Dress shopping

I had my first foray into dress shopping last Friday.  I was scared, I'll be honest.  I'm a size 24 and so I knew, KNEW, there would be nothing in there that would fit and that I would probably leave feeling dejected about having been so crap at dieting for the last 6 months (3 years!)

I had a rough idea of what I wanted, dreaming endlessly about a frothy, polka dot tulle Candy Anthony number. I knew that Candy Anthony was way out of my budget.  Now, let me set it straight, my budget is TINY!  And it's even tinier given the fact that I'm saddled with huge debts from my uni days and have zilch left each month to save (get those violins out for my poor ass!)  So when my mum told me that a friend of hers had bought a Pronovias copy from China for £200, I entered, '£200' into my spreadsheet and carried on my merry way!

So I reluctantly booked an appointment to try some on 'just to see what was out there'.  I chose Cloud 9 Bridalwear in Cheam Village.  I have two bridal shops within a 5 minute drive of home, the first one I tried, well, despite leaving a voicemail message and an email, failed to get back to me - oh well, you won't get my 'business' (I use quotes because as I said, I had already ruled out being able to afford anything in these shops!!).

Cloud 9 it was, and I'm really glad I chose them.  I was greeted by Tracey into the tiny Tudor house, packed literally to the rafters with yards of Tulle, silk, satin, lace and taffeta, all stitched into some gorgeous (and some not so gorgeous!) dresses.  The first dress Tracey whipped out was the Chanticleer Babilee, as I said it was one I had seen on the website and that I wanted a 50s tea length look:

Chanticleer Babilee - Source

It was nice, but, obviously it didn't fit and because I'm already short and fat it made my look even shorter and fatter.  Fail.

So, next, onto a full length gown.  Tried a couple on, neither really inspired me although they did fit so my mum instantly thought I should buy them but quite frankly, they were horrid and I hated every minute in them.  They were too fussy, too bustled up for me.  I felt too trapped and constrained in them and really, I wanted something laid back and funky, not traditional and naff (no offence...!)  Cue awful pictures of me in the long dresses:

Hahaha, and look at my awful tan lines!

'Scuse the bra!  You can see I just look pissed off in that dress!

The last one I tried on (I did attempt a couple of others but I couldn't even get through the openings to be pinned in so we'll move on!) was the Chanticleer Monteverdi.

Chanticleer Monteverdi - Source

Chanticleer Monteverdi - Source

Chanticleer Monteverdi - Source

And now for the awful pictures of me in it!!

With a pretend halterneck strap (detached from the Babilee)

Bodice detail

Well, what can I say!  It had the huge tulle A-Line skirt I was after.  Gorgeous lace and beading, sweetheart neck bodice and being floor length it meant I didn't make me look too short (although, if I lost some weight, I may still get it made tea length.)  It comes with an ivory satin sash but the shop lady fetched a purple sash for me and I quite liked the look of it.

Looking back at the pictures, I know it really is the one I want.  The only problem is that because it was a size 14 the boob 'holes' are in the wrong place so it looks a bit odd, but you get the idea right?!

I'll definitely go and try on some more but ah, will any live up to the Monteverdi?  The only one I didn't try on which I'd like to is the Chanticleer Aurora:

Chanticleer Aurora- Source

Having seen Lou from Met My Match in hers last weekend it looked gorgeous on her (probably look crap on Hobbit sized me!) but it is one I'd like to see.

Now to either find someone to make me a copy or start saving up.  The problem is, we're so poor most of the time, that spending a months wages on a dress for one day is quite frankly just way too eye watering to consider.  Conundrum!

Be interested to know what other brides have done when faced with this decision (without prejudice, we're all friends here!)

P.S. It's taken some guts for me to post these pictures of myself - be kind!