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Models of Diversity: Plus-Size

Business1-Aug-2022

Make your business a more welcoming place for plus-size bridal wedding parties by following Models of Diversity’s top tips on inclusivity and representation.

Any bride might lose faith if she struggles to find the right dress, and it’s even more likely for a plus-size bride because of the lack of representation in the bridal industry.

In 2019, The Knot released a fashion study on size inclusion that highlighted how differently size 12-plus brides approached dress shopping with significant disparity in satisfaction of available sizes. “Nearly 50% of brides size 12-plus were self-conscious going into dress shopping (2x more than brides under size 12). We know every bride should have the opportunity to feel special, but once again, it feels like plus-size people are relegated to shop in isolation and online, losing out on THE moment with friends and family, when you try on “your dress” for the first time. Clicking ‘add to cart’ does not compare to the Disney princess experience we’ve been promised. It is beyond disappointing that during what should be a moment when all you feel is adulation, that brides are reporting negativity and body-shaming.

Social influencer Rosey Blair recently discussed how she faced an emotional challenge wedding dress shopping. “It was so hard to keep going to fittings and working with mainly straight size women and having to advocate for myself constantly,” she said. “I wish there was so much more education, and more plus-size people working in the industry, because the amount of self-advocacy I had to do over the last year has truly drained me. I feel at times wedding dress shopping put me back at square one in terms of my body love journey.”

Help make your business a more welcoming place for plus-size wedding parties, by following Model of Diversity’s top tips:

SOCIAL MEDIA

Consistent and strong social media indicates a brand is willing to celebrate brides of all sizes. People should be able to go online, see themselves in bridal imagery, and see that they can look amazing and see fellow plus-size brides looking amazing. Representation shows you feel your customers are valuable, and that is not dependent on size.

Consider including a plus size guide of designers on your site. There is a myriad of size-inclusive designers, and it will make the process of trying on dresses much easier if brides can see that you are size inclusive before heading to a store.

RESEARCH AND PREPARATION

Arriving at a bridal appointment and discovering a store doesn’t carry your size is hugely disappointing, do your research, if you promote plus size designers and dresses, ensure you are able to get those items in store for when you need them. Have telephone consultations and only book appointments for when you know you have those dresses in stock.

FORGET THE RULES

There are no “rules” when it comes to plus-size bridal, apart from it fitting, literally and emotionally, individuals should be able to dress however they see fit. Plus-size people are often forced to settle for availability over personal preference, ensure your consultants know their role is to be fully supportive and to make sure that the bride’s vision is fulfilled.

Planning a wedding is always exciting, especially when it’s your own. I bought a new notebook and started thinking about flowers, invitations and most importantly, my outfit! Everything slotted into place quickly, but I experienced a few challenges trying to find THE outfit. Initially, I knew I didn’t want to go down the traditional two-piece Lengha (top and full skirt) option. The other option was to wear a saree, but this wouldn’t be practical during the Sikh wedding ceremony when there is a lot of standing up and sitting down. I’d seen a few designs in the Indian bridal magazines and didn’t think they’d suit me, the tops were always really short and I don’t think the skirt element would have flattered my already bottom-heavy frame. I went to a few Indian bridal shops in Birmingham and Southall, and when asked to view some wedding dresses, I was just dismissed with one glance ’No, sorry we don’t have your size.’, leaving me deflated and leaving the shop. One shop, even after making an initial appointment in the wedding department, told me I should have mentioned I was a big girl and I wasted a slot for someone else! Even if I got something bespoke made and sent from India, I was still looking at a cost of £3-4k just for something basic and not ’wow’ at all.
I always liked the idea of getting an English-style wedding gown made, this would be so different to what other brides were wearing when I got married in 2011. Again, I was so unsure how to approach this, so I visited an English wedding dress boutique in my hometown of Sheffield. I explained I wanted an English-style wedding dress, but with traditional Indian material and all the bling. I was encouraged to try on a couple of plus-size white wedding dresses they had in stock. One of them had a corset top, which fit, but the zip wouldn’t go all the way up the back so I couldn’t tell the fitting. However, I just had to visualise and work with the dressmaker to come up with something. She drew some designs and we tried to source some material, but she couldn’t fit the right colour I wanted, or with the exact amount of bling I desired.

I was still very much into wedding prep in the meantime, the marquee was ordered, we’d decided on caterers and it was only during a visit to an Indian clothes shop in Leicester, I came across something truly spectacular. They had a massive wedding saree sale, some up to 50% off which is quite a find, especially as traditional wedding sarees back then easily started at around £2k or more.

I looked at some designs with my mum and sister and decided on one saree. We even managed to get a matching veil which I would wear separately. The shop owner started to help us with how we could turn this gorgeous saree into my own wedding dress. The saree and veil cost £3k in total.

My wedding dressmaker was thrilled we found something she could work with, and added her own unique touches by adding elements of the embellishment to the back of the veil, so it would sit on my wedding hair bun and also added rows of Swarovski crystals to the low back design too.

All in all, it was a slow starting project, but everything turned out perfect in the end. I even had material left over for my own drawstring bag too!