Blushing (pink) bride...

I love it when a bride knows what she likes. This particular bride knows that she loves pink, was having a very conservative wedding, is very young, and wanted to look like herself on her wedding day. Using her favorite dress as a model, we developed a very basic design, and found a very soft, pink silk to create the look.



I was so happy to be a part of her day.



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The modern wedding... a seismic shift?

This lovely little vintage 50's number has been drastically altered to fit the "best woman" in anupcoming wedding. Isn't it a BEAUT?!

So...Is it the economy that is driving this movement towards really beautiful, useful, personal clothing?

I am seeing a sweeping change in attitudes from brides lately. The actual wedding, and by that I mean the actual getting married of it all, is taking precedence over the long held "princess for a day" notion. And boy, is it about time, or what?

I am meeting the woman who wants to look beautiful and special in a family heirloom, in a custom dress that suits her figure and the mood of the wedding, and the bride who would feel wildly out-of-place in one of those wildly expensive heavily-corseted or beaded suits of armour that pass for gowns these days. They are understanding that they will be photographed, and want to look like the best version of themselves on their wedding day.

Now, this is a movement I can get behind!

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What the dressmaker and her client need to know...

You may already know that I am the owner of the www.findadressmaker.com site, a labor of love, which is very fulfilling to run.

My bird’s eye view of the custom sewing and dressmaking industry (mostly in the US) has taught me so much about the potential of this profession, and the type of women (we are mostly women, after all) who choose it.

Word of mouth is powerful. Negative or positive, word of mouth will bring attention to your business. While word of mouth is a great way to get new business, even the best dressmaker can find herself with less (or more!) business than she wants at any given moment. Scheduling a proper workload is difficult for dressmakers. The flow of clients can be unpredictable, and the variables are many…

The main market for dressmakers (like it or not!), is bridal. Dressmaking is very specific, careful, skilled work… and to navigate the bridal market, a dressmaker has to be able to deal with the emotional roller coaster that comes along with doing this type of work. I’m not just talking about the bride. There is the mother of the bride, mother of the groom, flower girls, bridesmaids, and the coordination of all of those people in their various locations, challenges (and temperaments) to handle. Some people are just lovely. Some people know exactly what they want. Some people have a positive body image. Some people are completely reasonable, puctual, and friendly. Some are none of these things. A dressmaker has to be prepared for any combination of problems, including her own variables. If one wants to do this type of work, she has to be sure to keep an ample supply Tums, Pepto and Advil…

Having said that, the general rule of thumb regarding what a bride should be spending, is 10% of her wedding budget on the gown. Anyone may choose to spend considerably more or less, but it would be best to know what she is really expecting, since, if she wants her gown custom-made, she is buying an invisible product. The woman who wants a knock-off of the $6000 gown she loves for $1000 is almost guaranteed to be disappointed. The dressmaker has to make sure she knows that it will likely require a significant downgrade in materials and labor to fit her budget.

Lastly, make sure she knows her options. The web is full of sites which will help her plan and budget her event. It can be hard to distinguish good ones from poor quality ones...there is such an information overload these days.

It has been a long time since I have updated this blog. No longer feeling the need to document my every move, and feeling much more in the flow of life since both of my children started school again last week, I can now focus on my business again. It has been a long,hard summer, fraught with all sorts of challenges and complete exhaustion, but I am coming out of it now. (Thank God!)

So, I will now be pulling in information from old posts, writing new ones, and updating the blog to reflect where I am now. For a little while, I will be cleaning up some projects, resolving unfinished business, and generally resuming my professional life. Deep breath... full steam ahead!



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Wedding dress kit?

This weekend, I read an article in the online version of New York Times that blew my mind...

Who thinks this stuff up?

Someone has actually applied for a patent for a "Wedding dress kit", which allows brides to mix and match elements of their "dream dress" -- a sleeve here, a skirt there, and take it to a dressmaker to be made.

Ummm... okay... why is this patentable?

Ideas... we dressmakers see many. Are they all executable? No. Are they all good? No. Are they all practical? Within the brides price range? Suitable for the fabric choices? For the body type of the bride? No.

Giving a dressmaker a group of elements to assemble for you, is like giving a chef a group of ingredients and not acknowledging the endless variety of possible outcomes that could result. It is like giving a pilot a destination without a flight plan. It is like... well, you get the idea.

What this sounds like to me, is a "dream kit". Heck, I could do that. Sounds like a good idea... but I don't see how that could possibly work. Your thoughts?

A dress for Diana

Last week, my husband gave me the gift of a "day off", which included a wonderful massage. Since I was early for my appointment, I stopped in a Barnes and Noble and perused A Dress for Diana.

I really liked this book, and not for the reasons you would think. I abhor the style of this dress (just my opinion, though), because it represents everything I loathe about the prevailing attitude about modern weddings. The beauty of the dress isn't really the point of this book, though. This over-the-top confection is a suffocating example of what Diana's life would become, yet it was the perfect symbol of the woman she wanted to portray on that day. A truly satisfied client is always the dressmaker's goal. The design process and communication with her dressmaker was a beautifully successful collaboration.

Individuality, rarity and specialness were all celebrated in this gown, and I love how the photographs illustrate the careful, arduous process and the uncertainty every dressmaker feels when designing for an event of such magnitude.

The challenge of working with a client who is scared, nervous, or lacks confidence is difficult enough, without having a huge worldwide audience looking on. What a job this dressmaking team did!

My wish (and prayer) for all brides, is that you can untangle yourselves from the mess of advertising and wedding trends, look at your wedding as a "family" day, take some of the focus off the dress, and put it into your LOVE, LIFE, and MARRIAGE...

Stitches from the soul...

I once had a bridal client, with a beautiful wish. She had her late mother's wedding dress, which had been handmade by her mother, and wished she could modify it for her own wedding. Problem was, her mom was a tiny woman, and the bride-to-be was of a much more modern, athletically healthy build. We examined the dress, and determined no flattering alteration could be done.

I took her mother's dress partially apart, and we agreed to incorporate sections of it into a new gown, for her relaxed, outdoor wedding. We went to New York Elegant Fabrics together, and bought a creamy silk that complimented the yellowish tint her mother's aging gown had acquired, and a lovely floral embellishment for the neckline, waist, and godets.




From the fabric, I made a custom, plain halter-style gown for the bride. Using the lace from her mother's dress, I made a waist detail for the new one.




I kept her mother's hand stitching on two long triangles cut from the original gown, so that the bride could walk down the aisle with the feeling of her mother's "hands".





And it was a beautifully fulfilling project. This one is a good example of when a dress isn't just a "dress".