I've been in about 628 weddings (not really, but you get the idea). Luckily my girlfriends are all stylish and picked decent dresses for the attendants. Is it how I want to drop a couple hundred bucks? No. But you do it; sometimes not so happily. (Just google "bad bridesmaid dress" and see what comes up!) But for every whining bridesmaid out there, there's a stressed bride, unsure of how to dress her friends who range from 5'2" and 200 pounds to 6'1" and 110.
Luckily stores and designers are paying attention to this wedding woe and trying to make life a little easier. As a frequent bridesmaid, here are three suggestions for you brides that will keep your closest girlfriends from posting your wedding pics on UglyDress.com.
1. One Color/Any Style. Go somewhere like J.Crew that has a plethora of dress styles and pick one of their peppily-named colors (like Stem) and tell everyone to pick whatever style she likes. Give each attendant some direction by sending an article on how to dress your body type, or tell her you think the strapless would be amazing for drawing the eye up to her beautiful neckline (and away from her large derriere, but leave out that last part).
2. Go Off the Rack. Part of the unattractiveness of a bridesmaid dress is that it always looks like a bridesmaid dress, never to be worn again, even though every bride will tell you you'll have heaps of places to re-wear this confection. So why not pick a dress that is designed to be worn to a cocktail party? Don't limit yourselves fiancees! Just like the chicken/steak meal is becoming old-fashioned and boring, so is shopping at a bridal store. Department stores and other chains have beautiful dresses that are more likely to make a second appearance than a floor-length taffeta fuchsia number. 
3. Pick One Multi-Style Dress. Take for example the twobirds bridesmaid line: the styles are timeless and can be wrapped 15 different ways so even if photos of you in a strapless style are plastered all over Facebook, it doesn't matter -- you can transform it into a halter style and no one will be the wiser. The designer, Ariane Goldman (right) developed the line out of frustration from spending so much on bridesmaid dresses. For the rest of us who are in the same boat, we say thank you! And brides-to-be: please take note.
Picking Bridesmaid Dresses
For every whining bridesmaid, there's a stressed bride, unsure of how to dress friends who range from 5'2" and 200 pounds to 6'1" and 110. Luckily stores are paying attention and trying to make life a little easier.
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