When you think of a stunning wedding gown, you picture a gorgeous, flowing train gracing the aisle. But what do you do with all that fabric once the ceremony is over? That’s where the bustle comes in. You might have seen this term in your wedding dress search, but if you’re not sure what a bustle is, you’ll want to know more.
From how to bustle a wedding dress to the different types of bustles available, there’s a lot to learn about this wedding gown feature. Discover everything you need to know about a wedding dress bustle below!
What Is a Bustle?
A bustle secures the extra fabric at the back of your wedding dress, including the train. Once you bustle your wedding dress, you’ll get a uniform hemline that just touches the floor or sits a little higher, depending on the rest of your dress.
Your wedding dress, if you’ve picked it already or have ideas in mind, most likely won’t include the bustle. A tailor can add a bustle during alterations, using attachments like buttons, hooks or ties. Those attachments serve as pickup points, where a section of fabric attaches to the gown. Most brides with long wedding gowns get a bustle during alterations, while those with tea-length and other short wedding gowns don’t need a bustle.
How to Make a Bustle on a Wedding Dress
It’s best to leave this step to the professionals. Trying to make a bustle on a wedding dress yourself could lead to tearing the fabric. You risk putting a pin in the wrong place and adding the parts incorrectly, altering the hemline once you bustle it.
Wedding gowns typically have intricate details and delicate fabric that you need experience to work with. A professional tailor will create the bustle on your wedding dress if it doesn’t have one already. They’ll consider the overall length of your dress, which could need various alterations after your initial purchase, anyway. A tailor will know which type of bustle is best, based on the shape of your gown and its fabric.
From there, an expert will add parts to your gown that allow it to gather the fabric at the back. There may be fabric or thread loops that attach to hooks, an added sash or ribbon to hold the material or other systems. Those parts may be on the inside or outside of the dress.
Why Bustle Your Wedding Gown?
If you have a long wedding dress, you may wonder if you need to bustle your gown. The answer is most often yes. It’s a choice that comes with many benefits for your special day.
- Making your reception safer: You don’t want to trip on your wedding gown as you try to get from the ceremony to the reception. And you wouldn’t want a trailing dress to represent a tripping hazard to your guests, either.
- Making it easier to dance: Your wedding reception is a celebration, and that means dancing! It would be difficult to dance in a dress with a train or even a skirt that drapes on the floor. Bustling your gown gives you more mobility for mingling with guests and spending time on the dance floor.
- Protecting the dress: Bustling a gown at the back prevents the material from dragging along the ground. If you were to go through your reception with the dress down, you’d get the fabric dirty and possibly damaged.
- Giving your dress a new look: While some brides wear different dresses for the ceremony and the reception, you won’t need to with a bustled design. And when you gather the skirt and train, you change the appearance of the back of the dress.
- Giving you one less thing to worry about: On your wedding day, you don’t want to stress about anything. Having your dress bustled will give you one less thing to worry about. You won’t stress about snagging your train on the floor or someone accidentally stepping on it.
Bustling Your Wedding Dress
You’ll likely want to bustle your dress after the ceremony, possibly after some photos. It’ll be too difficult to gather your train or dress fabric and secure it behind you by yourself, so enlist help. Your bridesmaids, mom or mother-in-law can be of assistance here, but make sure they know beforehand how to bustle the gown. Have them accompany you to the final fitting and record the bustling process for reference on your wedding day.
Your specific bustling process will depend on the type of bustle you have on your gown. Your tailor will explain the parts and the process, but it could involve finding a thread along the center back seam and looping it into a hook at the back. If you have hooks on your dress, ensure your helper secures the hook to hold the thread in place.
Types of Bustles
Learning how to bustle a wedding dress will be easier if you know what type your dress will have. Your tailor could add various options, so consider these types of bustles for your gown.
American Bustle
Also known as the over-bustle, the American bustle gathers your train and folds it up over the rest of the skirt. The fasteners are typically hooks for holding the train, and your dress may feature anywhere from one to five of them. The result is either a single cascading fold at one pickup point or a few cascading points down your back. An American bustle is ideal for dresses like:
- Ball gowns
- Chapel trains
- Cathedral trains
French Bustle
Also called the under-bustle, the French bustle tucks the train under the skirt. The result is billowy sections of fabric, depending on how many pickup points you have in your dress. The gathered look may also create a tiered effect toward the back and bottom of your gown’s skirt. A French bustle works well for gowns that show off your natural waistline and these styles:
- A-line dresses
- Sheath dresses
- Mermaid gowns
- Trumpet dresses
- Intricate detailing
Royal Bustle
The royal bustle, also called the Victorian bustle, is intricate, as the name implies. The train attaches over the skirt to various pickup points at different heights at your back. You may, for instance, have two points slightly higher and one point lower between them. The result is a more dramatic tiered effect that emphasizes your skirt’s volume. It’s also an elegant and romantic option that works well for gowns like:
- Full ball gowns
- Cathedral trains
Ballroom Bustle
While this style sounds more like a dance move than a gown alteration, the ballroom bustle is a subtle way to shorten your dress. This bustle tucks the train under the skirt and attaches it at pickup points around the bodice of your gown. The final look disguises the train, making it seem as if your gown was its shortened length all along.
The ballroom bustle’s name implies it’s best suited for a ball gown, but it also works well on most silhouettes. Keep in mind, though, that because it requires so many attachment points, the ballroom bustle is among the more expensive options.
Train-Flip Bustle
If you like the idea of the ballroom bustle, you might also consider this option. The train-flip bustle does as it says — it flips the train up under the skirt. Instead of hooking into points along your bodice, the train-flip pins to itself. The result is a full effect at the bottom of your skirt, perfect for anyone who likes the look of a more dramatic dress. The train-flip bustle works best with ball gowns.
Bow Bustle
The bow bustle is a sweet and romantic style that — you guessed it — involves a bow. This bustle works similarly to the American or over-bustle, but a sash or ribbon secures it. If you wanted this accent for your dress, you may consider making it a functional element and getting a bow bustle.
Austrian Bustle
The Austrian bustle is a unique way to tie up your dress that’s becoming more popular. It involves a drawstring-like way to gather the excess fabric in your gown. The result is a ruched or gathered effect that creates delicate texture.
The length of your gown will determine how many drawstring systems you need along the back. A dress with a short train usually has an Austrian bustle on the back at the center. With a longer skirt, a tailor may add the drawstring system on the back and on the train. You won’t want a dress that has too long of a train with an Austrian bustle, though. The design may not be able to gather your whole dress off the floor.
The overall design of the Austrian bustle is complex to add to a gown. You’ll need a professional to put this bustle in your dress, and it will likely have a higher cost than others.
Wristlet
A wrist loop or wristlet isn’t a traditional bustle that attaches over or under your dress. Instead, a wristlet features a loop of fabric somewhere on the gown that you then wear around your wrist. Some brides like this style for dancing and photos, but it isn’t practical to use all evening.
When you eat, drink and cut the cake, holding your skirt up with your wrist could get in the way. And the weight of the skirt will also become tiring to hold all evening. That means a wrist loop is suitable for short trains and light fabrics. Even then, you may want to go with a traditional bustle instead, so you don’t risk dragging your gown on the floor.
Your bustle could feature a wrist loop somewhere under the skirt or train of the gown. That makes it easier to hold as your helper secures the gown. You could use the loop to secure your train on your wrist for convenience as you walk around before bustling your dress.
How to Choose a Type of Bustle
With so many different types of bustles for your gown, it can be challenging to pick one. Luckily, a few considerations will make deciding between bustles a bit easier. To choose one for your wedding gown, factor in the following.
- Your dress: Some dresses work better with bustle options than others. Because of that, your dress will be among the more significant determining factors when you choose a way to gather the skirt and train.
- Your budget: Different bustles will have varying price tags based on how much effort they involve. If your tailor needs to add multiple attachment points or work with a delicate or detailed fabric, the cost will be higher. If you have a limited budget, select something simple that includes one pickup point.
- Your style: Every bustle is different and will alter the overall look of your gown in the back. For brides who don’t want to ruin their dress silhouette, an under-bustle variety is the better option.
- Your tailor’s recommendation: An experienced professional will have the best recommendations for your wedding dress. If you’re vacillating between bustle styles or have no idea what you want, talk with your tailor for inspiration.
You may also consider how you want to protect the bottom of your wedding gown. Any styles that tuck the train under the dress expose a section of the gown’s exterior to the floor. That means, once the gown is unbustled, you might have a visible line of dust or dirt along the bottom.
With bustles that go over the skirt, you’ll only have to worry about the inside of the dress and the bottom hemline. That’s not to say you must pick an over-bustle style to keep your dress clean — you should get your wedding dress cleaned before storing it, anyway — but it is something to consider.
Other Tips for Bustling Your Wedding Dress
A few more tips will help you learn how to bustle a wedding dress, from adding one to your gown to preparing for the big day. Consider these additional tips to get the perfect bustled wedding dress.
- Factor the bustle into your budget: A bustle is often a somewhat significant expense, sometimes costing hundreds of dollars. Many brides add this feature into their overall dress budget or the alterations budget. If you know you want a train or a long wedding gown, be sure to add in extra budget room for this alteration.
- Prepare with an emergency kit: Bustles can tear on occasion. If your gown is heavy or there’s a lot of material, the strain of the fabric could cause the bustle to fall apart. Even a lighter gown is at risk, especially if you’re moving, dancing, standing and sitting a lot throughout the reception. Prepare by putting together a kit with safety pins, or ask your tailor what you should use if the bustle breaks.
- Give yourself time to bustle the dress: Once the ceremony is over and you take photos with your flowing gown, plan for time to bustle it. Bustling a dress could take a while, depending on how complicated the setup is. Plan to have your mom, bridesmaid or mother-in-law help before they head off to the reception. Setting aside time will also give you a cushion to work with between the ceremony and the reception. Of course, it’s your wedding day, so don’t stress too much if you leave people waiting a bit.
Find Your Dream Wedding Gown With Alexandra’s Bridal Boutique
Now that you know more about wedding dress bustle types, you can narrow down your gown search. To find the perfect wedding dress, shop with us at Alexandra’s Bridal Boutique. We offer full-service appointments that transform looking for a wedding gown into a sentimental life moment. Our large selection of wedding dresses includes a wide variety of styles and hemlines to help you get the dress you’re dreaming of.
Make your appointment with Alexandra’s Bridal Boutique today and come in to shop for your ideal wedding dress!