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A solution to modify a wedding dress sample so that any bride — regardless of their shape or size — can try it on.
I’ve designed it to empower all women to fit the dress sample to their body, instead of trying to squeeze it into a size that doesn’t fit. As a curvy woman myself, I know how embarrassing and demoralizing it can feel to try on dress after dress and have it be too small.
Hi! I’m Julie Sabatino, the founder of The Stylish Bride and a wedding fashion stylist for the last 17 years.
I’m so excited to introduce The Sample Size Solution.
If there is one thing I have learned from my experience working with clients, it is this: there is no average bridal size; our bodies are as unique as we are. Why then are we still taking an antiquated one-size-fits-all approach to sample sizes? The whole set-up can make wedding dress shopping a frustrating and demoralizing process, but that needn’t be the case.
I created this product to make shopping for wedding dresses more inclusive and fun for all brides, regardless of their shape or size.
Whether you’re curvy, petit, small chested, or big busted, you deserve to know what your wedding dress is going to look like before you buy it, all the while enjoying an experience that makes you feel great.
This is my way of empowering brides by giving them control over their experience instead of being restricted by the size of the sample and the knowledge of the consultant on how to fit it.
Seeing how your dress will look on your individual shape (instead of just trying to imagine it) is your right as a beautiful bride-to-be. The Sample Size Solution is your secret to ensure the dress of your dreams fits you.
The sample size solution
See The Difference
Your wedding dress is the most important item of clothing that you will ever wear. You are going to look at it in pictures for the rest of your life (and it’s most likely the most expensive garment you’ll ever purchase). You deserve to know exactly how it will look BEFORE you buy it.
Some of you may not even know that there is a major problem that curvy women face when shopping for a designer wedding dress:
the sample never fits!
I have literally been in thousands of wedding dress appointments with my clients, and I can tell you that it’s a rare thing when the sample dress zips up and looks great when you are in the store. Believe it or not, there is a one-size-fits-all system in place, that just doesn’t work for most women. And when the sample does not fit, brides are left having to imagine what it will look like when it’s made in their size. It’s kind of crazy, and a lot of brides just can’t envision it.
If you’re wondering what the heck I’m talking about, let me give you a brief overview of how wedding dress shopping works.
Designer wedding dresses, —unlike any other piece of clothing that you buy — are made-to-order for you. This means that you don’t purchase the dress that you try on in the store. Instead, you try on a sample. If you like it, you order one in your size and it comes in several months later.
Because dresses are expensive to produce, most stores only have one of each dress which is typically offered in a tall size 8. To complicate matters even more, bridal sizing runs REALLY small so that a size 8 is actually the equivalent to a 4 in regular clothing. When you consider the fact that the average height and size range of American women is 5’4, 16-18, it’s easy to see the problem.
I have to tell you, it does not feel good to try on a dress that doesn’t fit. In fact, it can be pretty devastating.
Over the years I’ve seen too many brides cry and feel badly about themselves as a result. It actually happened to me, and that’s why I started my business. I’ve struggled with my weight my whole life, and when it came time for me to go wedding dress shopping, it was pretty horrible. I went in really excited, thinking it was going to be fun and amazing, and like you see in the movies. I invited my mom, and future mother and sister in law and thought it would be so much fun. But that bubble quickly burst when I realized that nothing in the store was going to fit me, even though at the time I was a size 10.
But the worst part was that I had to go out of the dressing room to show them when the back of the was totally open because it wouldn’t zip up. It was really humiliating. That experience was the impetus behind The Stylish Bride. I wanted to save other women from going through that. This is supposed to be happy and fun and exciting, not a blow to your ego that leaves you feeling bad.
I realized that if I can’t change the size of the sample, I have to change the experience of how you try it on.
So I looked back at all of my clients over the years that didn’t fall into the sample size. I analyzed how I worked with them, the process I used to help them, and the tools that were the most useful in showing them how the dress would look. I took all of that information and put it together and created The Sample Size Solution.
Let me show you how it works!
There are three main components to The Sample Size Solution:
- The first is clips.There are four large, and four small clips that are beautifully covered in an ivory fabric so they blend in with the dress.
- Second, there are adjustable elastic bands that will accommodate different dresses making sure that you can get it tight and fitted to you as needed.
- And third, there is a panel of ivory fabric that matches the clips to cover the exposed skin without creating extra bulk. These three components will give you the ability to fit the dress so you can see what it will look like when it is in your size.
Step by Step process:
- First, you are going to take the fabric and fold it to an appropriate size if needed.
- Next, you secure the fabric panel with the small clips at the top.
- Then take the first set of large clamps with the elastic in the middle and attach them about 3 inches down from the top.
- Next, do it again about half way down at the waist.
- Finally, adjust the elastic bands if you need more or less tension to get a snug fit.
You deserve to know what your wedding dress is going to look like before you buy it.
And you deserve to have an experience that is wonderful and happy, and that you feel great about!
I realize that most people will have no idea how to MacGyver all of this up so that it works, so in addition to the products, I’ve created easy instructional videos that will teach you and the person shopping with you how to use them. That way you get an inexperienced consultant at the store, your guest can help you.
One of the things my clients have found the most valuable over the years is the confidence I give them when they are trying on dresses and making a decision. By using The Sample Size Solution you are going to have that too. You are going to have the confidence to step out of the dressing room to show the dress to your friends and family without being exposed and embarrassed. You are going to know what the dress will look like on you in your size and the confidence that comes with that. And when you make a decision you will have confidence that the dress will look great when it comes in, because you won’t have to imagine it.
I SO wish I had The Sample Size Solution when I was shopping for a dress. It would have saved me so much time in my therapist’s office! But I’m thrilled to have this product for you, so that you don’t have to go through what I, and so many other brides have gone through. There’s a better way of doing this, and I am so excited that I can share it with you!
