OH NO! BRIDESMAIDS DRESSES :-(

Hi ladies,

Got the call the other day that all of my girls bridesmaids dresses are in!!!! I was so excited!!! One of my girls texted me and said "ummmmm......we ordered TEA LENGTH dresses right???" I said "yeah.....why??? :-(" She proceeded to say the dress was at her ankles!!!!!!! Soooo 4 more of my girls went, and same problem...they are all at their ankles! They are supposed to be just below the knee or AT MOST around the shin area. So, my bridesmaid questioned the store owner about it and the owner told her "Well tea length dresses are typically designed for girls who are 5'9". Therefore they may be longer on some of my girls." ----My tallest bridesmaid is 5'10"...so explain to me why it's at HER ankles also?!?!?! The owner said a tea length dress can be anywhere from the knee to the ankle. Well, I ordered TEA length for a reason! If I wanted ankle length, I would have gladly ordered the dresses that way!

So now, all 6 of my girls have to pay even more to have the dresses hemmed! :-( It's just completely uncalled for! We should have been informed when we ordered tea length that they might be longer than what we wanted! I'm so bummed and I feel bad having the girls pay $20extra to have them hemmed....but it's going to be June and around here it could be 85-90 degrees on a June day.

Should I suck it up and tell the girls to leave the dresses as is? Or go thru with the hemming? They are all being great about it, I just feel bad :-(

Thanks for listening to my vent....

I would def ask them what they would like to do.  If they are all open to whatever, then get them hemmed since thats what you wanted.  Or if you get a mixed crowd, try to come to a common ground.  Its great that they are being so understanding :)  Hope everything works out sweetie!!

hmmm actually tea length is in the definition of terms around ten cm above the ankle. this is what the original term stands for. today, many dresses which end a hand below the knee are defined tea length. but the original term form the 1950ths referred to ten cm above the ankle.

are the dresses longer than that?

this one for example is the tea length.

anyway, saying that only to understand if they are different from general terms in order that youy may complain.

Oh nooo!! That really stinks!! If I were you, I would be arguing that they should alter that part for free!!! It's their fault, not yours. They should've at least told you that that might happen!

Aww, that's terrible! It sounds like the bridal shop made a mistake and ordered the wrong length and now is making you pay for it. I would raise cain and make them fess up! Your girls shouldn't have to foot the bill for their error.

Oops, double post.

I understand, but I feel like even short bridesmaids dresses are made way too long these days no matter what. I am in my friends wedding in June and ours arent even considered tea length-but it looks tea length on all of us! Even the taller girls. It sucks, but I say see if they are willing to get them hemmed.

Research on yelp or elsewhere for a good cheap alterations place. Hemming is one of the easier things to do so hopefully won't cost too much! I think your girls will be fine with it (hopefully) good luck!!

This is just a little setback.  At least it's in the right color...that would be worse.

@Uhlease -- my girls dresses look so long too, and they're supposed to be "cocktail" length!!!

It could be an evil ploy in the wedding industry to make them longer so that seamstresses in turn make more money. j/k I dunno but the samples on my girls were super long too and all in cocktail length.

I'm sorry for the hiccup, I would suggest the same Elise said and/or what littlebit said. Try to see if the shop will cover it or at least reduce it since they weren't upfront w/ that info when ordering. It's a good thing your girls are being understanding about it.