine for it but without the sleeves it did indeed look ubiquitous.

This one. www.stephanieallin.net/collections/a-fine-romance/casablanca/

I heard somewhere that there are so many strapless dresses in the shops because they are cheap to make compared to those with sleeves, so it's partially manufacturer led.

ScarlettLady SNAP!! I also got married at 7 months pregnant and in black. I had a dress from Ghost, chosen for the strechiness.

What I don't like about strapless dresses is that the structure built into the bodice often gives it such a hard, un-natural shape - more like a suit of armour than a garment.

curryeater - thank-you so much. We couldn't afford a photographer so all pics were taken by family and friends.

slug - I love seeing people's faces when you say you got married in black....priceless

Beautiful ScarletLady! Your whole face is lit up, you have a lovely smile. Good dress too .

Actually high necks and sleeves for women with big boobs looks awful

I think a whole range of women can pull off strapless, they just need to go for the right fit. Mine was strapless but I wore a feather bolero with it because I got married at Christmas. I loved my look on the day, wish I could do it all again!

Yanbu
GOD I love that Phase 8 dress. I want to get married again, in that! Also liked Emsyj one, quite 50s!

I'm super 'meh' about wedding dresses, they're all the same and overpriced.

I'm slim and (v) small chested and I looked like a boy in the beasts I tried on anyway. Mine had thin straps as it was a thin material dress.

I find it mad that 70s brides had everything covered bar their faces and fingers and modern brides practically have their baps out. (I'm sure I've said this before...)

www.weddingdresses.com/files/2010/10/revealingweddingdress.jpg

I think this is what OP means, sorry dont know how to link them yet.

Greg's link

Scarlet Such a beautiful photo, and you owned not being traditional, not all dresses have to be white.

Thanks Chaotic

Not sure why someone would wear a dress like that.

Its not just white, you can have floral if you like...& a little something in your hair perhaps

giant sleeves anyone

Strapless dresses are like everything else, they suit some but not other's.

ScarlettLady you look lovely :)

Greg you're welcome :)

I personally, if ever I did get married, would avoid wearing ivory/cream/white. I tried on a cream coloured cardigan last year and you've heard of the saying death warmed up well...I was more death stone cold. The colour just drained from my face. I can get away with wearing a white vest because of the expanse of skin between the white and my face but unless I went for a strapless number, which I'd prefer to avoid, I'd end up looking like the zombie bride