I have this piece of beadwork I inherited from my grandmother (it was her grandmother’s, initially). You can attach and detach it onto a dress, turning a nice-but-simple gown into Ohmygod gorgeous, since it’s black it goes well with almost any color; a couple years ago I saw similar things carried in stores. I’ve seen similar tricks done with foulards. An irisated foulard worn as a sash and another as a hairband turned a dark fuchsia sheet dress into one of the prettiest “godmother” dresses I’ve seen.
Ask if the dress is available in the States. Also, some manufacturers will also allow you to simply buy the material so that you can have a dress made of your choosing.
Or, I’d go back to the original store and ask the salesperson’s recommendation on an alternate dress, perhaps one in a complementary shade. Often the maid/matron of honor is in a different dress anyway; this was the case in my own wedding.
It seems that your sister is taking a fairly casual approach to her wedding. It’s a very short engagement period and she’s not stressing about you not matching the other bridesmaids. I’ll bet that if you present her with an alternate dress that you feel more comfortable in, she’ll be willing to go with it.
That’s probably right - I’m probaby stressing a whole lot more over this than she is. I’ve gone to the sites mentioned, and found a few dresses that would work. I’ll run them past her and see what she thinks.
Thanks for the reality check, guys. I was all, “She picked a dress, and I can’t get it, and THERE’S NO DRESSES LIKE IT IN TOWN AND I’M GOING TO LOOK STUPID AAAAAAAAAGHHHHHH!” I feel much better now.
I’m not sure if The Rose sells to international customers or not - they don’t seem to allow any choice but states (and Alberta isn’t on the list). If I decide to buy a dress from them, I’ll try it, and if it doesn’t work, I might have to take you up on your offer.
Since the dress originally chosen by your sister is available in the States, just have a professional take your measurements (just so you know they’re right!) and have one of the other bridesmaids order the dress on your behalf. Once the dress comes in, bring it to any other professional seamstress to have it altered if necessary.
These things are never made to fit, anyways, and “sizes” are totally different than in the rest of the clothing world (I nearly freaked when they told me I was a 14… turns out it’s actually an 8/9 normally!) So with your measurements, they can say “Ok, get a 12” or whatever, and it can be adjusted to look good on you at any time.
I highlighted “professional” up there because we had a few mishaps with my bridesmaids’ dresses, but for the most part it turned out OK! They fit… just not very well! Two of the dresses were bought near Toronto for people in Montreal and Sherbrooke. My mom had done the measurements (incorrectly*), emailed them to me, I bought the dresses, had them shipped to my mom and the alterations were done on the fly by a friend of the family. Still, everyone looked gorgeous and that’s about all you need!
Or buy another dress in the same/similar colour… that particular model might not be available, but there’s a good chance the manufacturer is using the exact same fabric for other models, so you could get a colour match.
*mishap #2 - don’t take someone’s measurements after they’ve been on an IV diet in a hospital for 10 days and lost 7 lbs (pancreatitis)… my sister made up that weight quickly once she was able to eat food again, and her dress was about a half-size too small!
