Why Choose Consignment?
Like other people growing up in the mid-2000s, I spent plenty of time watching Say Yes To The Dress on TLC. Honestly, I’d credit that show with kick-starting my interest in weddings and bridal fashion! But something else that show did was shape my (and I’m sure other people’s) perception of the wedding dress buying process: you go to a big salon, you try on a bunch of dresses that may be pretty far from fitting, and after you make your decision, you place your order and start the months-long countdown until you’ll see your dress again.
But it’s not 2007 anymore, and the dress buying process has evolved along with the rest of the wedding industry. One of the biggest changes is the growth in popularity of wedding dress consignment. Secondhand shopping and “thrifting” have helped grow the other areas of our wardrobes, so why not utilize it for our weddings as well? If you’re in the market for a bridal gown, keep reading for reasons why consignment might be for you!
Environmental Impact
Sustainability and being more eco-conscious are ideas that have been making their way into the wedding industry at large over the last few years. One of the pros of buying your dress from a consignment shop is that a new garment isn’t being created for your big day, reducing water consumption, material waste, and pollution.
The Dress is There
If you’ve ever seen a wedding timeline online or in a magazine, you’ll know that the traditional advice is to buy your dress 10 to 12 months in advance to allow time for the designer to make the gown. But with consignment, the dress you fall in love with is yours to take home that day! Also, the variety of sizes in the store means you can try on something that's closer to fitting, instead of having to imagine how the sample will look once it’s made to your size.
Variety
When brides bring us their dresses, they’re dresses that they’ve bought from all over Pittsburgh (and sometimes outside of the city!). This means we have dresses from shops all over town all concentrated under one roof. From larger bridal brands to smaller independent designers, you’re likely to find a little bit of everything.
Giving a Dress a Second Life
For how much time and effort is put into making a wedding dress, it’s kind of sad that they’re only worn once before they’re put in the closet never to be seen again. By buying a dress that’s already made a trip down the aisle, that dress will have a whole other day of memories made with a brand-new person wearing it.
The Hunt
Part of the joy of second-hand and consignment shopping is the thrill of searching the racks, never knowing what gems you’re going to find that day. What if you could have that same feeling finding your wedding dress? And as a bonus, when people at your wedding exclaim over how wonderful you look, you can tell them “Thanks, I found it at this amazing consignment shop!”
Price!
Let’s be honest, new wedding dresses can be very expensive. Heck, weddings in general can be expensive! But by shopping consignment, you can get a beautiful dress for a fraction of the original price. Money that you don’t spend on your dress can be saved or re-allocated to other areas, like photography or that great mobile bar cart you saw on Instagram!
Have you come to the end of this list and thought "Wow, I can’t believe all the positives to wedding dress consignment,” then we’d love to meet you! Or if you’re not in our area, get online to see if there are any shops like us near you and book an appointment. Who knows what sort of beautiful gowns you’ll find that you might have missed!