Spin off: Bridesmaid dresses you'll never wear again.

My MOH is getting married in June. She started off saying we could pick our own dress so long as it was navy and short. Loe and behold we end up at David's Bridal and she insists that her other MOH and I get this same dress that looks terrible on both of us because "it's just so cute!" We told her we weren't in love with the dress, but honestly, it was the best out of the day and it was becoming very obvious that the "choose your own dress" model was out the window. Even FH says it's super unflattering on me. The kicker is that I have to pay for alterations on it too. Ugh. When I say pick your own dress in my color and length, I mean it.

Me.

1st one : rented, so I didn't have to worry about it.

2nd one : was a 2 piece fitted top and long skirt. I ended up using the skirt a few years later in theatre rehearsals where I had to practice going up stairs in a long skirt and heeled character shoes. So that at least was useful. And then I wore the skirt when I was a part of a Christmas caroling group (we needed a long skirt).

3rd one (my sister's wedding): Big nope. Donated it to Goodwill years later.

4th one (my best friend): It's still in my closet. It's cute, but only wearable again if (1) I dye it black and (2) I lose the weight to get back into it). Not sure WHERE I'd wear it though.

5th one: I wore a dress I already had, so score!

Yes, I was super cognizant of wearability when I picked mine. And my sister bought a black one to wear to an office Christmas party and my best friend wore hers to an afternoon party. I'm heavier than they are, but as soon as I drop the weight, I'm totally borrowing my sister's for evenings at the theatre. It's a knee-length lace dress, so it doesn't scream BRIDESMAID.

I do! Both weddings I've been in, I haven't worn the dress again. I recently donated them to a local group that collects prom dresses.

It wasn't the color or style that was the problem. It was the fabric. I hate shiny fabric and the dress was taffeta. It was navy so if I liked it, it could've been a dress I wore again. But nope.

I kind of eliminated the thought of something they would wear again. You can't guarantee that and every bridesmaid it different. I told them a color and told them to pick out a dress from a bunch of different styles. Every single one, except for one picked the same style. So I just let them all get that one. It's just a classic v neck. Will they wear it again? Probably not? But I feel better knowing that they picked it out.

I really wanted to do mismatch dresses and just let my ladies pick out a purple dress. But they wanted more direction and actually thought it would be easier to just get something from David's Bridal. I picked out the color and they picked out the style. They all said that they like the dress they picked out, but it's still very clearly a BM dress. I'm guessing 1 or 2 of them will wear the dress again. The other 3 won't, but they also rarely wear a fancy dress twice.

I think since I've never reworn a bridesmaid dress it helped push me to choose the mismatched option. That way they could spend as little or as much as they wanted & maybe it would be a dress that was more their style.

:3

The very first wedding I was in, the bride was obsessed with how we'd all look. She bought all of our dresses for us, and then intentionally bought them all a size to small so we'd love weight. Needless to say all of her BMs had extreme cleavage or back fat from squeezing into those dresses. I gave that baby away as soon as I could. I love the uniformed look of everyone having the same dresses, but at least they'll fit right.

Unless my gals have a major gala to go to I doubt they'll wear theirs again but...damn they look fabulous.

The dress from my brother's first wedding was a super light lavender, and as you can see, I am a very pale girl, so pastels are not really my friend. It doesn't really bother me though, as honestly, when I agree to be in someone's wedding, I know what I am signing up for. I don't go into it with the expectation that I will be able to reuse the dress (how often do you need a formal dress?) So no, I did not take this into account when choosing my BM dresses because I feel like everyone always says, "I picked something you could wear again!" and then if you ask people they still never wore it again, LOL. Having said that, my niece is 16 so she could probably wear hers again from Prom if she wanted too, but that is up to her.

I own 2 that I will never wear again. First, a black strapless dress that had one of those bubble skirts (when those were popular a couple years ago). I had to size up 2 sizes to for my hips, and the seamstress couldn't alter the top small enough for me (34A at the time). So I had to have cups seen in and wear a padded bra. Second a satin v-neck dress with a drop waist. And straps that sat out on my shoulders instead of where they should have gone. Both were satin, which I hate. Both were the choice of the bride's sister (MOH) and fit them beautifully, I just have a really unique body type. Both have since been donated.

I asked my girls if they would rather choose their own dress (based on the color and length I gave them) or all buy an infinity wrap dress to wear. They chose the infinity wrap dress.

First one I was a Jr Bridesmaid.. Ended up using it for a "graduation" of sorts into middle school. Second one is literally still hanging in my closet, is a tea length satin dress that will never be used again. Hate satin, is clearly a BM dress thanks to the light pink color.

I've told my own BMs that I want them to choose a dress they feel comfortable wearing, and I'll make the final veto.

I've got 2 dresses, both beautiful, but will never wear again possibly ever. I'm not having a bridal party, but I have seen many dresses at like belks, jcp, etc that look beautiful enough for a wedding and still look good enough to wear for holidays or girls night out

I sold mine on some website for used bridesmaid/wedding dresses. I would have LOVED to wear that dress again but I was a year out of high school so obviously I have no more fancy events like prom to wear it to. I was sad to see it go but glad someone else can get some use of it!

I've pretty much hated every single bridesmaid dress I've worn. I've either sold or donated all of them.

I definitely took things into consideration. I really wanted the girls in the same dress, but knew, if everyone wasn't comfortable then we weren't all doing the same dresses. My girls all fell in love with the same long navy dress. It could easily be shortened if they wished to reuse it.

I haven't reworn the bridesmaids dresses I've had so we made the decision to rent the dresses for our wedding. Does it suck to pay money for a dress only to send it back? Yep. But would I rather pay that amount for a lower quality dress that would just sit in a closet? Or would I want to feel beautiful in a $75 dress that's really worth hundreds or sometimes thousands.

I used Rent the runway for a wedding as a guest recently and felt like a million bucks while the bridesmaids at the wedding were complaining how uncomfortable their dresses were. I want my girls to feel like a million bucks as well.

Ugh, I have 3 BM dresses in my closet right now that I've never worn/will never wear again: a frumpy tea-length burgundy with an awful butt-bow, a strapless salmon-orange chiffon piece with NO structure or support that belongs on someone 10 years younger than me, and a lacey blue bateau-neck (bateau looks AWFUL on me) that clings in all the wrong places on my hips. And those are the survivors - I donated 2 more before my last move.

Oddly the only one I HAVE worn a lot and which has survived 12 years of moves, is the ballgown. Because sometimes an event just calls for one, and I really really don't want to have to buy another.

I offered my BMs the chance to wear a LBD or something in a neutral from a department store. And I refuse to buy BM dresses from bridal shops - they all are so dated and weird! One-shoulder, high-low, strapless, made of stupid shiny stuff or cheap-looking chiffon...ugh.

The first 2 weddings I was in I didn't re wear the dresses, both were shiny fabric BM dresses, one was Kelly green which looked awful on me. The last wedding (which was my now MOH's ) I wore a LBD that Ive worn a few times since.

I'm pretty sure my MOH will wear hers again. Even though it will be in purple--I just told her to pick a purple dress she felt beautiful in. I didn't specify length, I knew she'd go short, she's got the legs, she just ran a half marathon yesterday! I love this girl. ETA spelling.

I've been in a lot of weddings. And never reworn a dress. I only had one horrible dress experience though. The dress was handmade by a seamstress and peasant style. It was an odd peach color and the material had embroidered flowers on it- it looked like couch material. It was unflattering on people of all shapes and sizes. My girls have been given a color (charcoal grey) and are picking whatever dress they want.

I chose a reasonably-priced dress for all my ladies that I truly believe (and hope!) they could wear again. I recently spent a lot of money on a BM dress I will never wear again, and hope to sell that one as it is still in great condition. @Tulip, I plan to use RTR for my shower and am glad to hear you've had a great experience!