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Behind the curtain: dressing room 101 with Abi Neill

Business4-May-2022

Abi Neill discusses the behind-the-curtain bridal boutique experience, and offers her top tips in order to keep your brides feeling safe, supported and respected when finding their dream dress.

How you set up and operate within your fitting room(s) in your boutique is so important, and the time behind the curtain is such a critical part of the bride’s experience physically, mentally and emotionally! If you create and manage this area sensitively, brides will feel supported and safe. The rapport between you both will elevate and you’ll find more brides want to buy gowns from you. Get it wrong, and it can be an absolute disaster! It can really negatively impact your bride’s self-esteem, and in turn, your business reputation!

Support

So, what happens behind the curtain? Well obviously you get to council, support, engage and celebrate with your bride!

There will be moments of emotional intimacy often shared and of course it’s your chance to privately style your bride ensuring that she looks incredible and feels amazing!

We know that most brides of today face a huge amount of pressure. As women, we’re often very self-critical and hard on ourselves choosing to focus on our imperfections rather than celebrating the assets and beautiful features that we do have (that’s a whole other subject!) but the point I want to make is that getting down to underwear and having a complete stranger style you in wedding dresses for the biggest day of your life is a big deal, therefore it’s important that we approach this part of our appointment carefully and create the right fitting space, environment and atmosphere to ensure our bride’s are at ease.

Dressing Your Bride

Please don’t leave your bride on her own, clueless on how to get into a gown and stressing about if she’s going to damage it or get stuck! You know, if I was paid a penny by every bride who said how relieved they were that we’d gone into the fitting room to help them into their dresses because at other shops they were just passed to them – I’d have a few more YSL bags! I just don’t understand this: honestly bridal friends, you are missing out if you’re not getting into that fitting room and bonding with and helping your brides get into those gowns!

So yes, we do have to get up close and personal with our brides! I’ve had boobs dropped on my head, women’s armpits in my face and once I had a total disaster when a zip broke! My hand went flying (I was so desperate to do it up, and with such force) that I practically punched her in the backside! I am praying you’re reading this and nodding empathetically.

Right, so now that you understand that you need to physically get up close and personal and help your bride into gowns, here’s a few more things to note:

Must Do’s

- Do protect your bride’s modesty at all times, and have a robe hanging in case she wants it in-between dresses. We have them (actually, they’re rarely used) but it really puts a bride at ease knowing it’s there if she wants it.

- Do remember that you’ll need to verbally direct your bride. Dressing in wedding dresses can feel pretty alien to our brides if they haven’t navigated their way past all that tulle and those trains before, so you’ll need to help and instruct them what to do.

- Do showcase all dresses to the entourage - even dresses that your bride isn’t keen on (which you should gently encourage). You need everyone to keep pace with the bride, what she’s eliminating and most importantly how she is feeling about the dresses. Plus, it’s good to share the not-so-good gowns with the whole bride tribe, which will enhance the fab ones!

- Do suggest she keeps her bra on, straps under arms if it has straps (and then design permitting, you can undo it at the back and take it off through the front just before completely doing the dress up). This helps boobs into the bust cups, as well as ensuring your customer doesn’t feel completely exposed /naked when changing. Also note that strapless bras can often remain on, but sometimes conflict with illusion and plunge design features.

- Do comment supportively if she’s self-critical in any way about her body shape.

- Do keep her facing away from the mirror until she’s in the dress and looking gorgeous if you can. Not many of us want to stand and stare at ourselves in mirrors half naked whilst contemplating the biggest day of our lives!

And the Don’ts...

- Don’t skimp time on clamping and pinning, instead take time to make dresses look as gorgeous and as close to fitting as possible.

- Don’t let your bride spend ages in dresses that she doesn’t like or don’t make her feel good.

- Don’t leave bra straps up on shoulders. As previously explained, take the straps down and have them under the arms. Have the bra more like a strapless bra: undo at the back and take it off once the dress is in place.

- Don’t comment on her body (when she’s changing) unless she does. Even if you want to throw a compliment her way, this could be misconstrued and maybe viewed as too personal!

The Fitting Room Space / Equipment

You’ll need a few things in your fitting area (or close by) to help style your brides adequately: clamps, pins, straps, appliques, sleeves, belts, bust cups, swatches, fake bouquets, fitting room shoes, veils, underskirts. Consider any additional touches that you think will help your bride feel confident, secure and celebrated!

Don’t forget anything that might help build the excitement of what’s happening. You do this with brides several times a day, but individually speaking, this should be a special experience for each and every one of your brides and ideally it’s going to be one to remember for all of the right reasons, so consider your special touches and ways you might enhance the area and experience for each customer.

It goes without saying that you need good mirrors in your boutique. You also need them in the fitting space so that your bride can see how she looks before revealing herself to the guests.

So there it is….. a few fitting room tips to consider! Of course we’ve not touched on eye contact, body language, managing the crowd or creating the ‘moment’ when you lead the bride out to reveal her in all her glory – all must be carefully handled / performed in order to help your brides enjoy that incredible moment when she finds the one and says ’yes to the dress’ feeling absolutely incredible. Enjoy dressing your brides, and never lose sight of the absolute honour it is styling them and helping them find their special gown!

Abi Neill coaches new and established businesses on all areas of successful bridal retailing with candour and enthusiasm. Mini one-off coaching projects are available after a free discovery call, and longer term coaching assistance is also possible. Learn more about Abi’s coaching services and her significant success in the bridal industry by clicking here. Catch her on Instagram, @abineill or on 07725 804917 if you’d like to chat.