I can only imagine how people are lining up at the door to pay to look at their crappy designs.

Women get really nuts about marriage. Really nuts.

I don't see this as a problem if they offer some method of waiving the fee if you can prove that you're actually getting married. Otherwise it's pretty stupid and, were I either getting married or a woman, I'd intentionally avoid any place that did this. "Yeah, okay, well, no additional business for you."

Good for this place..I knows that biatchez be crazy..an Women...do they love to shop or what?

I don't see a problem with this, and I'm a woman. If you want to waste the shop's time trying on dresses, even though you aren't getting married, pay the fee.

Wasn't there a Calvin & Hobbes comic about this?

"Don't knock my frock or I'll clean your clock... actually, I just like saying 'frock.'"

/frock frock frock frock frock frock frock frock

Bridalwear staff surveyed by the Herald on Sunday said the fee paid for dry cleaning, fixing damage and covering the time staff spent helping women into dresses.

Well, first of all, "helping women into dresses" is exactly the sort of thing upon which staff in a bridal dress shop should be spending their precious time. And how is a dress getting damaged if you're just trying it on? I don't recall ever damaging any clothing I've tried on in a store.

SockMonkeyHolocaust: Women get really nuts about marriage. Really nuts.

THIS

Ever see the mayhem when Filene's Basement has their annual bridal gown sale?

Geez. I would have paid a shop $20 for each dress I didn't have to try on. Those things are heavy and awkward, and I wound up settling for a dress I only somewhat liked just to put an end to the whole endeavor.

Skail: I don't see this as a problem if they offer some method of waiving the fee if you can prove that you're actually getting married. Otherwise it's pretty stupid and, were I either getting married or a woman, I'd intentionally avoid any place that did this. "Yeah, okay, well, no additional business for you."

This.

I'm getting married. Every shop I've gone into so far has the same 2 designs with different hideous details on a heavy canvas dress that actually crunches when you try to bend it because of all the plastic crappy netting underneath to make it puffy. Bleh. I'd hate to pay to just look at that garbage.

Toshiro Mifune's Letter Opener: "Don't knock my frock or I'll clean your clock... actually, I just like saying 'frock.'"

I think that was "smock."

Maybe it's one of these. I imagine they take a lot of time to put on.

Talon, how about a beautiful silky white sleeveless shift -- classy, elegant and stunning -- focuses on your beauty rather than on the dress! That's what I intend to do.

Good luck, dear!

Brides without grooms? Now that's just sad.

Pocket Ninja: I don't recall ever damaging any clothing I've tried on in a store.

Not even underwear? ;)

organs in mains: Brides without grooms? Now that's just sad.

But it's legal in three states now.

It's all about the wedding and never about the marriage.

It said in the article that they refunded the fee when somebody actually buys a dress, doesnt seem that unreasonable.

Meanwhile, guys spend about 15 minutes renting a tux.

Poor gals.

but if you're just out playing Barbie dress-up and sweating on the glad rags, on the store's dime, oink up a few bucks.

It's a bride,
it's a groom...

...it's Dennis Rodman?

/feh!

I've offered my daughter large cash to avoid more than a simple wedding.

Preferably, Judge style or even Vegas and have some fun.

Any money I spend on fru fru impress the friends stuff I deduct x 2 from house down payment cash.

SockMonkeyHolocaust: Women get really nuts about marriage. Really nuts.

You mean the wedding and all it entails. If women put the same effort into their marriage as they did to their wedding day...

maybe dudes should just marry each other ... you know, seein as how women are so bad at it.

I have an idea...

Divorce Wear

Just think of it.

/bean counters... come forth

astrahl: maybe dudes should just marry each other ... you know, seein as how women are so bad at it.

But we are, Blanche, we are.

libbyshome: If women put the same effort into their marriage as they did to their wedding day sex appeal as the strippers did at the bachelor party...

Nothing fancy, just a few acrobatics and double jointedness.

Wow. The shops here have lots of different dresses - many of them light and ethereal. Very pricey though. Never bought one, myself - just went in and took a lot of time trying them on.

I see a possible business opportunity here-- not just paid wedding dress fittings, but entire mock weddings.

I bet a lot of women would be willing to throw down a few hundred to a few thousand $$$ to have (almost) all the silly fun and attention a wedding would bring without that whole annoying "Marriage" part.

Assuming dresses, suits and decorations could be reused from customer to customer prices could be WAY lower than for a real wedding.


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I'm not sure if I could marry a woman that insisted on spending $5,000 or more on a dress she will only wear once-- even if her dad was paying for it.

Even if you could easily afford it, there's just too many better things that could be done with that kind of money.

psycho chicks

Amazing. Everytime I see a bridal shop I flip out especially if the bf is with me.
Not all women want to get married and have this dream wedding
These women are nuts....honestly will any of these women remember the exact details of the wedding 10 years from now?

Forgot to post:

Blues_Fan: I've offered my daughter large cash to avoid more than a simple wedding.

Preferably, Judge style or even Vegas and have some fun.

Any money I spend on fru fru impress the friends stuff I deduct x 2 from house down payment cash.

I have the same arrangement with my parents. If I have a small wedding they will give us cash for a house down payment. I would much rather have a house than a huge wedding.

I never plan terminating my sex life by getting married, so I am perusing these replies with the utmost delight.

Do women really do this? Trying on dresses for no particular reason at all? As a man, I can't imagine a more boring way to waste my time.

On one hand I certainly understand this. There's plenty of nutty chicks out there who are in love with the idea of having a wedding, and they haven't even been asked out for years. They'll waste the time of these shops (they are small shops, with one or maybe two employees, and time spent with these losers is time not spent with paying customers) without ever actually planning to drop cash. Browsing through David's Bridal is one thing; going to a small boutique and trying on everything in the store dreaming about Prince Charming is quite another.

On the other hand, I HATE the wedding industry. They're sleazier than the oil companies with the way they play on women's emotions- "everybody is doing THIS, you don't want to be tacky, do you?" And that added a few hundred here or a thousand there to the whole event.

Single White Male: I never plan terminating my sex life by getting married, so I am perusing these replies with the utmost delight.

I'll bet in your case, it isn't going to make much difference one way or t'other. How's it goin?

Pocket Ninja: And how is a dress getting damaged if you're just trying it on? I don't recall ever damaging any clothing I've tried on in a store.

I don't imagine your drag your jeans along the dirty floor or carpet the way a full length frock would drag. And even the cleanest floors would get a frock dirty. I think this is a great idea. Anything that keeps the asshats out of the way of the serious buyers in any industry is good. Want to take cars to a test drive? It's $20 a ride. They can take it off the bill when you actually buy.

/frock

You know, I'd pay $60 an hour to watch high school girls try on bridal gowns.

I think it's a good idea. Some women get waaaaay too caught up in the whole "wedding" thing. It's a huge waste of money. Forget the ugly, over-priced dress, all the prissy, meaningless crap & all that. Just have a kick-ass party with everyone you love instead.

Frankly Scarlett, I don't give a good goddamn.

Epsilon: Do women really do this? Trying on dresses for no particular reason at all? As a man, I can't imagine a more boring way to waste my time.

Perhaps it has its charms.

If you are the right kind of man for it.

I'd feel bad about the poor bridal shops, but formalware is one of the biggest scams on the market. These places charge $1000 or more on a dress you wear once, or $100+ on a tuxedo you rent for one day, and they have the gall to complain?

I got married a month ago, i wore a suit that i already owned, my wife wore dress pants and a nice shirt and heels. Total cost of wedding &lunch after, under $200. Not cheap, just no point in wasting massive amounts of $$$ when we only have 5 relatives living in the same country as us.

"I don't see a problem with this, and I'm a woman. If you want to waste the shop's time trying on dresses, even though you aren't getting married, pay the fee."

Um, why would you try on dresses if you are not getting married? That is sad and psycho.

I think any sane person would just NOT get a crazy dress then to do this. People who pay for this deserve to have their money taken away.

jbernie: I got married a month ago, i wore a suit that i already owned, my wife wore dress pants and a nice shirt and heels. Total cost of wedding &lunch after, under $200. Not cheap, just no point in wasting massive amounts of $$$ when we only have 5 relatives living in the same country as us.

I wonder who wears the pants in that relationship

Epsilon: Do women really do this? Trying on dresses for no particular reason at all? As a man, I can't imagine a more boring way to waste my time.

Yes. Imagine if at your local mall there was a shop that not only sold replica Star Trek and Star Wars outfits but also let people try them on. Imagine the weirdos that would go in and try on the Darth Vader costume over and over again.

I take it you also have never walked into a female friend's house who was single and seen pictures of wedding rings on their refrigerator?

What's the silly tag for anyway? That the shops are charging? Or that the brides to be are silly? I don't really see anything wrong with the shops charging a fee, try on 20 dresses and maybe only buy one? That can't be a good return.

Some of the comments in the article were funny:

"One mother-of-the-bride wanted to try on her daughter's prospective dresses - to see what they looked like on her" WTF is up with that? Mommy feeling a bit sad its not going to be her day?

The last bride to be complaining about 'you don't have to pay to test drive a car' was funny too. I can't recall the last time they let you test drive like 20 cars on the lot.