A wedding dress bustle allows a wedding dress with a train to transition to a gown with no train. Bustling a wedding dress allows the bride to sit and move about comfortably throughout the wedding reception. And, although most gowns require bustling, they don’t come with the bustling hooks or ties in place. 

Your alteration specialist generally does the bustle because the gown must fit perfectly for the bustle to work correctly. The gown style will dictate the type of bustle most of the time, but ultimately it is up to you. 

Here are the most popular types of bustles you should familiarize yourself with before you meet with your alteration specialist.

Types of Bustles

American Bustle or Over-Bustle

The American bustle is the most popular and works well with ballgowns and gowns with cathedral-length trains.

This style usually has several hooks sewn throughout the waistline to lift and hook the train on top of the dress itself. There are often up to 5 pick-up points, depending on the cascading effect you want.

French or Victorian Bustle – Under Bustle

This bustle works well with A-line or mermaid-style gowns.

This bustle style is the reverse of the American bustle style. The train is secured under the gown, often using ribbons instead of hooks or buttons. The amount of flair is determined by how many pick-up locations the seamstress adds.

Austrian Bustle

This style works well with wedding gowns with intricate styling.

An Austrian bustle creates a ruching effect up the back of the gown. This look is achieved by creating a casing inside the dress for the cord. Then when pulled up, the train takes on a ruched balloon that looks like a theater curtain.

There are a few less popular or less used bustles styles, including; The Ballroom Bustle, which makes the train disappear completely, The Train-Flip bustle, which gives the illusion of no bustle at all. Both these styles are used for ballgowns, and both can be far more expensive than the three popular styles.

Someone in Your Wedding Party Needs to Learn How to Bustle Your Gown.

Regardless of what style of bustle you choose, someone besides you will need to learn how to do it. Once you are in the gown, you can’t bustle it yourself! We suggest your Maid of Honor, but whoever you choose, they need to come to the final fitting with you and learn how to do it.

Even Bustled Gowns Get Dirty

Although bustling your gown will help keep your hemline from a lot of damage, don’t be surprised still to see a lot of soil along the hemline, especially if you had an outdoor wedding or took a lot of outdoor photos. Having your gown cleaned and preserved as quickly after the wedding as possible will help ensure the hemline can is cleaned so it will be preserved looking a good as possible.