Look­ing to buy your wed­ding dress?

Before you actu­ally start search­ing for your  gown you might need to know a few terms.

Below is a list of terms that will make your wed­ding dress buy­ing easier.

Wed­ding Dress - Bodice

• Corset — A tight-fitted top with bon­ing for support-zipper or laceup back.
• Empire — Rounded bodice that ends just below the bust line.
• Hal­ter — A top that the straps wrap around the neck.
• Midriff — bodice fits tightly around the ribcage.
• One-shoulder — reveals one shoulder.
• Princess-line - bodice has two seams that run over the bust line to the seam.

Wed­ding Dress — Necklines

• Bateau — Cut straight across the collar-bone line.
• Square — Neck­line is shaped like half of a square in the front and/or back.
• High-Neck — The neck­line reaches high to the neck.
• Hal­ter — Higher-neck with straps that tie behind the neck.
• Jewel — Round neckline.
• Off The Shoul­der — Sits just off the shoulders.
• Por­trait — Rounded scoop from shoul­der to the other.
• Scoop — Deeper, rounder cut that reaches from shoul­der to shoulder
• Strap­less — Sit on ribcage around whole top half with no straps.
• Sweet­heart — Top half of the dress shaped in a heart, point in the mid­dle of the chest.
• V-Neck — The mid­dle of the neck­line comes down into a V-shape.

Wed­ding Dress — Sleeves

• Bal­loon — Full from the shoul­der and over the upper arm, nar­row over the lower arm and wrist.
• Bell — Tight and nar­row at the top of arm and comes down into a wide open bell shape.
• Cap — A small sleeve just cov­er­ing the top of the arm.
• Fit­ted point — A long sleeve that comes to a point on top of the hand.
• Juliet — long sleeved that reaches down to the wrist has either a straight or pointed end.
• Poet — Gath­ers at the shoul­ders with rounded, loose exten­sion over arms, then gath­ers down to wrist.
• Spaghetti strap — Very Thin straps.
• 3 quar­ter length — Sleeve that end between the elbow and wrist.
• Tulip — A petal-shape, flaps over the shoul­ders, resem­ble a flower.

Wed­ding Dress — Skirt styles

• V-Waist — Waist drops just below waist­line cre­at­ing a V shape.
• Empire Waist — The waist­line begins just below the bust line.
• Ball gown — Fit­ted at the waist, and comes out into a full ball gown.
• Flared — Fit­ted at the waist, comes out into a tulip shape at the hemline.
• Flounce — looser skirt that flares out and has a ruf­fle at the hemline.
• Pan­nier — Fab­ric drap­ing on both hips
• Pencil/ Col­umn Skirt/straight skirt — Straight-lined skirt with no flare or fullness.
• Pleated — Vary­ing num­bers of pleats along the front of the skirt.
• Mul­ti­ple pleats — accor­dion style
• Two larger pleats — box style
• Side slit — Slit on the side of one leg, allow­ing for movement.
• Straight — The skit extends straight down, with no flare at the hem.
• Tiered — The skirt has sev­eral over­lap­ping lay­ers of dif­fer­ent lengths.
• Wrap — The skirt over­laps the body and wraps at the waist.
• A-Lined — Form fit­ting bodice that flares out from the waist­line, Seam­less waist.

Wed­ding Dress — Skirt Lengths

• Ballerina/Tea Hem is just above the ankles.
• Floor Length — Reaches the floor on all sides.
• Inter­mis­sion — Hem falls between the knees and ankle.
• Knee Length — Reaches just below the knee.
• Mini Skirt — Reaches above the knee.

Wed­ding Dress — Trains

• Cathe­dral — Choice for ultra-formal weddings.(Extends 6–8 feet)
• Chapel — Choice for for­mal weddings.(Extends 3–4 feet)
• Extended — Known as a Royal train.(Extends more than 4 feet)
• Sweep/Brush — Short­est train, it just grazes the floor behind the bride.
• Watteau/Back Drape — Train extends from attach­ments at the shoulders.
• Detach­able Train — Are remov­able trains that joined to the gown at the waistline.

Acces­sories

• Crinoline/Petticoats/Parasols — Stiff­ened slip worn under the wed­ding gown. It gives a full­ness affect. *Com­monly used for A-lined dresses and Ball gown dresses
• Gauntlets — Gloves that extend above the wrist(From Wedbids)