From the boardwalk to the altar: T-shirt, shorts, bikinis and boot sellers are now dressing brides

Wedding dress shopping may never go back to what it used to be.

Wedding dress shopping may never go back to what it used to be. Instead of collecting your entire bridal entourage to spend a few hours at a boutique trying on several dresses for the perfect find at a lofty price of a $1,000 or more, some retailers are offering to make the wedding dress hunt as easy breezy as buying a T-shirt off the rack. Taking their cue from Millennials and Gen Zers who are turning stuffy traditions on their head and marking life’s milestones moments — such as weddings — in their own pared down way, a string of affordable fashion brands have jumped into the weddings industry to appease thrifty shoppers with inexpensive bridal wear. Abercrombie, Forever 21, Boot Barn, Shein and Lulus, better known for their tank tops, shorts, ripped jeans, bikinis, cowboy boots and sparkly dresses tailor-made for Beyoncé and Taylor Swift concertgoers, are trying to dress brides for much less. The move isn’t a complete headscratcher. For one, it allows these mass-market brands to get their slice of the more than $100 billion US wedding industry, according to The Knot Worldwide, a wedding planning and vendor marketplace. “These companies see bridal as a natural extension of their business given that they are already present in many of these product categories,” said Janine Stichter, managing director and consumer retail and lifestyle brands analyst with global financial services and market research firm BTIG.