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Dont get hung-up on your gown size

By Samantha Critchell | The Associated Press

January 30, 2007

The tears streaming down a bride's face the first time she puts on her wedding gown should be tears of joy. Thanks to the quirky sizing system used by many bridal designers, however, she might be crying over the blow to her self-esteem.

"If you think you're a size 6, you're at least an 8 and probably a 10," says Jeff Moore, senior vice president of merchandising and product development at retailer David's Bridal.

Gown designers and salons stress that size is just a number, nothing to worry about. But in the next breath, they'll often advise buying a few sizes bigger than the bride is used to.

Bridal sizing goes back to a scale established during World War II that used data for making uniforms, Moore explains. The scale also was used for ready-to-wear clothes, but over time, sportswear adapted its sizes to reflect changing body shapes, while bridal, for the most part, didn't.

Once the bride decides on the style of her gown, the salon orders the dress according to her measurements. The order is based on the woman's largest measurement: bust, hips or waist. If her hips and waist are an 8 but her bust a 10, she gets the 10; if her bust and waist are 12 but her hips 14, she gets the 14.

Why? In alterations, it's much harder to make a gown bigger than it is to make it smaller.

Designers have a couture mind-set on bridal gowns: They will be fitted to the individual bride's shape through alterations, explains Amsale Aberra, creative director for Amsale, Kenneth Pool and Christos lines. The size of the original gown is just a starting-off point.

A handful of gown-makers have gone to a "true-size system," says Kathleen Murray, deputy editor of TheKnot.com, but she does not expect the entire industry to switch over.

"You just have to get over the size thing. You can't look at that number," she says. "Most of the time, the tailoring and alterations is what makes the dress gorgeous."