Looking for painless wedding dress shopping in Boston, NJ, or NYC

April 7, 2019 7:27 AM

Can you recommend nonjudgmental places where I could try on wedding dresses in the Boston metro area, NJ, or NYC?

The places my partner's mom recommended in MA had tiny sample sizes that didn't zip or flatter me (I'm a short and pear shaped size 10), and the salespeople made me feel defective for not being excited about sparkly princess dresses.

I'm looking for an a-line dress appropriate for a beach wedding in late summer 2020.

Any recommendations? I'm located north of Boston, willing to travel into the city, and frequently visit NYC and NJ.

I have already been to BHLDN and didn't find anything.

posted by marfa, texas to Clothing, Beauty, & Fashion (10 answers total)

I had a good experience almost 10 years ago when I got my A-line (though not beach appropriate) wedding dress for my short and pear-ish size 12 body from Camilla's Bridal in Arlington.
posted by Pandora Kouti at 7:37 AM on April 7, 2019

I know this isn't a fashionable answer, but I had nothing but a great experience with David's Bridal. They specialize in being welcoming to pretty much every kind of human and gave me zero flack about being larger. They have a nice array of vintage-style tea dresses with an A-line and flare which is what I got, but they have just hundreds of styles, and the quality was perfectly fine. Just don't shrug it off. I did go to a bunch of high end bridal boutiques to look, but the bullshit was too strong and I definitely did feel "othered" by the staffs.

In NYC, I also really liked the dresses at Dolly Couture. I ended up cancelling my appointment there because I found a dress at David's, but I liked their style and their sizing and marketing is inclusive.
posted by Miko at 8:07 AM on April 7, 2019 [8 favorites]

I actually had an incredibly good experience at Kleinfeld in NYC. I went by myself, got a very chill salesperson who helped me find a dress I was really happy with, and it was totally painless (albeit fairly expensive). I can't speak to the size range as I was pretty close to the sample, but there were people of all sizes there. If you'll be in NYC, it may be worth a call to see if you think they'll work for you. I had some crappy experiences at some of the less wedding-industrial-complex-seeming stores where I got some flak for not coming in with my mom or an entourage, etc, so was pleasantly surprised that the filming location of Say Yes to the Dress could handle working with someone who was not into the whole wedding as the most important day of your life thing.
posted by snaw at 9:08 AM on April 7, 2019

Most wedding dress stores have sort of aggressive sales staff. Can you take a friend who will bring you different sizes and keep your spirits up?
posted by theora55 at 11:05 AM on April 7, 2019

A couple of my friends got their wedding dresses at Kimera in Brooklyn and were really happy with them. It's a small boutique, but I get the impression that they are all about customizing things to meet people's needs.

As a bridesmaid, I tried on dresses at Jenny Yoo in Manhattan. They also do wedding dresses. I remember really liking a lot of what they had in stock and not feeling pressured or overwhelmed.
posted by evidenceofabsence at 11:50 AM on April 7, 2019

I have to plug I do...I do... in Morristown, NJ. I went there pregnant! and with a very short timeframe! and they were nothing but nice and accommodating to me. I went with my sister and our saleswoman was great. We found my dress and they were great about fittings as I grew too. Good luck!
posted by curtains at 12:53 PM on April 7, 2019 [1 favorite]

I found my dress at Kleinfeld’s sample studio right next door to the main store in NYC. They had samples in all sorts of sizes, and I walked out with a great new dress at half the retail price from their overstock (had never been worn or used as a sample on their floor) that fit me perfectly needing little alterations. I’m a few dress sizes bigger than you: there was plenty there in the 10-12 range and up.
posted by slateyness at 1:46 PM on April 7, 2019

Seconding Miko. I recently went to a bridal boutique to find a dress, and I found the entire experience pressuring, snooty, and off-putting. (I can't speak to the size issue, specifically, although I had sort of the opposite experience, but also unpleasant: I'm a size 6, hourglassy, and I lift weights, and the saleswomen at the boutique kept mentioning my figure and body in ways that made me feel pretty uncomfortable, even though it was meant to be flattering.) The boutique warned me off of the quality of David's Bridal (both the dresses and the staff). I tried David's Bridal next, in a fit of desperation. I found the staff incredibly welcoming and lovely, and saw women of many body shapes and sizes there who all seemed to be getting help and enthusiasm from the staff. I got no judgement whatsoever when certain dresses wouldn't zip up on me, or didn't flatter my shape, or when I didn't like them. There were a variety of dresses on offer both for brides and bridesmaids, with different shapes and level of sparkle. The quality of the dresses at the boutique and David's seemed comparable to me - i.e. not very high (most bridal dresses at various price points seem to be made of polyester and just massively marked up in cost from the raw materials). I'd give David's Bridal a shot. Even if you don't like the dresses there, a saleswoman might be able to work with you to help you figure out what style you feel comfortable in and flatters your body, which would be useful to have wherever you end up purchasing your dress. I think all the anti-David's Bridal stuff frankly is frankly just classist nonsense.
posted by ClaireBear at 4:13 PM on April 7, 2019 [2 favorites]

I got my dress at a wedding-dress-specific consignment shop, and it was relatively low stress; they're sorted by size on the website, when they had several I liked I made an appointment, they had ones I liked plus some they liked hanging ready, I bought one and IIRC took it straight to a dressmaker they recommended for final fitting. I really really didn't want to worry about something coming in on time, and this worked for me.
posted by clew at 5:18 PM on April 7, 2019

I had a positive experience at RK Bridal in Manhattan. I think I was about your size and my dress was definitely a wedding dress but it wasn’t too Princess-y. The price was reasonable and they did alterations. Good luck!
posted by kat518 at 8:05 PM on April 7, 2019