Bridesmaid dresses for preteens that don't look too 'adult' - do these exist?!

[PickledLily]

There will be 5 bridesmaids, ranging from 6 to 12 yrs old. Thought I'd cracked it and ordered the perfect (in my eyes ) floaty dresses from Next which all the bridesmaids love (not too baby-ish, not too old or too formal). But even the age 15 dress doesn't fit the 12 year old as it's too tight on the chest. I can't imagine the age 16 dress would be much better. The poor girl was in tears.

Any suggestions where I can find a similar dress that would fit the entire age range ideally, or if not then aren't too dissimilar? Everything seems to stop at age 12 and then it's into adult dresses (garish/shiny/too short/too long/strapless/expensive/nasty, nasty, nasty, especially on a 12yo!!!).

I think my only option might be to make them myself

BHS?

Unfortunately BHS only go up to age 13, then it's into the shiny, strapless numbers that I'm trying to avoid.

The reception is in a field a the back of the house, so I'm after something more 'garden fete' than 'formal' wedding attire; the kids have got to be able to run around in whatever they wear.

ahh my friend had this issue and in the end we had to get the 13 yr old an adult dress (from bridal shop) and get it altered so it didn't have a bust, and have straps put on.
is there enough fabric on the next ones that you could let it out a bit on the chest area?

i would say though that it's def worth trying other places like BHS etc. they may be cut differently and be more generous in the fit?

BHS goes to age 14 in 'proper' dresses, size guide says: Height = 164 cm . Chest = 85 cm. Waist = 67 cm. Hip = 91 cm. Which really is quite large.

Sorry, meant to add, Next often falls very, very small. Other brands in age 13 /14 /15 stuff may well fit just fine.

Age 15 in Next is 89cm (about 35 inches), so BHS will be too small. I think she's normally an adult size 10, but very much still a little girl and would look out of place if she was the only one wearing a dress for an older teenager.

I was wondering if I could 'extend' the Next dress, even it involves buying a spare dress from which to raid the extra material. I'd need to put a bust dart in it too, to get a decent fit. It might look a bit 'hashed' together though :-/

I can't see a picture of the back of the Next dress, would it be possible too add a panel of and have it lace up? In any case it should be possible to extend it. Do you know a good seamstress?

(Oh, and did you measure the next one? Their size chart lies IME)

Could you get a dressmaker to make something similar?

My little bridesmaids wore one style, the pre teen another and the adult a style.

"Their size chart lies IME"
Do they? Right, I'm going to measure the dress right now!!

I think the best option would be to add 2 slim side panels - they'd be hidden under her arms but would give the bust some much needed space! I'm pretty handy with a sewing machine so could probably manage it, but a dressmaker would definitely take the stress out of it.

There's no sizeable age gap/height difference between any of the bridesmaids, so I think in this case, different styles would look a bit odd, especially as the wedding won't be 'colour co-ordinated' to tie it all together.

Hetty, you are absolutely right. The cheeky monkeys have lied about the size! The dress measures 88cm across the chest. How on earth is that supposed to accommodate an 89cm chest?!

I guess that's the price you pay for 'cheap' (if you can call it that) clothing - they skimp on cut to keep the profit margin up costs down.

Adding an before I flounce off to phone to Next.

Feckers hey

I suppose it gives a tiny bit of hope that the age 16 might fit, if you measure all the dresses and compare to their 'size chart' (pah) you might be able to work out what the deviance is.

AFAIK BHS are more generous.

Op please try monsoon, my dsd sounds exactly the same. I eventually got ours in next but it was a different cut. Monsoon dress age 12 fitted even when age 15 in next didn't but she didn't like them. Bhs were rubbish they didn't go anywhere near and the adult dress did but looked strange with no bust. Also M&S. I didn't have 'bridesmaid' dresses just silk and sequin floor length party dresses but got lovely comments. They are not available anymore though.

this?

fits all your sizes

monsoon

Thanks for all the suggestions. Sadly I've got my heart set on floaty, cream/ivory vintage looking dresses (not that I'm fussy at all ). The floaty Monsoon dresses are lovely, but I took my tape measure into the store and they just aren't big enough for the 12yo.

I also went into BHS and have to say i wasn't impressed - the adult dresses were ok, but the children's dresses looked like they had been cut with a knife and fork using the cheapest material they could find. Yuck.

Next were (no surprise) pretty unhelpful when I rang, but as I've not found anything else I like, I've just ordered the age 16 and am praying that it will be big enough. Fingers crossed.