As a logical follow-up to my other thread, it’s time to ask about all those colorful dresses with the massive butt bows. I was never a bridesmaid (not counting my stint as a 9-y/o in my cousin’s wedding) so I don’t have a closet full of gowns to deal with. But those of you who served, what became of the dress(es)?
My sister repurposed her bridesmaid dress that she wore to my older sister’s wedding. She liked to sew anyway. So modified she did wear it again.
Does that count?
I’ve been an usher, but guys have it easy, we generally just rent the appropriate tux.
Yeah, I’d say that counts. Good for her!
My wedding gown was being sold as a bridesmaids dress. I wore it on the big day, and would have worn it again on special occasions, but husband didn’t want me to. You know how emotional men get about these things. 
If wearing it as a Halloween costume counts… one year at work we did a group costume. We were the Bride and Bridesmaids of Frankenstein. One co-worker who had recently gotten married wore her wedding dress and the rest of us dug out bridesmaid dresses. We did ghoulish makeup and drew stitches and scars on ourselves with eyeliner pencils.
I used one to reupholster my couch. Just kidding; I would never have that fabric in my home.
I have purchased a few from thrift stores to use for costuming.
My mom was a bridesmaid in the early 1960s.
I wore it at least twice as a halloween costume. The first time I wore it, it was floor length. A few years later it was mid-calf. I never wore it as a regular dress.
I was a flower girl and that dress I wore a few times before I grew out of it.
I don’t remember wearing either of the two bridesmaids dresses I accumulated, even though I kept them for a few years.
I know at least two of my bridesmaids wore their dresses again.
Mine went into the trash right after the reception. Hideous.
My niece cut slashes into the dress she wore at my wedding, then wore it as a Halloween costume called “bridesmaid from hell”.
Nope. My fault; I was young and dumb and tried to take my measurements myself at home instead of getting a professional to do it, so the dress ended up being waaaay too tight. I do commend my sister-in-law for picking a design that could have been reworn if it weren’t for that problem.
The bridesmaid dresses for my sister’s wedding were unusual: fairly plain long A-lines in chocolate brown with some simple white details on the bodice. I wore it to my brother’s wedding. (I was not a bridesmaid.) I wore the bridesmaid dress from my cousin’s wedding to a formal dinner-dance a year later, and my maid of honor dress from my other sister’s wedding to a formal wedding later that year. We bought that last one off the rack at a department store.
I was lucky that I never got stuck in a monstrosity.
My flower girl dress was my “party” dress for a couple of years after. Never had a bridesmaid dress, thank Og.
Would you believe that I, at age 60, have never been a bridesmaid? (Thank heavens, really.)
I do have a friend who at one point in her mid 20s had a collection of them, and at the time she was working at an MR/DD group home with some other women who also did, and earned just above minimum wage. The director, who turned out to be an overall nogoodnik, kept harping on them to dress nicer, and they actually did consider wearing their un-rewearable bridesmaid’s dresses to work. The only reason they didn’t was because those dresses have a slight tendency to have very low necklines, and that would have caused problems with some of them clients.
There used to be a woman in town who would take donations of them, or even paid a little for them outright, and made them over into Barbie clothes. She had a pattern that she had used for many years (a long halter dress, closed with Velcro) and had them numbered. By the time she retired due to deteriorating vision, she was up in the 18,000s, and sold them for $5 or so each. I picked up a few for my nieces, who were Barbie-age at the time. Her daughter took over the business, but she’s more into 18-inch doll clothes. (She can’t advertise them as Cabbage Patch or American Girl without having to pay royalties on them.)
My mom’s from her teenagedom kicked around in closets for 20 years. She was never going to wear it again but she didn’t want to simply throw it out so I suggested we donate it to the wardrobe of my high school drama department. They were quite happy to take it, so win-win for everyone.
I’ve been a bridesmaid 5 times, and I’ve re-worn a dress only once.
In the early 90s, I was a bridesmaid in my sister’s wedding, and the dresses had an unusual gimmick. They were black velvet with long sleeves, fitted through the body and stopping at the knee. Then they had a dark green, floor length detachable skirt over them. So we wore the full dresses during the ceremony, and the formal introductions at the reception. Then once the dancing started, we took off the green skirts.
So I did wear the black velvet dress (sans green skirt) to a high school dance once.
My girlfriend and I were in a wedding party, and the bridesmaids dresses were quite ugly. My girlfriend just left the dress in the hotel when we left.
When my sister got married, she told her three bridesmaids to just buy a navy blue dress for the ceremony. I’m guessing that those dresses got worn again.
This seems to be the modern style. I haven’t seen bridesmaids in matching dresses in decades.
My daughter did a similar thing. She wasn’t about the photo ops, which was a good thing since her future ex-BIL showed up in shorts and a polo shirt. (No, that’s not why he’s an ex. She took 2 years to figure out she married a man-child. Her second husband is a decided improvement. )
I know at least one of the bridesmaids at our wedding has worn her dress since.
Do you have a cousin Mary who does?