Vintage Style Bridesmaids and Why You Want Them

 When my sister announced she was engaged I was left wondering for a while whether I would be asked to be bridesmaid. Our older sister was already married at the time so I figured I was the most obvious choice, other than our adorable niece. Anyway, a few months after the engagement was announced, my mother rang me up and declared “well, she just thought you would KNOW”.
 
I’m not a mind reader, but hey! Cue getting excited about having a bridesmaid dress followed by intermittent fears of ugly satin pink dresses resembling a pillowcase. Or a salmon blimp. 
 
Luckily, my sister has fairly good taste so I was happy when she selected a fabulous vintage shape for her wedding dress. I took this as my order to go nuts looking for a reproduction vintage bridesmaids dress to follow suit. Unfortunately... my sister and I had very different ideas!
 
Happily, with a vintage bridesmaid theme you are not stuck for varieties and shapes of dresses to try. The beauty of vintage bridesmaids dresses styles can help you fit and flatter any shape- a useful thing when you have lots of different figures to dress! Whilst my dream 50s style vintage bridesmaid dress with a full circle skirt was definitely not going to happen, something far more wearable appeared before me upon entering what became my new favourite shop (can you guess which shop that was?)
I discovered Revival Retro when it used to be across the way from the boutique my sister got her dress from. It was meant to be! They had, amongst other things, 50s style dresses with a wiggle style fit. So, whilst not originally my first idea for a vintage bridesmaid dress, the Stop Staring Billion Dollar dress in red was picked out. To this day it’s still my favourite dress. Or at least one of them – it’s hard to tell when there are so many! You can find it online here.
 
The dress was fantastic for a wedding (or another formal occasion, it’s also proved to be versatile and I've worn it loads.) I know a lot of people worry when they have to fork out for a bridesmaid dress that they might never be able to wear it again, but when it comes to the vintage style it seems more often that not they’re pieces you can wear again and again. Whether you go for a wiggle dress like I did, a swing dress or something entirely different, you’re almost guaranteed to feel fantastic in it and therefore continue to make use of it for years.
 
No, you don’t want to upstage the bride – but there aren’t rules saying you can’t look and feel great on their big day too!
 
For more on vintage bridesmaids, read about our recommendations for plus size bridesmaids here.
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