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Uhm, does anybody know how to figure out your dress size? Or places you can go to find it out?

My friend just got engaged and I get to be one of the bridesmaids whee

And today she asked for my dress size and I'm totally at a loss as to what to tell her gonk I don't wear dresses because I can't figure out what size I am myself, that and nobody makes dresses I like in my size or that poor little me can afford. My friend who works at Jessica McClintock (a dress boutique) showed me a size 18 in a dress she really wanted to see me try on and actually thought I could fit into it (I laughed and didn't even try)... and I don't recall them having measuring tapes or anything, so I don't think I can go and get my friend to measure me.

My friend told me:


Ok, most of that's easy enough. 5'6"-5'7", 42 DD, 22 (but I'm losing weight so I could be a 20 soon...and by the time of her wedding I'm hoping 18.), but I dunno the dress size still emo I could give them my home-done measurements where I'm just guessing what I'm supposed to measure, "I think that's the smallest part of my waist".

I can tell them the shirt sizes I wear, but the way I wear my clothes is probably off. And if it's stretchy, which most of my shirts are, I wear a size smaller than what the thing says to wear.

And to those curious, here's the bridesmaid's dress she picked out:


It's so pretty, but I'm scared I'm gonna look dumb in it ;_; I don't have much of a waist. Not to mention this is in February, so I'm going to be pasty white and all that. I don't wanna be the big white blob in all the photos gonk

Ah, bridesmaids' dress shopping. I went through a similar experience this summer. They told us that you should look for dresses 1 size up from your pants size-and when in doubt, go bigger, since it's a lot harder to tailor a dress larger than it is to make it smaller. In fact, they said you can tailor down 2 sizes without it being really noticeable. But then, there's the problem of boobs. I didn't have that problem, but I'm basically boobless. A couple of the other bridesmaids, though, did have a problem, and had to get a size or two up from what was predicted because of their large boobs.

Your best bet is to try them on. It's pretty hard to predict how any given dress will fit based on measurements alone, especially if you aren't shaped like the average store mannequin. But, given that you wear a 22/20 and have pretty large boobs, I'd suggest a size 24 dress. That way, if you do get down to a size 18 pants, it's still tailorable, and will still fit your chest (which may or may not shrink proportionally). Just don't go any smaller than what you'd be able to fit in now, on a bad day.

But it's a really pretty dress, and I absolutely love the color. If you're worried about being pale, just go tanning a couple times. It'll take the edge off of the blinding whiteness, with minimal risk for cancer and depletion of the wallet contents.

So I ended up with a 24, which fits my hips but not the rest of me (too big).

And I thought I didn't look that horrible in it 'til I got my mom to take photos.

Maybe it's the flash, maybe it's that I was so stressed at work that I drank enough soda to make myself sick.

Maybe I'm just the size of a barn.

All in all, I wept.

However, I'm still gonna post photos 'cause it was so pretty and I got the size they had in the store 'cause...well, I dunno... so I got to take mine home today whee

But it looks like crap on me, and my mom couldn't fathom how to work my digital camera (which is quite simple for what I was asking her to do, and she didn't get the "It's just like your throw away cameras, same button and everything, you can use the normal view finder")... she had it pointed at her for a few minutes. In all fairness, I had woken her up to do it, so she was groggy...but still. Maybe part of how horrible I look is thanks to my mom not understanding how to work a camera.



WHY DID IT HAVE TO BE SLEEVELESS? gonk

Also, it goes down to my calfs... for a wedding in February. I love the dress, but this will not be fun.

And now to diet gonk

Ask her if it's okay to wear a grey faux fur wrap with a satin grey ribbon if you dont like your arms.

I think you look beautiful.