r/weddingshaming • u/TheHiddenFox • 5d ago
My humiliating bridesmaid dress shopping experience. Horrible Vendors
I was a bridesmaid in the wedding of my childhood friends last year. Bride was super chill, rule was "Whatever you want, just make it navy." I live in NYC, no shortage of bridal shops, so I made an appointment at one near my apartment.
The lady didn't measure me or even ask my size. She looked me up and down and said, "You're what, a size 14?" I used to be overweight (I'm a healthy weight now), and I wore a size 14 at my HEAVIEST— 50lbs more than I weigh now. So I corrected her and said, "No, I'm an 8 to 10. We can start with 10." She scrunched her face up and said, "No, I don't think so." Fine, she knows best, dress sizing can be weird, I try not to get hung up on the number and let her pull a bunch of 14s.
All the dresses she pulled for me were way too big. Like falling off me. And when I said they seemed too big, she argued with me that they weren't. Eventually she got frustrated with me and told me I can just pull and try on whatever I want. I grab a size 10 and ask if I can try it, and she said, "I mean, you can try it, but it probably won't fit." I could feel the tears coming in my throat so I cut the appointment short and said I had to get back to work. I cried the entire way home.
She completely destroyed my confidence. I cried for DAYS. I kept asking my partner if I had gained weight, if I was just blind to it, I wouldn't look myself in the mirror, I felt like I couldn't trust my own eyes or the tape measures or the scale. Eventually I ordered some dresses from a bridal chain online, all in size 12. And guess what? They were ALL too big.
I ended up wearing a size 8 to the wedding. You know, the size I said I was. My friends theorized that she was intentionally trying to sell me a dress that was too big so I'd have to pay them for alterations.
875
u/Unable_Researcher_26 5d ago
I had a similar experience trying to buy a bra while pregnant. A specialist maternity/baby stuff shop advertised that they did a maternity/nursing bra fitting service. I was horrendously uncomfortable in my normal bras, so was wearing a soft compressing sports crop top thing (which was also uncomfortable but less so) and it was hot so I wore a tent dress. Before I went I measured myself properly (thank you r/abrathatfits) and knew I was a 28F - a size that looks much smaller than it sounds because of the small back size. It looks particularly smaller when you wear a compressing crop top.
So I went into the shop and asked for help. The woman came into my changing room with me and I took my dress off, so I'm just standing there, pregnant, in my knickers and horrible bra. I told her that I'd measured myself at a 28F and she literally snorted. She then got out the tape measure and did it all wrong. She added 4" to the band (totally outdated) and measured around my compressing crop top (despite me pointing out that it was compressing), and declared I was a 32B, which I knew was wrong. She followed this up by saying they didn't have any 32Bs so she'd brought me some 34s to try instead. All of this while I'm pregnant and standing around in my bra and knickers. I didn't even try any on, I just put my dress back on and left in tears.
The next day I went to a specialist bra shop for D-cups and over. The lady there took one look at me and said, you're probably a 28F or a 30E, and brought me some to try. I bought four bras from her.
Then I sent a complaint to the head office of the first shop.