Altering a plus-size dress for maternity wear?

[annex]

Has anyone ever done this? I am supposed to be a bridesmaid, and will be about 32 weeks pregnant at the wedding. The bride hasn't been thrilled with any maternity gowns she's seen, so she wants me to order a regular dress in a larger size. The dress would have an empire waist and a "swing style" skirt that would hopefully have a lot of room for my belly.

I've tried on some of this style dress in stores (though the one she wants is only available online), and the main problem is that they are much too big in the bust if they are going to fit the rest of me. Also, my (25 week) belly does raise the front of the skirt up a little so it's not quite the same length as the back. It was suggested that perhaps a seamstress take in the bust, and then could insert an underskirt in a similar color/fabric that might help disguise the front/back lengthy dichotomy. Does that seem reasonable?

Thanks for any advice. I'm pretty clueless about such things. The only clothing I ever had altered was my own wedding dress (12 years ago!)

-Anne

[donovanmom]

I did this for a wedding 4 years ago. I was 30 weeks pregnant. Pre-pregnancy I was a size 10 and ordered a size 18. I ordered the dress with extra length. It was altered to be an empire and I wore it calf length with a full skirt. The bust needed to be taken in quite a bit. I'm not sure about the front. We may have added a pannel? It was not cheap. I think the alterations were at least $100. HTH. Courtney

[JenaW]

If definitely can be done. I would ask around for referrals if you can (not sure how to go about that...maybe at the wedding dress store??). I was in a wedding once where the matron of honor was about 32-24 weeks pregnant and her dress looked incredible on her...even better IMO than the rest of ours did, as it was tailored to her body. She had a wonderful seamstress and I think she had as many (if not more) fittings than the bride. However, I have also seen where this turned out horribly. If you can, find the seamstress BEFORE you order the dress so she can give you an idea of what size, if you need to order extra material (often an option from some bridal stores), etc. In the horrible scenario, the girl ordered the dress too small (I think she grew more at the end than she had anticipated) and the seamstress did an awful job. It probably didn't help that the other bridesmaids were all about a size 2, but the pregnant bridesmaid looked awful.

Good luck!

Jera
Mom to Carter ~ 05.13.03
Madigan ~ 09.28.04
Natalie ~ 09.17.05 (born at 25 weeks!!)
Alexa ~ 11.03.06

[parker10302]

I was the Matron of Honor at my SIL's wedding two weeks before Mia was born. I did exactly what you are suggesting. I ordered a dress a few sizes up from my size. It had enough length that it could be hemmed all the way around and it looked good. Overall the dress took quite a bit of altering, and it was expensive, I think about $90...but it fit me perfectly!!

Nicole

mommy to
Grace 10/02
Emelia 4/05

[annex]

Wow, that does give me hope if you were able to make it work at almost full-term! I will definitely set aside some funds for the alteration - luckily the dress she picked is only $100 to begin with.

Thanks for everyone else's responses as well. I hate getting my photo taken when not pregnant, so doing this whole thing in a dress that might not look good has been anxiety-producing, to say the least.

Anne

[lobstahwedding]

Since you are going to be spending a lot of money on alterations anyway, here is another idea. I was MOH in my sister's wedding while pregnant (although I was only about 20 weeks then). I just brought in a picture of the dress I wanted and the fantastic seamstress who I used for my own wedding gown made me a dress from scratch. You might want to find out if you can order the fabric from whereever she is ordering the dresses and have the seamstress make you one to match (you aren't going to really match the other bridesmaids anyway while pregnant). My seamstress told me that with a maternity dress, it is much easier to start from scratch then to have to reconstruct a dress that has already been made. Maternity clothes have to be longer in front, shorter in back, allow room for the tummy, make room for the growing bust, etc. My dress was fantastic and I think I paid something like $125 for the entire thing (fabric, dress, etc) and that was in Chicago.