Where’s My Bustle?

Not all women like a French or Over bustle. Usually any specific design to a dress is very limited. If a company were to offer bustling when ordered, they may only give one or two options for how to bustle it, as it reduces the time it takes to put a dress together. Therefore, although it will add to the cost of your dress, having the option to bustle it how you want it and not how a company feels it should be bustled, or that it is bustled one standard height (not accommodating for variances in height) allows you the freedom to make the dress your own, not what a company wants. Also read our article on alterations made once a dress comes in, because guaranteed, it’s going to need something done once it arrives.

Why won’t they pre-bustle the gown for me? First off, not all gowns are able to be hollow to hemmed, meaning the dress only comes in one length, requiring you to get it hemmed to the right length for the shoe and height you will be when wearing the gown. Once it is hemmed then you bustle it, so that it sweeps the floor or is even with the rest of the hem, once it has been altered. Secondly, there are many types of bustles. What one person may call a three point under bustle, may be called a french bustle somewhere else. A pre-bustled dress may not actually be at the right height for you, or it may not be what you envisioned, then you have to get it altered to be what you want anyway. Bustling is height and preference specific.

You have ordered your wedding gown and it is perfect! You can’t wait until it comes in and you can put it on again. If your consultant did their job right, they can how you how your dress can be bustled to suit you. With that said, the majority of dresses do not come with a built in bustle. Some higher end gowns may provide this with specifics on how you would like it bustled, but be wary of this offer, as it relies on height and exact positioning.

All in all, wedding owns don’t come with a bustle to allow you to hem and bustle how you want it done, not how a company chooses to do it. Your dress may come pre-hemmed to your height, but not bustled, as it is all a matter of personal preference.

When your gown comes in it will have a loop sewn into the train, which you can use to hold up the train through the evening. Once your dress arrives you then need a seamstress to bustle the train. IF your dress was ordered on a hollow to hem,the gown will come in pre-hemmed to your height and desired length. Many, if not all designers will not remove a train from a simple wedding dress, even if it is something you would like. This will have to be done by a seamstress once you receive the gown. If a dress comes in and the train is too long, be sure to tell your seamstress you want it hemmed as well, because many may not hem the train, just the front of the gown.