Wednesday, 15 September 2010
crappy dress shopping experience
So you know I'm losing weight. Part of this - or rather, the end aim of this, is that I want to be a certain weight before I start looking for a wedding dress.
Currently, I've got a little way to go, but I'd hope to be at this weight by next spring, which is six months ahead, though it might be later.
So yesterday, I decided to ask in my local bridal shop: how late can you leave it to buy a dress. See, I don't know what I'm doing here, and I figure they might.
I walked in - there was an 'open' sign on the door, after all, and I just had a little question.
At the end of the shop were assistants helping a lady into a giant dress. But there were many assistants - maybe about 8 - and only four of them were doing anything (cooing over the bride to be, mostly).
Four of them were just standing there. And then I walked in, and the bell rang on the door, and they continued to stand there loking at me.
After about 10 seconds of staring at me like I'd dared swear in front of the Pope or performed a dance dressed as a dog turd, one of them came down to me.
"Yes???"
"Hi there. I'm getting married next year and I just wondered how long in advance I should be buying a dress. I'd heard six months, but does it really need to be so long?"
BLANK STARE.
Another assistant comes over, clearly incredibly annoyed that I have dared enter the shop.
"Yes????"
I repeat the question. Her answer:
"Yes. It has to be six months. If you want your Dream Dress." She definitely capitalised it. And now she clearly considers the matter closed.
"What happens if you have less than six months?"
"Well they you might not get your Dream Dress. You might have to wear one of these, which only come in certain sizes [casting a glance up and down my still-buxom frame] and other people will have worn them."
So anyway. I have yet to try on a wedding dress and one toxic shop has already soured the experience.
I probably won't be buying my dress there.
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Worryingly, this pretty much tallys with the experience I've had with Wedding Dress Shop Assistants.
ReplyDeleteI HONESTLY would recommend going one of the other routes. Seriously. I would if I was doing it all again. Dress maker/internet/vintage shop - anything like that that doesn't involve snotty women looking you up and down when you have come into their shop with the intention of spending what is likely the equivalent of 2 months wages for them.
Sorry for the rant, but this type of stuff really gets my goat....
Ok, this makes me so cross that I'm actually having trouble articulating... So... Blargh! Dreadful women. I have no doubt that plenty of sweaty brides-to-be had tried on my off-the-peg dress before I bought it, but it was pretty darn close to perfect in my eyes!
ReplyDeleteHow bloody awful. I am so cross too.
ReplyDeleteMaybe someone can clarify for me? Do wedding boutique assistants have special tasks that I do not know about? Is it so hard to help someone who may or may not buy a dress.
Granted when I worked in a shop (well supermarket!) I wasn't working on commission but I always smiled and was helpful!
Do your own thing with the dress. Screw them. Go to other places or look online or look in vintage dress shops. You deserve to have an awesome dress, even if you wait a few months. And I suspect that you will find "The One", if you are driven towards doing so, which it sounds like you are! :)
ReplyDeleteApparently you need to be ignorant and unhelpful to work in a wedding dress shop. My tactic was to be equally rude back it is actually quite empowering.
ReplyDeleteGo somewhere else definately! I didn't want to trying on dresses until I lost at least another stone but a friend forced me. The lady was lovely and got me to try on a few dresses but said if I liked I can come back in January (wedding in July) and sort it then as |I'll have lost more by then. Think of Pretty Woman!!
ReplyDelete