Wedding dress: buy BEFORE I try?

[Nstarr]

To keep it brief, should I buy a wedding dress I haven't tried on? I know it sounds crazy.

Pandemic, baby, baby weight, long distance, limited availability, absolute bargain. All the reasons why I'm considering it. There's only one, it's very far away, and I've been considering it for over a year now so i'm pretty sure it will suit me and that I'll never find it again. It's under £700.

Should I do it?

Who are you buying it from? If it's from a business you could return it if you didn't like it.( I think it's 14 days from when it's delivered but not sure). You can't return its been customised for you or if you've damaged it obviously.

I've just bought a new and unaltered one off a woman on ebay who cancelled her wedding, absolute bargain price. I really like the dress, if I hate it I'll re-sell

I when you say it's 'very far away' I hope you don't mean China!

The idea of what I wanted completely changed once I tried dresses on.

They're so different once they're on. I wouldn't.

Try some dresses on at a shop just to clarify what suits / what you like and then re-visit the idea of the dress you are looking at online with that extra knowledge.
I bought my dress off eBay but I had tried some on so knew the shape would look good. Also veer on the side of bigger sizing when ordering online as it's much easier to alter down than try to let out.

A lot of people report that the dress they chose was not what they'd planned. I would definitely try on some dresses-especially as you've mentioned that you're post-partum. Lots of women find their body shape changes a lot after babies, and not just in weight terms.

I wouldn't personally unless you are 100% sure you'll get a full refund if you don't like it.

As others have said dresses can be very different when they're on. I was persuaded to try on my dress and wasn't sure at all when it was on the hanger, tried it on and knew absolutely it was the one.

The ones I'd liked didn't look right when I'd tried them on.

I bought my dress from JJ house, i paid extra for it to be made to measure. It was a perfect fit in every way. But I knew what size heel I would wear so my dress length was measured to that length/drop.
So I would always measure myself to ensure the dress fits when buying online

Debating the same OP!

There's so many great websites now selling second hand dresses. Amazing prices. But obviously as it's second hand it's non-returnable.

Really difficult to know what to do!

Are you sure about the sizing? I thought I knew how to adult in the world of clothing until I discovered theres a whole new module that is Wedding Dress Sizes 🙄

@Slightlystressedbride

Exactly! Lots of wedding shops closed during the pandemic and lots of brides are trying to claw money back due to the pandemic hitting some people hard financially.

The dress is big enough to be altered by up to 2 sizes down. I really have been looking for a couple of years but wasn't in a position to try. This dress has been available for probably a year and it's still my number 1. The style of it is also quite rare (neckline, fit, fabric combo).

What if I could negotiate £500. Then should I buy it?

I wouldn’t.

£500 is cheap for a dress, but expensive to just throw away. Can you afford to do that and buy another dress if you hate it? Are you willing to? If the answer to both those is yes then go for it, it doesn't matter what anyone else thinks.

Only thing, the fact that 1 wedding dress has been available for a year, suggests there is limited resale opportunity. So you can't rely on recouping the cash if you don't like it irl.

This dress isn't sold anywhere else. I have no way of travelling to that part of England. There is only one available. And it's a quarter the price of what it should be. And it's brand new!

As I type I seem to be coming to a decision. But am I brave/foolish enough to do it?...

Can you afford to lose the money if it doesn’t work? Or wait for it to resell? If so, go ahead. If that would be a disaster, maybe better not.

Is there anywhere you could go to try on other dresses, or something by the same designer so you could get a better feel of whether this one is really likely to work or not?

@MaJoady
Yeah I doubt it would sell again but luckily I always planned to keep it. It's not a big bushy dress that would live in the attic in a huge box.

@Talipesmum good idea, I'll look into it.

Could you return it?

If it were me, I’d buy it if I’d been eyeing it up online for ages and not found anything else I liked the look of. And if I didn’t like it, I’d chalk it up to experience, and try to resell myself for half the price I bought it at, to speed up the resale.

I did it's was a Grace loves lace dress that I couldn't have made due to a quickly planned wedding- found the dress in a second hand site! Paid for it without seeing it!

Shit myself as it was £2000- absolutely loved it

The dress is big enough to be altered by up to 2 sizes down. I really have been looking for a couple of years but wasn't in a position to try. This dress has been available for probably a year and it's still my number 1. The style of it is also quite rare (neckline, fit, fabric combo)

It sounds like you've done your research! It's not like you've seen it online and are buying it on a whim. And you can have it fitted to you. I say go for it, you'll regret it if you don't from what you're saying.

Also please post a pic if you do!

I did!

I tried about 10 dresses on in 3 different bridal stores but none of them were what I had in mind.

I wanted a more bohemian type dress, off the shoulders, lace, I had a clear image in my head but ended up finding my dream dress online , from a small boutique in California!

They sent me swatches in a few different shades of white & cream, so I could see the actual fabric and choose the lace and the stretch lining colour. I could also choose the length of the train.

It was made to measure, I actually knocked a few inches off ( abit risky, but wanted to lose abit of weight) The dress itself was about £700, plus US taxes - it ended up costing about £1000 altogether. Still cheaper then all of dresses I’d seen and ones I had tried on in the UK.

It was a gamble but it paid off - The dress fit like a glove and I felt amazing in it.

This is really scary! How will I hide the dress from my fiancé? He'd think I was crazy 😂

@Slightlystressedbride I will!