Say Yes To The Dress: Big Bliss
BFDiva Laurie sent me a very exciting email recently: she’s been chosen to be on TLC’s Say Yes to the Dress: Big Bliss. It is a spinoff of their Say Yes to the Dress series, and it’s about, as you may guess, shopping for a wedding dress. The Big Bliss spinoff focuses on plus-sized brides.
I hadn’t seen the show, so I went and checked out some clips to get a feel for what it is like. There seems to be a range of fat experience here: some women have lost weight, some are dieting, some are very accepting of themselves. Many of them are matter-of-fact about their bodies, and have seemingly learned to blame the clothes, not themselves, if something doesn’t work. And of course, some are less confident, or apprehensive about the whole experience. Some hate trying clothes on; one woman admitted she hadn’t worn a dress in 20 years. The people helping them seem to be pretty positive and encouraging. (Although after watching a bunch of these videos, I still haven’t seem them find one dress that isn’t strapless, what is up with that.) (I also suddenly feel like getting married all over again in a giant white poofy strapless dress. Maybe I’ve watched too many clips in a row.)
So, have you ever seen the show? Do you have any advice for Laurie? Check out the clips below and let us know in the comments what you think. And good luck, Laurie! Let us know when the episode airs!
Posted by mo pie
Filed under: Ask BFD, Fashion, Personal, Sex & Romance, TV, Video
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Oh boy! I haven’t seen the show but I can’t imagine how difficult it would be to find a frock that makes your heart sing if you’re not happy with your body.
It really doesn’t help that they’re all white does it?! xx
seen it….. the consultants are smart about it I think, take their advice, ask for Randy too. Don’t listen too much to relatives.
I love both the original Say Yes and Big Bliss. I’m not quite sure why, since I’m a feminist to the bone. I’ve been married almost 20 years, didn’t take my husband’s name, didn’t have a big, flashy wedding, my ring is “estate jewellery”, i.e. bought second-hand, but I enjoy these shows nevertheless, as do a number of my very feminist friends.
On the other hand, I can’t watch the kiddie pageant queen shows for more than 30 seconds without throwing up.
Anyway, good luck to your friend. I agree with the posters above: the consultants are very professional and not at all judgmental. Randy’s fun too.
As to why everything is strapless–I think it’s just the current style, no matter what your weight.
I watched a ton of Say Yes to the Dress on Netflix while recouping from surgery this summer. The consultants are pretty universally great no matter the size of the bride and offer good advice. And they readily admit that 90+% of their inventory is strapless because that happens to be popular now. (Side note, will this style never die?!? Why should every bride have to look the same?!)
On a different note, I remember one episode in particular with a bride that I felt so badly for. She had lost a bunch of weight but still felt that she was too big and dress shopping was clearly no fun for her. I wanted to hug her and send her some body acceptance vibes because she sounded so miserable. But her experience was the exception on this show, definitely not the rule.
Not just strapless, but what’s up with the mermaid style? Why must the dresses fit snugly over the belly and hips? Something that flares from the waist would’ve looked good on all three of those women.
It was hard to tell from the clips if they actually found dresses they liked. Did they?
“I’m stuck because I’m fat this is sad worst day ever” I love that girl.
I’ve seen the show a few times and I’d agree with what others have written here, that the Kleinfeld staff is respectful of the women they’re working with, which I like to see. I don’t like to see some of the self hate spewed by some of the fat brides. That stuff gets tired very quickly. I mean, I know women still have confidence issues to deal with, but haven’t we made enough strides with size acceptance that more women have become accepting of themselves? …That said, though, fortunately, there isn’t a lot of self hate on the show, and it’s great to see the brides looking happy with their dresses and hear their love stories of how they met their SO’s.
Regarding the strapless style: I just read an article today about the potential influence of Kate Middleton’s style choices — and one of them was the prediction that wedding dresses with sleeves would become popular. So perhaps there’s hope in the near future for those who wish to avoid the strapless (regardless of size)?
I found the idea of shopping for a dress so daunting that I had one made instead. So I give these women a lot of props for being willing to put themselves out there.
I just don’t understand why Say Yes to the Dress doesn’t have plus sized women on the show all the time. The show and the store make it seem like it is a big deal every time a bigger girl comes in – which seem interesting given that the average woman is like a size 14.