Bridal dresses which have zips that do up high at the back that you can't reach?

[Raffina]

I haven't 'come out' yet, so obviously being a CD I do all the dressing/dolling up in private on my own. I have a fairytale wedding dress which I love, but the zip at the back zips up high, meaning I cannot zip it all the way up on my own, and there's also pretty little buttons above the zip that attach to 'D' threads. This gives me a little dissappointing feeling of 'incomplete-ness' in the dress, as it also causes the fluffy puff-ball shoulder sleeves to easily come loose and fall off my shoulder! I have tried tying a piece of string to the zip and attempting to pull it up after I have reached the highest point I can, but doesn't work. So if there's anyone who have tips on how to do the zip up on your own, please provide! Also...if anyone has figured out a way to do high buttons up on their own then they're a genius.

Any help would be most appreciated!! :happy:

Cupper-Tea

[CharlaineCadence]

I have found that a good cloth ribben works bes as long as you go slow. or you can make a zipper assistant by taking a dowal 1/4" best..and a drilling a hole in it to fit a peace of coat hanger ( file the edges down and round them. then place a short pice of ribben in zipper and walla.

[stephanie714]

Try a wire hanger, although go slow and I have also tried a old shoe hook with a little curve on the bottom. Possibly an o-ring pick like you can find at Harbour Freight would also work?

[Butterfly Bill]

Make a long hook out of a paper clip, tie it to a string, tie a small weight like a nut (the kind that goes with a bolt) to the other end.

Put the hook thru the hole in the zipper talon (if it doesn't have one, you'll have to ask someone else how) so that the back of the hook will be against your own back (so it doesn't snag on the dress).

Lean down and throw the weight towards your neck, and catch it with your other hand.

Pull the zipper up and remove the hook.

Reverse procedure to unzip.

(Costs a lot less than a wife.)

[Janelle Young]

used to use a wire coat hanger bent into a long length with the hoop part inserted into the little opening on the zipper pull tab (if it had one). With a bit of stretching now I find I can zip up my dresses on my own. That is not to say it would be nice to be able to say, "dear would you mind zipping me up?'.

The buttons are a lot harder. I do remember my wedding night unbuttoning all of the buttons on her dress (tons of them) and thinking who designed this?

[Breanne]

Make a long hook out of a paper clip, tie it to a string, tie a small weight like a nut (the kind that goes with a bolt) to the other end.

Put the hook thru the hole in the zipper talon (if it doesn't have one, you'll have to ask someone else how) so that the back of the hook will be against your own back (so it doesn't snag on the dress).

Lean down and throw the weight towards your neck, and catch it with your other hand.

Pull the zipper up and remove the hook.

Reverse procedure to unzip.

(Costs a lot less than a wife.)
Also, hold down the base of the zipper with the other hand as you pull up on it.

[Bonnie D]

Most dresses that I've put on with zippers in the back that go up beyond my reach, I've had to put on backwards first. I zip it up to the top and then spin the dress around so that the zipper is in back and then I slide my arms into the sleeves and then slip everything up over my shoulders.

For dresses that the above won't work then the suggestions by the others are good but I haven't tried them so I couldn't confirm any.

Bonnie

[MsJanessa]

Try a wire hanger, although go slow and I have also tried a old shoe hook with a little curve on the bottom. Possibly an o-ring pick like you can find at Harbour Freight would also work?
ditto--a wire coat hanger stretched out--put the hook end through the catch on the zipper and slowly pull it up---it's the only way I can zip the dress in My avatar.

[Mitzi]

I'm an old (??) hand at this.

Wedding gowns are pretty heavy and fit tightly, and the zippers tend to be a bit balky when trying to close them in the back. So what I do is put the gown on backwards, slip my arms into the sleeves to hold it up, zip it up as high as I can and still be able to slip my arms out, turn myself around (instead of the heavy gown), reinsert the arms, and reach the zipper from the top. It's worked for me.

As to the button at the top, I just don't bother with it. (When others are around, they insist on buttoning it:happy: )

Mitzi

[Megan_Renee]

Similar to what others have mentioned, I use a string, tie it to the zipper, and tuck it in the dress when I'm zipped up then I can easily untuck and pull it back down. I do this because it makes for the easiest unzip, and can be *quickly* done in a hurry...

Megan

[Billijo49504]

I've used several of those things. Heavy string, chalk line, and also a dowel with a cup hook screwed into the end. The trick is to hold the bottom when zipping up and the top for down. That's the way my wife showed me...BJ