Dress Doctor - Part Two

I have had a couple folks ask me about some of the Dress Doctor tips that I was given during my fitting. Hopefully this will answer some of the questions.

1) What was the bra she suggested? Unfortunately, I can't remember the brand name of the bra that she offers (my next visit I will get it)- but it was this one listed on her website - a seamless hidden wire bustier. It fit like a glove - it did not roll up. And it made you look very, very slimming - another huge plus.

2) What were some of the undergarments that she suggested buying? Of course not a surprise - Spanx. When I went shopping I found several different types. The Hide & Sleek Hi-Rise Body Smoother, which goes very high up on your waist. I also found the mid-thigh Body Smoother - this was the one that I bought. She suggested the Hi-Rise one (of course...), because you can tuck that one underneath the bustier bra. The mid-thigh you can, but she did say there could be a gap (around your waist between the spanx and bra) if you did not go with a bustier bra and instead went with just a regular bra. The mid-thigh was still very high so i was able to tuck it underneath the bustier.

3) What were some of her tips for the dress to fit better? Again the undergarments are huge, but she also suggested for the "chesty" girls like me to basically tuck your chest in (hehe - this is very hard to write and not crack up...). The only way I can describe it is that you are pretty much trying to tuck them underneath your armpits, so then there is less cleavage. (Any girls that have small chests, can come find me and beat me up - I know - you of course would love this type of cleavage). The twins amazingly stayed in place (the test will be hours of dancing...)

4) Do I need to bring in everything (bras, underwear, shoes?) for my first fitting? Definitely bring the spanx and the shoes. She had bras available. This was a huge relief for me because I could not find a bra that worked. I did notice that she had some shoes available for you to use for your fitting. Please keep in mind that your wedding gown is only basted for your second fitting, so you can change out your shoes, undergarments, etc. I realize now she had some great advice on which undergarments to use, so you might want to wait before purchasing these.

Some other interesting tips:
When putting on your dress - put your hands on your waist and then have someone do the zipper. I believe - It helps with not stretching the dress and putting too much strain on the zipper. It also sucks everything in (or that is how I felt when she told me to do this and I looked in the mirror!).

Something I knew, but didn't want to face the fact - Bridal shops will charge you more on alterations, so it is always good to get several estimates from other places. If I had gone with the bridal shop that I got my bridesmaids dresses from - it would have cost more than triple what I am paying now. But make sure to get referrals from recent brides. Go to a seamstress that has experience in bride alterations.

Hopefully this answered some of the questions...