How to Bustle a Wedding Dress: How to Bustle a Wedding Gown

The Bustle is in use today primarily to lift the long, elegant trains of wedding dresses off the floor. Instead of a framework worn under the wedding gown, the long train is lifted with buttons or ties to create a lovely style that is also very practical.

Adding a Bustle to Your Wedding Dress

Although almost all brides utilize Bustles for their wedding dresses or wedding gowns, you may be surprised to discover that the dresses do not come with bustles in place. The bustle is added during alterations. This makes sense since all brides are not the same height and your bustle should lift the back of your wedding gown to your hem length…so your bustle must be custom made.

Wedding Dress Bustle Options

NewJerseyWeddingVendors.com has put together a short slide show of the basic wedding gown bustle styles for you:

As you can see, you have several choices in wedding dress bustles:

• Over Bustle (Ballroom)
• Under Bustle
• French or Victorian Bustle
• Austrian Bustle

Because your wedding dress bustle will be designed for your wedding gown and your own personal preference are the reasons you can’t find “How to Bustle a Wedding Dress” or “How to Bustle a Wedding Gown” directions. Your wedding dress bustle style and how to bustle a wedding dress must be shared between you and your NJ bridal vendor’s seamstress.  The best advice NewJerseyWeddingVendors.com can give you is to:

• take two or three attendants with you, a video camera, and a notebook and pen
• record the instructions both by camera and pen
• consider where you will be celebrating - a NJ beach wedding will require your gown to be a bit higher
• review your wedding gown bustle directions and plan a trial run before the wedding day

or you may end up missing your cocktail hour.  Take a look at this bride’s wedding dress bustle experience!

Basic Wedding Dress Bustle Descriptions

The Wedding Dress “Over Bustle”

The Wedding Dress “Over Bustle “consists of several hooks and eyes lifting your train off the floor. The “eyes” are placed along the waistline. The “hooks” are sewn in about 14 – 20” down the back skirt. Lace appliqués, rosettes or bows may be needed to cover the hooks and eyes. Covered buttons also work well, and may look nicer, especially if you have buttons down the back of your gown.

The Wedding Dress “Under Bustle”

Another option is the Wedding Dress “Under Bustle”. This method works especially well for the wedding dress without a waistline and those that are especially decorative in the back area, as it doesn’t cover up any lace or details in the gown right below the waist. The gown is lifted from the bottom area. The Under Bustle is also more secure than the Over Bustle. For the Under Bustle, ribbons are sewn under the gown securing the outer fabric to the lining. Use different colors of ribbon to make the task of tying easier.

The Wedding Dress “French Bustle”

A Wedding Dress “French Bustle” is made by sewing loops into the inside back side of the wedding gown in a diamond shape. A ribbon is run through the loops, gathered and tied to give the gown a bouffant look.

The Wedding Dress “Austrian Bustle”

While it is not as common, you can also create a very interesting bustle by sewing bias tape down the back seams and running a ribbon through it. The ribbon is pulled to create a look similar to balloon shades.

Bustles for Delicate Fabrics

Use care in selecting your bustle style if your wedding dress fabric is delicate. The weight of the gown on the bustles may tear transparent, lightweight fabrics like organza. So if your fabric is delicate, choose a bustle style that reduces the weight on each individual bustle.

Additional Wedding Dress Bustle Sites to help you further:

• Bustles (great! - instructional DVD available)
• Bustle Me Baby
• Bustle Sewing Tips
• How to Make the Wedding Dress of Your Dreams
• Bridal Couture: Fine Sewing Techniques for Wedding Gowns
• Sew a Beautiful Wedding

Also, if you register with David’s Bridal, you can download Bustle information.

NewJerseyWeddingVendors.com hopes your bustling experience is an easy one. It is definitely something that needs practicing!  Don’t be shy in asking your seamstress to walk your attendants through it as many times as they need to before you leave the NJ bridal vendor’s shop.