Wedding dress shopping can feel like an enormous undertaking. With countless styles, silhouettes, and details to consider, many brides find themselves caught between what they think they should want and what they actually love. When these feelings are paired with a sense of urgency to decide because if you don’t buy your favorite someone else might, the feelings can be very overwhelming. Here are our best practices to ensure your sample shopping experience is everything you want it to be!
First, what is a sample sale?
To put it simply a sample sale is where a store sells the samples that they have in store at a discount to make room for new stock! Think of it as a floor sample at Pottery Barn. Here at Plume we generally have two sample sales each year. One in the spring and one in late summer or fall. The dresses that are on our sample sales are gowns that are discontinued by the designer or perhaps we are just ready to let them have their own cinderella moment and find the perfect bride. Some are from companies that we no longer work for. These dresses are generally discounted heavily so that we can help a bride offset the cost of alterations and cleaning to make it an even better choice.
How do I know what size to get?
Bridal sizing is always an adventure (trust us we know). The majority of our store samples and therefore the samples on the rack for immediate purchase range from a bridal size 8/10 to a bridal 14/16 and 20/22. Meaning if your regular clothing size for hard pants like jeans are around a 6/8 – 12/14 or 18/20, you are a great candidate for a sample sale gown because you can alter your gown to fit. If you wear smaller or larger sizes than these, options will probably be more limited. Additionally if you are over 6 feet tall, most dresses may not be long enough for you.
“Every dress will need alterations. No matter if it is a special order or a sample sale, you will want it to fit like it was made for you"
What if it doesn’t fit right away?
Alterations are recommended for each and every wedding dress whether it is special order or off the rack. Alterations are really the only way to make your dress look like it was made for you. Plus every dress needs a bustle if you want to dance in it easily. So you can twist and twirl until your heart is content. Other common alterations are a hem so you don’t trip as well as making straps or sleeves a little shorter and taking in the sides so your dress feels like you are getting a nice hug. We are happy to recommend an alterations specialist in your area to help you properly fit your gown.
How much is a sample sale dress?
The short answer is it varies based on the dress’s current condition, age, and original price. For example a dress with zero damage that has only been tried on once with an original price might only be discounted 10-20%. However a dress that has been here for a season or two and is still in good condition but needs to find a new loving home.
