The surge in weight loss due to Ozempic is significantly impacting the wedding dress market.
The Hollywood weight reduction secret is laid bare, and it's more obtainable than ever. GLP-1 medicines, identified by brand names Ozempic and Wegovy, have gained popularity, in part through compounding pharmacies offering cheaper, non-FDA-approved versions. (The Food and Drug Administration has cautioned consumers about the risks associated with unapproved GLP-1 drugs, and a recent JAMA Network report found that rampant demand has sparked a surge of illegal online pharmacies selling the drugs without prescriptions.)
As my colleague Tami Luhby reported recently, demand for these drugs is anticipated to surge even further with employers increasingly considering covering them for weight loss—not just diabetes.
Unfortunately, many brides are resorting to the drugs before their wedding, enticed by the promise of swift weight loss. This is complicating the already intricate enterprise of purchasing and altering their gowns.
"The first issue is the chaos in the bridal industry presently, where it takes five to nine months to order a dress," Susan Ruddie Spring, a designer and owner of bridal styling service The Wedding Dresser, confided in me recently.
Like many industries, bridal fashion experienced a slump during the pandemic, only to be followed by a surge in demand as couples postponed their nuptials.
Dress orders that once took three months are now taking much longer, Spring said, in part because supplies from China are being diverted away from violence near the Suez Canal, a critical artery accounting for up to 15% of global trade.
That’s just one part of the timing issue.
The right size
The optimal time to purchase a wedding dress is eight to 10 months before the event, according to wedding planning site the Knot, and some planners recommend purchasing a full year in advance to account for shipping delays.
However, a lot can change in a body over 10 months, especially when GLP-1 drugs are involved.
A study found that individuals with obesity or those who are overweight lost as much as 15% of their body weight while taking tirzepatide, also known as Mounjaro, over the course of a year. Those taking semaglutide lost about 8%.
"I've recently had a couple of brides who lost around 50 pounds with Ozempic," Spring informed me. "Usually, the dress was ordered somewhere in the midst of those 50 pounds."
It’s hard to exaggerate how drastic weight loss can complicate a wedding dress's fit. The garments are often architecturally intricate, laden with layers of expensive beading, tulle, and lace, and inevitably burdened by incalculable heaps of emotion and societal expectations.
This tension is palpable on various Reddit wedding and weight loss threads, where brides seek advice on how to purchase a dress—likely the most costly garment they'll ever buy—when uncertain about their future appearance.
The financial risk is real. While most gowns can be taken in several inches, there are limits, and brides who experience extreme weight loss could end up needing to purchase a new dress entirely. The average bridal gown retail price was $2,000 in 2023, according to the Knot. That's before alterations, which can add hundreds or even thousands to the cost. (Dress and alterations included, the Knot found that the average American wedding cost $35,000.)
The biggest weight loss
The Ozempic effect is also overwhelming seamstresses.
Each customer and gown is unique, but Spring says that in general, a typical gown requires 20-40 hours worth of labor. That's three one-hour fittings with the customer, plus anywhere from six to 12 hours of work in between.
However, rapidly slimming brides produce more work, and in this case, that doesn't necessitate more money. Most tailoring businesses quote brides a flat rate for a set number of fittings and adjustments at the start of the process, and seamstresses claim they won't penalize brides for losing weight.
"Brides will always lose weight because of stress leading up to the wedding," said Myrna Lundberg, a senior tailor shop manager at Alterations Specialists in New York. But in her 40 years of working in the industry, she says, the expected 5-to-10-pound loss most brides experience has increased with the rise of Ozempic.
"It's truly impacting our business, because it's more fittings, more time, more work—we lose money," she said.
Say yes to the stress
The incessant flow of brides requiring drastic alterations is just one of the unintentional consequences of the Ozempic Era. However, it's one that disproportionately affects women, both for the bride grappling with generations of distorted expectations around weight, and for the people responsible for transforming traditional wedding dress dreams into reality.
The stress is mutual, Spring tells me.
"For brides, the expectation that you're going to walk down the aisle looking like a model is absurd ... And we do more work for the same amount of money."
Seamstresses in the United States are predominantly women, earning a median income of $37,000, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. They are also disproportionately immigrant women, often underpaid, and fashion insiders who spoke to CNN the Knot say many undocumented women are earning below-average wages under the table.
On top of the physical work of altering the gown, Lundberg highlights the emotional labor involved.
"Losing weight has always been a big deal for us. So we gotta tread carefully in how we handle it.", Lundberg explained. "It's not like you're their tailor – it's more like you're their therapist too."
Due to the popularity of GLP-1 medicines like Ozempic and Wegovy for weight loss, some employers are considering covering these drugs in their health plans, potentially leading to an even higher demand.
The rapid weight loss associated with GLP-1 medicines can pose challenges for brides purchasing and altering their wedding dresses. A study found that individuals can lose up to 15% of their body weight while taking tirzepatide over a year, making it difficult to predict and accommodate size changes.
