On April 21, 2021, it was in a shirt dress with ruffles and Carven lace that Juliette, a 29-year-old content creator, presented herself to the town hall of Rennes to seal her union with her companion.
Unlike most brides, she didn't go through a brand's catalog or the workshops of a seamstress to find her outfit.
Her dress, she found it on the Vinted site.
A purchase that was not premeditated.
It was while "dragging" on the second-hand platform that the young woman came across THE dress.
"I knew right away that it was her that I wanted", remembers Juliette.
Cost of the operation: 60 euros.
According to figures from Vinted, searches for wedding dresses have increased by 23% between 2020 and 2021. Like Juliette, brides-to-be are more and more likely to be seduced by a second-hand purchase, preferring fittings to the ceremonial collectives a well-targeted order.
They tell us how they found love.
Search by brands, or not
Anaïs, 34, is a psychologist and married since April 2021. She wanted “a slightly more ecological and economical approach for civil marriage”.
To find her dress on Vinted, she did not confine her research to brands specializing in bridal outfits, such as Laure de Sagazan or Pronuptia, which according to her would have restricted the proposal.
She didn't limit herself to the “wedding dress” category either, betting on the idea that the perfect white dress could escape those overly specific keywords.
In the application, Anaïs therefore simply carried out a search by typing the word “dress”, and specifying the color, as well as the length.
A way to give a chance to models from generalist ready-to-wear brands.
This method allowed her to find a dress cheaper than
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Use keywords in the search bar
On online resale sites, the question of the choice of keywords can have a lot to do with the progress of finds.
Anaïs didn't really have any preconceived ideas about what she wanted, "just something white or cream, and sober."
She searched in the “dress” and “short dress” categories, adding the white or ecru color filter.
Others, on the contrary, have seen the perfect dress take shape mentally even before having found it.
All that remained was to get your hands on it.
This was the case of Marie, 33, consultant and retailer in vintage fashion.
She knew exactly what she wanted to wear for her wedding, celebrated in August 2022: a dress by designer Lolita Lempicka.
A piece that she ended up finding second-hand by arming herself with patience - because she did not want to review her criteria.
Paradoxically, the second-hand specialist has also adopted the approximate search method: “I wouldn't recommend going into too narrow searches like “wedding dress” or “evening dress”.
Sometimes people who sell these pieces don't describe the dresses as such in their ads."
His technique: specify only the name of a brand in the search bar, or characteristics such as “lace” or “pearls”.
"It takes time, it's meticulous research, but it allows you to come across real nuggets", explains Marie, before warning against possible unpleasant surprises.
Among them: defects and signs of time, very common when buying vintage clothes.
Ask questions to the seller
Buying a second-hand wedding dress also means anticipating disappointment.
This is explained by Juliette who knew from the start that she would overcome the imperfections.
The missing button of her Carven shirt dress and the small stain nestled in the ruffles were not prohibitive.
"I tend to wear slightly damaged clothes," she explains.
No one ever knew."
To avoid disappointment for brides who are not so tolerant, Marie, the vintage specialist, recommends asking the seller as many questions as possible in order to better understand the condition of the dress, as well as its measurements.
Especially for old pieces: "The sizes of vintage clothes do not correspond to the sizes of current clothes," she says.
Always keeping in safety net the
option to have your dress adjusted by a seamstress.
Finally, who says second-hand wedding dress, does not say less symbolism and emotion.
To the question "would you sell your dress?", the brides answer a big "no", in unison.