to think strapless wedding dresses aren't very flattering.

[meyesmyeyes]

They look so unflattering on most people, especially if the top bit is too tight, resulting in any back and side fat 'spilling' up and over the sides of the dress.
You see Brides spending the whole day hoicking the dress up every five minutes - not a good look on your wedding day surely.

Anybody else think that the more traditional dresses look better?

[balletnotlacrosse]

Oh and I agree. Geri Halliwell's dress was lovely. As was Kate Middleton's.

[rubybleu]

Strapless gowns were a trend... but having visited a swag of dress shops in April trying to find a corseted gown (which are nearly always strapless) that I could add sleeves or an illusion neckline to, I found they are now almost an endangered species. I'm slim but need structure to avoid getting swamped by fabric, and didn't want a backless gown for a winter wedding.

Everything in the shops is now lace and backless and 'soft' in tailoring which is great for wedding dress makers as it's cheap to mass produce. They do have sleeves though! It was an incredibly frustrating experience looking at rack after rack of cheap lace.

[Amber76]

I think strapless can look good on certain figures but hate to see a bride on the dance floor pulling at her dress and/or revealing more than we'd like to see.

I wore a lovely lace vintage looking dress with an empire line and straps and a week before the wedding I thought it needed something extra and I had a dressmaker put little lace cap sleeves onto it. It was lovely - lots of compliments and the dress looks lovely in photos. I often wear dresses of a similar shape (full length, empire line, some sleeve or wrap) so I know the shape worked well for me.

[MrsHathaway]

FOAF was recently married and the photos have just landed on FB.

Bridesmaids are in beautiful icy blue stapless-except-for-sheer-panels. Supportive and elegant and sexy all at once.

Bride is strapless and it has dropped in the photos. It's a real shame because she looks otherwise fabulous but there's weird boob overspill which she doesn't get in normal clothes and if she'd had the same top as her bridesmaids it would have been utterly chic and fabulous.

[JacquesHammer]

This thread is bonkers - what bride chooses a weeding dress just to ensure the congregation aren't bored

I had strapless. I tried on 28 wedding dresses of a variety of styles because I had no pre-conceived notion of what I wanted. The one I chose was immensely flattering - it was stunning. And because I was sensible it fit like a glove and there was absolutely no need to hoik.

ANY badly fitting wedding dress looks worse than well fitting councterparts, it isn't a reserve of the strapless gown

[MrsV2012]

As long as there's no back fat, bingo wings or burger boobs, they can be, and are, beautiful. The problem is, when it comes to wedding dresses, a lot of women do dress for the shape they would like to be, not the shape they are

[MadameLeBean]

A strapless dress flatters my body shape the most, YABU
I have slim arms and shoulders and back and decent boobs

[OkyDoke]

Really looking forward to wearing my strapless dress in two months now after reading this. I wanted cap sleeves. They looked awful. High necked looked bad as i have big-ish boobs. Nothing in my budget remotely like Kate Middleton dress. I don't get on with bardot style, I'd be fiddling with that more than strapless. I like my dress. I look good. But now when I walk down the aisle I'm going to be concentrating on which of you lot might be watching. Very harsh.

[meyesmyeyes]

As long as there's no back fat, bingo wings or burger boobs

What's burger boobs?

[areyoubeingserviced]

The most beautiful wedding dress was worn by Sarah Armstrong Jones .
I had my wedding dress made, because every dress I saw was strapless and tbh I just found them really boring.

[MrsV2012]

meyesmyeyes

Re: burger boobs ...it's the fat between the top of the breasts, and armpits

[FanFuckingTastic]

5madthings

That is exactly the sort of dress I'd want to wear too, with a purple underskirt/shoes.

I've been told by friends I'm "not the marrying type" and I'm almost thirty three with no real serious relationships where I might have considered them someone I'd marry, so maybe they're right.

[meyesmyeyes]

areyoubeing,
just had a look at a pic of Sarah Armstrong Jones's dress. I love the way the bodice goes to a V shape. It's a very pretty dress.
Looking at that dress proves that you can do long sleeves without it looking frumpy. If it's done right.

[BlowingThroughTheJasmineinMyMi]

anna campbell is stuning

[notinagreatplace]

I agree that they are unflattering for the vast majority of women. Almost all of my friends wore one and I can only think of one for whom it was flattering - it seemed to be a choice between back fat and having to hoick it up all the time.

[Yarp]

Gerri Halliwell's dress is very similar to my mum's (1963) wedding dress.

Lovely - the neckline is one I like for wedding dresses

[Lweji]

I don't think anyone should be upset that others are saying that strapless dresses don't suit everyone.
That is perfectly true, as it is for other dress shapes. I quite liked my dress and thought it suited me fine. Other people may have thought otherwise, and it wouldn't suit other body shapes, probably.
It actually doesn't suit my current body shape, as my boobs have grown bigger. It would need reshaping or a more structured model.

[blueshoes]

For those who like anna campbell, I just saw this on ASOS: reasonably priced beaded maxi dress

[Yarp]

blueshoes

That is beautiful

[StaceyAndTracey]

Or this in devore velvet

www.asos.com/needle-thread/needle-thread-fleur-devore-velvet-maxi-dress/prod/pgeproduct.aspx?iid=5364910&clr=Cream&SearchQuery=Needle&pgesize=36&pge=0&totalstyles=103&gridsize=3&gridrow=1&gridcolumn=2

[MitzyLeFrouf]

I quite like that, very 1970s in vibe. I wish they hadn't used such a glaringly white background though, hard to make out the dress.

[andthenagain]

DD1 got married this year in a strapless dress. She is size 8 and was stunning-not a bit of fat overspill