The stats about the plus size industry are abysmal – and that’s putting it nicely. 74% of plus-size women reportfeeling frustrated when shopping for clothing. Wedding dress shopping can already be a trying experience, added in the fact that very few designers create dresses for women of all sizing, boutiques are unable to stock a wide range of sizing, plus women find that they end up with extremely limited choices & consistently bad experiences.
Since the very beginning of Lace & Liberty, we always made our designs for our bride's own body proportions & measurements. We saw that the industry only catered towards specific body types and we wanted to do something different.
After working with plus women who were thrilled at our offerings, we asked our plus brides to help give us feedback and to let us know what was lacking in the industry. We then took this further and embarked on this passion project together with our friends at A Practical Wedding.
We created a ridiculously long 8 page survey and reached out to the incredible A Practical Wedding audience. To our surprise HUNDREDS of women filled out our survey enthusiastically!
Traditional plus-size wedding dresses are not designed for plus-sized bodies. The patterns are almost always taken from a straight-sized dress (usually around a size 4) and scaled up. No further thought is put into body proportions, internal support, boning structure, undergarments – the list goes on.
What real plus brides wanted to see was more colorful options, dresses that were sexy and modern, less strapless options, and dresses that had the internal support that could accommodate a bigger chest. Is that too much for a girl to ask? According to the current wedding dress industry – yes.
We then spent the better part of the year working on creating a plus collection with all this feedback in mind. We performed fit tests on a variety of real, plus-sized women to see exactly how each dress fit her body. With each iteration, we tested for shaping effect, breathability, and how well the dress kept its structure. We cycled through countless prototypes of internal corsets, boning placement, and materials to create the most optimal dress for each and every bride.
We chose intricate lace options, paired with luxurious and comfortable fabrics and obsessed over the details to ensure each one was extra special.
And the results are, well,revolutionary. Show a little skin while still wearing your own bra and undergarments. Feel modern and sexy without going completely backless. Move freely and feel comfortable and light. Wear a fun pop of color.
We havealways worked with brides – regardless of size or body proportion – to personalize their dress to exactly the way they want, and this capsule collection is no exception. Made-to-measure means that all dress proportions will be more accurate. For example, if you’re a size 12 on top and a size 16 on the bottom, we will make you a dress to fit your body proportions. Industry standard will force you to purchase a dress in one size – and usually a size far too large, which will cost hundreds in alterations. As with all wedding dresses, alterations are always to be expected – but your Lace & Liberty dress will be made with you in mind. Every. Single. Time.
You spoke up and we listened. We never intended to start a revolution; we simply strive to create beautiful wedding dresses so that every bride feels gorgeous on her special day.
We always want to hear more of your feedback, email us anytime if you want to chat!
with much love,
Lace & Liberty team
