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?

I totally agree, unless you have slim arms and small tits you look awful and/or spend your entire day hoiking!

I think they are no longer the fashion, as lace with sleeves has taken over.

Although some can look amazing in strapless, many look atrocious with back fat and dinner lady arms. No-one even remotely fat should wear them, imo.

When I was wedding dress shopping (2006) I threw a bridezilla strop and flounced out of a shop when I was told that I'd 'have to wear strapless because that's the fashion and if I didn't like it then tough'. I found a beautiful long sleeved dress in another shop, which suited my figure and the weather much better

I will say this though there is very little variety other than strapless you have to hunt the classier numbers out, I'm a B2B I want an off the shoulder beauty & the beast style gown, not the easiest to find, so I'm having it made.

My sister wore a strapless dress at her wedding, shes small busted and looked beautiful, i couldnt wear that dress as my boobs are F cup, i'd be spilling out of them.

Ughfootball that casablanca dress is amazing such a beautiful shape. thats what a wedding dress should be like in my humble opinion. only with sleeves though.

one of my favourite dresses is maggie sotteros cassia - got my eye on it for if i get married!

When I got married, strapless wasn't really an option.

But meringues were!

Every wedding dress had big puffy sleeves, usually with ruffles.
Lots of lace and embroidery on the bodice.
A big train.
Cutouts with lace and bead inserts on the sleeves and skirt.

Not lovely.

I wish dresses like this had been available at the time I got married ('92)
www.phase-eight.co.uk/fcp/product/warehouse/Wedding-Dresses/Elizabeth-Wedding-Dress/201337106

2 that dress is beautiful,very similar to what i'd want.

This <a class="break-all" href="http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?q=wedding+dress+1992&um=1&hl=en&sa=N&tbo=d&qscrl=1&rlz=1T4NNVC_enGB474GB474&biw=1366&bih=641&tbm=isch&tbnid=mP_jrPuWFsmXDM:&imgrefurl=irishfarmerette.com/2012/08/29/20th-wedding-anniversary/&docid=mTsIvBZAGyid7M&imgurl=irishfarmerette.files.wordpress.com/2012/08/wedding-photos-bride-and-father-1992.jpg&w=1616&h=1944&ei=KYXwUNXoL-7M0AXb5YBY&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=330&vpy=280&dur=3392&hovh=246&hovw=205&tx=137&ty=164&sig=114326426138152869380&page=2&tbnh=144&tbnw=120&start=28&ndsp=38&ved=1t:429" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">www.google.co.uk/imgres?q=wedding+dress+1992&um=1&hl=en&sa=N&tbo=d&qscrl=1&rlz=1T4NNVC_enGB474GB474&biw=1366&bih=641&tbm=isch&tbnid=mP_jrPuWFsmXDM:&imgrefurl=irishfarmerette.com/2012/08/29/20th-wedding-anniversary/&docid=mTsIvBZAGyid7M&imgurl=irishfarmerette.files.wordpress.com/2012/08/wedding-photos-bride-and-father-1992.jpg&w=1616&h=1944&ei=KYXwUNXoL-7M0AXb5YBY&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=330&vpy=280&dur=3392&hovh=246&hovw=205&tx=137&ty=164&sig=114326426138152869380&page=2&tbnh=144&tbnw=120&start=28&ndsp=38&ved=1t:429,r:49,s:0,i:235
is what I was stuck with....until my Mum offered to make mine for me instead and came up with a lovely, much simpler design.

I am small of boob and broad of shoulder, narrow of waist and broad of hip. I went with strapless 50s style with epic underskirts and vintage lace worked into the bodice, plus a bolero in the same lace as my arms are not skinny. Everyone said I looked amazing

YANBU though about strapless dresses on people who really, really haven't thought about it.

I do like that phase eight one.

OTheYule sounds lovely. Any chance of a pic?

Because (based on having been a bridesmaid several times and traipsed round inordinate numbers of wedding dress shops) there is nothing else available! I have a theory which says "follow the money". As someone who's done a lot of dress making, sleeves use a surprising amount of material, and are difficult to set in place (and so require a lot of skilled woman-hours - I think I'm right in assuming most of the labour in the far-east factories where the bulk of wedding dresses are manufactured are women). So it costs money to make dresses with long sleeves, and this eats into your profits. Never mind the fact that there are very, very few women who actually look good in boned sleeveless dresses (too curvaceous and you get the icecream oozing over the cone effect, too slender and it looks like you have a lampshade strapped to your torso as it stands proud of your boobs at the top).

YANBU. I think a lot of people pick them because they think non-strapless dresses are a bit frumpy, plus the corset-style of strapless dress means you can get a nice figure...from the boobs down. But as everyone has said, then you have the problem of back fat.

I was adamant that I didn't want strapless. The shops had a lot more strapless dresses than everything else, but it wasn't exclusively strapless. High necks and cap sleeves are becoming more and more popular, especially with the higher end designers. This is mine I hope I look as good as she does in it.

Lovely dress tips

I'm a 36DD and wouldn't look good in a high neck either. I can do sleeves but would have to be with something similar to the neckline on the dress that you've linked to.

Thank-you everyone for the lovely comments.

Ok, so for those saying anyone who isn't slim shouldn't wear strapless, please enlighten me as to what style dress us unfortunate fatties should actually be wearing?! Trust me, cap sleeves and straps look equally bad on chunky bingo-winged arms and broad shoulders, high neck makes big boobs look horrific, and anything un-corseted is much less flattering around the rest of the body. So whilst there are some beautiful suggestions on this thread, I haven't seen any that would suit anyone larger than a size 10!

I think strapless can look nice on bigger women, its really heavy busted women like me, who couldnt get away with them, unless it was well supported.

Had to chime in on this one! I got married almost 13 years ago and even then everything was strapless! I was an "older" first time bride, I got married at 36. I was thin but not toned and I never wore strapless anything in my life (just don't have good arms) and certainly wasn't going to wear one on my wedding day!

I found ONE dress that was not strapless short sleeved instead. When I went back to buy it, it was Gone, turned out it was there but on the clearance rack! Apparently no one wanted even the last dress that was not strapless! Thankfully I rescued it and bought it! I truly can't believe this fad has not died out yet.

I don't think they are popular - certainly when I got married (around 8 years ago) there literally was nothing else available. I wore a shawl around my giant broad shoulders.

What a sad thread...I felt like a million dollars in my dress. I'm a size 14, not particularly toned, 36C bust, probably showing some back fat, no tattoo though thank fuck. Makes me look at my wedding pics and feel like a whale now. Ah well,

What a sad thread...I felt like a million dollars in my dress. I'm a size 14, not particularly toned, 36C bust, probably showing some back fat, no tattoo though thank fuck. Makes me look at my wedding pics and feel like a whale now. Ah well,

YANBU

Very few women suit those dresses, but everyone seems to wear them.

Back fat, pasty skin, overflowing breasts, and tattoos, very classy.

I sometimes wonder if bridal shops hypnotise them when the walk through the door so that they see a different image to what everyone else sees.

Oh well surely the fad will eventually end.

I seen it on Telly recently, big breasts stuffed into a strapless dress, that just looks awful.