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Hello and welcome.
I am a petite bride; just barely 5' 1". I am wearing a full skirt and everyone that I have showed it to has told me it looks awesome on me.
It is an Justin Alexander 8137.
mygown.jpg (30 KB, 104 downloads) 2 years old 
I say if it makes you happy, then go for it! Mrs. Lovebug was clearly a petite bride, don't know how tall she is, but I think her dress with a full skirt looks beautiful on her.
Your picks aren't that full, I think they'll just work fine. What didn't work on me (5'3", 108 lbs) was really poofy skirts with layers and layers of tulle.
i'm petite and big dresses looked ridiculous on me. my best friend is only a little bigger than me and they looked great on her- so it really just depends on your particular body. i'm 5'4" 95lbs.
Yup, Meliss has it right - giant tulle skirts tend to overwhelm us petite brides!
But your dresses are gorgeous and proportionate so I think you'll be absolutely stunning! ( I really love the "crete" Dress!)
I was expecting to see big, full, tulle style Cinderella dreses! The ones you picked will look fine I think. Plus, those brides have big crinolines under them, so in real life, the dresses won't be that full until you put on the under skirt
I think it depends on your proportions a lot. The dresses you posted look pretty a-line to me, which is what I had; at 5'2", I am petite, height-wise and I chose an a-line and it was perfect because even with alterations, it looked complete, not hacked off, like I'd imagine what might happen had I chosen a different silhouette.
=) Rock what you love!
It might also depend on your bustline, I think it's overwhelming if you have D's and a huge skirt, but if you're petite all around, it will be great!
i don't think those dresses are too crazy full. one of my friends is tiny and she had a huge princess dress, she was swimming in it, and it was just silly looking. but i really don't think those dresses are too poofy.
I think the dresses you posted should look fine on you. I'm also petite, and although I only tried on a few fuller skirts, I didn't necessarily feel like all of them totally overwhelmed me. Don't be afraid to try them on, you will probably be pleasantly surprised, especially if it's the look that you really like.
Definately see what they look like on. Just remember when they hem your dress the seamstress will be taking some inches off, so keep that in mind with the dress design.
I think full skirts look beautiful on petite brides! My college roomie was your size or smaller, and she wore a beautiful, full ballgown. She was beyond gorgeous in it!
The problem might be when you go to try on dresses at a store, and all the samples overwhelm your frame. It's so hard to imagine what it'll look like when it's proportional to you, but it helps to look at pix of the dresses on models, like the ones you posted above. I love your choices, btw!
I think you'll be fine. I'm 5'2" and very small on top but big JLO booty below. My dress is the Maggie Celeste very similiar to the ones you've picked. The dress just really fits me and I don't fell like a big poof-ball walking around.
dress_front.jpg (18.3 KB, 87 downloads) 2 years old
The back
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I think you'll be fine, too. I am 5'1 and I am wearing Blue by Enzoani's Belgrade (my icon). The pictures you posted are A-line, which works with all figures. Just avoid really poufy ballgowns, the kind that goes out from your waist. Definitely try the dresses you love on, you might be pleasantly surprised. :)
GL!!!
I'm 5'3" and an hour glass frame and this is what I found -
Ballgowns - Made me look even hipper than (I feel) I am.
A-Line -Perfect size! I could even add one of those puffy slips and still look nice.
Mermaid - I'm so short and hippy they made me look worse. :( which sucked because I loved them.
Fit and Flare - I think they are btwn a-line and mermaid, it depended on the dress.
You do weigh 30 pounds less then me so your experiences may be different. I'll attach pictures of my dress hunt so you get an idea. I hope this helps!
The Augusta Jones dress was what I always dreamed of... however my torso is to short and it made me look heavier than I am. The Casablance dress with the straight across and pleating is what I picked cause I thought it was the most flattering and my chest looks better in straight across. The Casablanca with the beading that was fuller I did love but I felt hippy.
I hope it helps!
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I am petite too, 5'0. I didn't find the ballgowns that overwhelming. They just didn't look right. I chose a mermaid style.
I'm 5'5 and have a ... let's say "large hourglass" figure. Very busty, slightly smaller hips, and I actually do have a smaller waistline. I LOVE way full skirts. I found that A-Lines don't always show the curves most flatteringly. Princess lines look good. I was surprised to find that dropped waist ball gowns give me a look I'd never dreamed of (I just wish I could find one that doesn't have pick-up skirt). Sadly, my favorite dresses, the kind I always dreamed I'd wear, the huge fluffy tulle skirt ball gown, makes me look so short, squat, and HUGE that I've had to push them far far away from my mind.
My sister got married recently, she's very petite, and slender and she had a dress a lot like yours and looked great.
Ultimately, it will depend on your figure and what you feel most comfortable in. Always tell the consultant helping you that you're open to other looks too. They do this for a living, they'll be able to pull things that'll look good too.
Woot, thanks everyone for all the opinions! I will plan on trying on these styles then, and also picking consultants' brains. Hopefully it goes okay!
@Vintage2010, I'm happy to see how similar your dress is to styles I like since it sounds like I have the same body type. I am small on top (actually bony and flat) but have a bigger butt proportionally.
I feel like the distinction between A-line and princess, and princess and ballgown, is unclear to me sometimes. For some reason I thought an A-line skirt had that "A" shape but was closer to the body. And as you guys said, I guess there is crinoline underneath that makes a big difference too.
It's been my experience that A-Line to ballgown get's blurred. I've been to some places, shown them CLEARLY a ball gown, and they keep telling me A-line and putting me in A-line dresses... then they don't understand when I tell them why I don't like them :-)
I've seen giant pouffy dresses on short girls before. Go for it. if you love it you can carry anything!
I think SOME of the fuller skirts can be overwhelming however the ones you have posted are not at all! The only thing is that you want to make sure you wear the dress and the dress is not wearing you. But who ever said a petite bride cannot wear a ball gown!?!? Go for it!
I think the dresses you picked will be really pretty! You didn't choose the huge poufy dresses with 400 layers of tulle, so I think you'll be fine!
I say do it!! I think that while your frame may seem hard to dress- you actually have the ability to show some drama. I can see the concern with not wanting to be drowned out by the sheer volume of the full skirts but I think that it would be GREAT for not only your frame, but down right everyone.
I actually have the 4001 Paloma Blanca (ok it's ordered and should arrive in a few months) and I TOTALLY love it. I didn't think a full skirt was for me, but I think it has the benefit of either maintaining/giving/so on curve and draws attention to a fantastic waistline! For me, I am super hour glass with a nearly 3 size difference between 'the girls' and my waistline, but I was shocked by how amazing the full skirt balanced everything out while still keeping a lovely hour glass shape for me. Good luck!!
Try on what you love and see how it looks on you!
From everyone I know they ended up with a different style than they were looking for. What works for one bride may not work for others so maybe the ball-gowns will be fabulous!
i think those dresses will be fine on you! I am 5'1 and thought I would be getting an A-line dress but ended up with a princess/ballgown, and i absolutely love it, and my friends that have seen it also agreed that it looks great too=) pick whatever you like, and i'm sure you'll look fabulous!!!
Those are pretty dresses, more like A-line to me. I'm not exactly petite as I am on the taller end (5'4"), but I am very slim. I ended up with a ballgown, and I found that the ones with dropped waists looked really good. You might keep your eye out for ballgowns with dropped waist, which I think is shown in the first two of your pictures.
Well to bring some closure to this thread, I did the dress shopping over the holidays and got my dress! In the end it was a tossup between Paloma Blanca 4062 (flowers) and 4064 (bow). They are a lot simpler than what I initially had in mind! I ended up going with the 4062 because I was too flat-chested for the bust of the 4064. Paloma Blanca silk satin is sooo dreamy... yum.
As for silhouettes, I was surprised at this but I really thought that many silhouettes were very flattering! Dropped waists made my hips look sexy, fuller skirts made my waist look tiny, goddess sheath dresses were slimming.
The real problem wasn't with silhouettes but with the detail. For almost all the dresses, I felt that if the detail was 30% smaller, it would look a lot better for my frame. Bows, flowers, gathers, whatever. I couldn't really wear anything with more than one locus of gathered fabric, because it would just drag the eyes down towards the skirt rather than my face.
Hope this info helps for any future petite brides!
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I am 5 ft 3 in and I am going WAY poofy...
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@hugstiem I was going to say it's not so much the cut as the portion size of the gown, so to speak. You don't want to feel like the gown is wearing you. For example I'm a petite 4'11" and I CANNOT wear straps on these pretty gowns, I look like a 10 year old trying on wedding gowns- whereas the strapless really suits my frame. BTW I really love your gown and think the sizing of the flowers might be best for a petite frame!!
Congrats!!!
A petite person can wear a full skirt gown as long as it has diagonal cuts, or a halter neckline or both because they all make you look taller.
For example you cold wear something like this
Your dress is gorgeous!
And am I the only one that caught the borg reference in your initial post? Fellow Trekkie?! ...or is it just me? :)
I'm a petite bride (5'2 100lbs) and tried on all styles...ball gown, dropped waist ballgown, alines, mermaids...I actually don't think anything is too overwhleming when it is in our size and to the right proportion. Gotta take into consideration as well maybe that most of the dresses we try on are usually 6 to 8 sizes too big so yes a ballgown or fuller skirt may look full but when it's in our size it won't have so much fabric. It also makes a difference when you try dresses on with and without crenolin so try without if you'd prefer a less full look.
I don't think a full skirt is overwhelming at all; also agree with above that the dress you chose isn't really that full, more a-line, and will look great on a petite figure.
I'm a petite bride, and I personally stayed away from full skirts, but if you pick the right one I think you can look beautiful! It is all about what makes you feel and look fabulous on the day...there are no "rules" as to what you can/can't wear! :) Good luck!
its all in the dress you pick and how it lays on your frame....the best way to tell is to try them on tho and i don't know what kind of shoes your going with but a good pair of heals in the height of heel you plan to wear on your day will also help.
i'm 5'3" so I'm short but much heavier than you but my dress fit me and I didn't feel overwhelmed in it.
I kinda like the less full, less poufy for petite. Because then you can show off your cute, small frame and figure. A full gown will not show your figure quite as well... is this something that your future hubby would love?
i'm a petite bride (5'3" 115lbs) and i'm wearing a ball gown.....i'm very traditional and couldn't see myself in anything but a full gown!
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Hello everyone, this is my first post on the borg... erm, beehive. :)
So I'm not sure what to make of this, but I keep reading that full skirts will completely overwhelm a petite bride. Of course, most of the styles I am in love with are princess silhouettes with a big skirt.
I was hoping to get some opinions on this, maybe some petite brides who've tried on the styles. Do you think this sounds pretty universally accurate? Does it depend on the figure?
I'm a little terrified because I'm traveling home for the holidays to do the dress shopping with my mom and sister and have about 4 days allocated to find a dress. I'm scared that I won't be able to wear any dresses that I've picked because of my body type, and then I'll be all panicked and have to pick a dress I don't love 'cause I wasn't prepared for it. :(
I'm attempting to attach some examples of dresses I like: Blue by Enzoani "Crete," Maggie Sottero "Myra", Paloma Blanca 4001, Sophia Tolli "Francesca."
What do you guys think? Too much fabric/size for a petite? I'm 5'2" and about 95 lbs.
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