What size wedding dress should I choose?
Many brides get a small shock in the fitting room. You have worn a size 40 your whole adult life, and suddenly it is a 44 that zips up. There is nothing wrong with you. There is something odd about bridal sizes, and it is not just in Denmark.
Why wedding dresses run small
Most wedding dresses are made to old European size charts that haven't kept up, while everyday clothes have slowly grown bigger in their numbers. The result is that a wedding dress usually runs one or two sizes smaller than the clothes you buy on the high street. American brides experience exactly the same thing, and there are thousands of threads on English-language wedding forums where women wonder why they are suddenly a 12 instead of an 8.
If you shop across borders, remember that the numbers are not the same either. A European 38 is roughly a UK 10 and a US 6. That is a rule of thumb, not a guarantee, which is why the measurements count, not the number on the label.
The measurements you need
Bust at the fullest point, waist where you are narrowest, and hips where you are widest. Add to that the height from your shoulder to the floor in the shoes you plan to wear. Measure with a soft tape measure over thin clothes, and don't pull your stomach in. It is tempting, but the dress has to fit after dinner too.
If you come for a fitting with us, we measure you so you don't have to guess. If you want to prepare at home, use our size guide.
When you are between two sizes
Take the bigger one. It is the simplest advice in the whole industry, and it holds true. A tailor can always take fabric in, but there are limits to how much can be let out. If the dress has a corset back, it often covers the whole difference without a single stitch.
Don't buy a smaller dress because you expect to lose weight before the wedding either. Buy for the body you have now. If you lose weight, it costs a trip to the tailor. If you gain weight and the dress is already too small, there is not much that can be done.
Plus size is not a corner at the back of the shop
We count plus size from size 46, which is a 3XL, and we have dresses all the way up to size 74 (EU). They hang among all the others instead of in a separate section. It sounds like a small thing, but it means you can walk through the whole shop and not just two rails in a corner.
In many bridal shops, both here and abroad, plus size brides try on dresses in a size 38 held together with clips at the back. It is hard to picture yourself in a dress that doesn't fit. With us, you try on dresses in your own size. See our range of plus size wedding dresses.
What really decides the fit
The size is only the beginning. It is the shoulders, bust and back that decide whether a dress feels right. The waist and length can almost always be altered. That is why it is a good idea to try two shapes side by side, including one you don't believe in.
Write your size when you book a fitting, and the dresses will be ready when you arrive. You will find more answers about measurements and fit in our FAQ on size and fit. We are a Danish shop, and every dress can be tried on before you decide.