Not A Bridesmaid’s Dress
I don’t know how many times I’ve had to explain this to young women who’ve been eager to buy bridesmaid dresses from the evening rack, that bridesmaid dresses are not prom dresses. It should be simple but it’s not. Look at the dresses at a site like DressFirst, and compare the two categories, and you’ll see what I mean right away.
Bridesmaid dresses are designed to make the bride the star of the show, which is completely understandable, since the bride IS the star of the show. Thus, so many bridesmaid’s dresses are unflattering, either in color or cut, or both, because the attendants cannot, under any circumstances, be allowed to show up the bride. This is not to say that the bridesmaids need to look dumpy, glum, and colorless, just that they can’t be looking overly radiant. Radiant is reserved fro the bride alone.
Prom dresses and homecoming dresses ARE designed to make the wearer the star of the show. That’s why there’s all of those sequins, and why they are cut the way they are. The best ones are designed to showcase the wearer, as if she were trophy.
So there you go, there is a reason why so many bridesmaid’s dresses are unflattering, and why so many prom dresses are not.