This just in from Kathryn the Dress designer!
NOT FOR MATT
What do you guys think? Do you like the blue peeking out? Do you miss the lace on the bottom? Could we have both? Do you like more lace on top?
Let's hear it!
Showing posts with label dress. Show all posts
Showing posts with label dress. Show all posts
Friday, May 8, 2009
Devil's Got a Blue Dress On
Thursday, May 7, 2009
Dress Update
Alright, now that Kathryn (the dress designer) and I are on the same page as far as the design goes, she has begun sourcing materials to make the dress with (and the official cost estimate.) She apparently had in stock some silky ivory satin for the main part of the dress and has been diligently shopping for the rest. Because we decided on lace for the parts of the dress, she has been lace shopping. And I have, by proxy, been getting a lace education. She has decided that Alencon lace (pronounced al-an-sawn, it's French) would be best. Through some google searches, I have learned that Alencon lace is "is a needle lace that originated in Alençon, France. It is sometimes called the 'Queen of lace.'" I have also learned that "Alencon lace is Chantilly Lace which has been re-embroidered with a very fine rayon cord" and that Kathryn only uses hand-made lace. Yes. Hand made. As in there are some French ladies making it by hand at some Chateau right now. Okay, not right now, b/c apparently it takes a year to make hand-made lace which is what makes is so fancy. This might be the most fancy, fussy, over the top thing about the wedding so far. It's so fancy sounding, it almost makes me uncomfortable. But Kathryn says, "there is so much lace out there but the good stuff is rare, hand-made and usually made wider for entire dresses. It also comes and goes quickly especially now during high wedding season. It takes aprox one year for the hand-made lace to be made.....it is a very specialized industry." Whew! Anyway, we believe we have found some lace that may work and I'm posting it here. 
*Warning: apparently it's only yellowed in the picture. Kathryn assures me in real life it's light ivory and matches the satin. Before I decide for sure, I'm going to check out the lace on my mom's veil again to see if we can't get a close match.
But Kathryn hasn't just been doing lace shopping. She's also been shopping for the Tiffany Blue sash I may or may not wear with the dress. She's mailing me samples and I have pics as well. 
I think I actually found the perfect ribbon at Kate's Paperie a few weeks ago, so when the sample comes in, I may go by, pick some up and compare.
Finally, Kathryn has been coming up with even more ideas for the dress. Today she sent me this brilliance:
"There are lots of things that can be done with the edging of the gown. For example you could have lace set in place at the edge of the gown, and you could have aqua tulle set into your petticoat that peaked out slightly when you walked or danced."
Umm, awesome? I asked her if she thought it would be too much with the sash and she assured me it wouldn't as long as it was subtle. She also mention doing the sash in reversible white and aqua blue. What do you guys think? Is the reversible sash necessary? What about the blue tulle peeking out from under the ground? Awesome or childish? She said we could make these decisions at the end, but i'm curious about what you guys think. And, just for fun, she sent me a new and improved dress sketch.
NOT FOR MATT'S EYES
So what do you think? Should I push back for more lace on the bottom? Wait to see how it turns out? And isn't this thing getting awesome?
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Sketches from the Dress Designer
Okay, after sending some inspiration dresses and determining that I'd like a satin dress with lace on the top and bottom in a mermaid shape, here are the sketches the Kathryn, the dress designer came up with. So what do you guys think? Do you have a favorite? Is it anal to request not to have those seams in the fronts? What do you think? What feedback should I send her?
Please, please, please send me ideas soon. Thanks!
NOT FOR MATT'S EYES
This one is an example of a dress she's made in the past. Similar to the Melissa Sweet Lia dress.
Friday, April 24, 2009
Looking "Haute" in Couture
Okay, like I said last time, I've had it with dress shopping and am looking into having someone make my simple dream dress. After doing some research, I found Kathryn Conover in New York magazine. She started out in fashion with a line of evening wear at Bergdorf's, then had a lower end line at Dillard's and now solely does custom bridal. She also specializes in lace and does pretty nice work. It can be seen at kathrynconover.net. I called her up and she sounded great. She buys her materials from the same places at Vera and Monique and makes a muslin copy of the dress before she tackles the real one to get the shape perfect. I sent her my inspiration dresses and told her I liked: mermaid shapes, scoop, strapless necklines, lace, covered buttons and colored sashes. I did not like: empire waists, rouching, beading, sheath or ballgown shapes, asymmetry. After looking at my ideas, she said she could definitely do a dress under budget and made some suggestions of her own. Like adding some flower detailing. Here are my inspiration dresses. (NOT FOR MATT'S EYES.)
So what do you guys think? Should I go with an all-lace or some satin? I was thinking of a satin dress with lace at the top and bottom. Would a colored sash work with that or be too much? Should I add the flowers like she suggested? Let me know ASAP so I can share with Kathryn!
Dress shopping in hell
Alright, last weekend I gave dress shopping one last try. I hit up the Kleinfeld Sample Sale (yes, the famous Kleinfeld from Say Yes to the Dress), visited RK Bridal one more time and visited a new place called Designer Loft. It was a disaster.
Okay, disaster is an exaggeration. There were no fires, explosions and Will Smith didn't have to save the day, but it did not go well. First was Kleinfeld's which is a beautiful store. It's easy to see how people get sucked into spending 1000s of dollars on a dress in this luxe environment. There are crystal chandeliers, silk couches and unbelievably beautiful dresses. Unfortunately, none of them were on the end of the sale rack that I could afford. I've discovered that if you want a sale dress, you have to go with a ballgown shape, b/c that's all there is. Big, fussy dresses with bows and sequins. So even though our salesperson was very nice (offered to knock a few dollars off the price), there were no winners at Kleinfeld's.
Next up was RK Bridal part deaux. We'd already been there and like last time, it was a mad house. We had to wait an hour for a dressing room and I was rushed through every dress. Also told multiple times that this dress was too dressy for an outdoor wedding. Excuse me? How can a bride look too dressy? Am I supposed to wear overalls b/c I'm getting married outside? Every bridal magazine I've ever seen has done a beautiful spread of dresses outdoors. So I'll decide what's too dressy thank you very much. Also, she even took away the dresses I'd been considering. Then a screaming match broke out b/t the staff and a mother and I'd had enough.
Next was Designer Loft. The experience was totally different and the best so far. The shop was tiny and calm and cute. They only see two people at a time and we were the only ones there for our appointment. They have a unique selection too, although many were out of our price range. (They also have a sample sale every day, but again, every dress was ballgown.) The salesperson was very friendly (and an Arkansan!) and she and the girls almost talked me into buying this flowy Grecian type ballgown. It was beautiful, but I felt it just wasn't me. (which is weird b/c one of my girls specifically said, "it's so you." very confusing.) Anyway, even though I liked the place a lot, no winners.
So at this point, I've decided I've had it with dress shopping and called a custom dress designer. More on that next.
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Wedding dresses, wedding dresses everywhere
I don't know if it's a spring thing or what, but I'm seeing wedding dresses made out of random objects in store windows all over town. Here are a few I thought to snap up with the iPhone.
Dress made of wedding china at Bed, Bath and Beyond
Dress made of wedding china at Bed, Bath and Beyond
Dress made of Tile at a Bathroom studio
Dress made of paper at Kate's Paperie
Dress made of paper at Kate's Paperie
Monday, March 23, 2009
The Bridal Garden
On Sunday this weekend, I visited the Bridal Garden and RK Bridal in New York. The Bridal Garden is a great non-profit organization where designers donate sample dresses and the proceeds go to a music program at a Brooklyn elementary school. So I had high hopes for this place. And while they did have some nice things, I didn't find a winner for me. There was one very nice dress though by Mon Cheri that a mother there assured me was "the one" and when I decided to leave it behind, another mother snagged it for her daughter. (they should hire me to wear these dresses around the store and increase their sales.) I actually tried on several w/o taking pictures. Including one with a slinky silk skirt that I was informed could not be worn with underwear. Really? No underwear at all? How much of a charade is wearing white if you go to the alter a la commando? Anyway, here's the close but no cigar dress.
After The Bridal Garden, we went to RK Bridal which is kind of a New York equivalent of David's Bridal--except they carry mid-price gowns from other designers instead of their own. So it's kind of a big warehouse with a LOT of dresses (like an intimidating amount) and a LOT of brides. You have to sign a waiting list and wait for an available salesperson and dressing room. I think we waited, oh about...an hour. Seriously. Eventually we just sat on the floor (no chairs) and watched other brides try on dresses and quietly gave American Idol like commentary. "Whoa, that skinny girl needs to be on the hamburger diet." "Ugh, that is not the dress for that butt." "hmm, doesn't look the dress type as much as the comfortable shoes and cargo pants type. I wonder who she's marrying." When we fi-na-lly got a dressing room, I was assigned to Olga. An adorably tiny old lady who's probably been doing this for forty years. She got me into each dress and then stayed in the dressing room and ate and apple while I checked it out in the mirror. (the dressing room, btw, looked like a retirement home. Complete with rocking chair and pics of brides/grandkids." Anyway, out of the 5 emerged 2 possibilities. Since we weren't allowed to take pictures, I can only post the pics of the dresses I could find online.
This is the first dress by Watters. It has a sweetheart neckline and the lace goes to tea length. I would wear it with a satin blue sash and a lace mantilla veil.
Here are several pics of dress #2. It's all satin, no lace or beading. But the design is very glamorous and probably more formal. I would wear this also with a lace mantilla veil and hopefully blue shoes.
So which do you like better? I have to decide like immediately b/c apparently it takes 6 months to order a new dress (although I could get the 2nd one used which would save a ton of time and money.) Should I go with the classic, romantic lace and a pop of color? Or the form fitting, glamorous all-satin number? Please let me know what you think.
Pronovias Sample Sale
Last week while I was checking out Facebook instead of working, I saw an ad for the Annual Pronovias Sample Sale. (imagine trumpets and acrobats and a big ta-dah.) Pronovias is a Spanish designer who about a year ago opened their flagship US office in New York. I've heard raves about them so I signed up via Facebook for an appointment. When I got there it was a bit ridiculous. I arrived at 10:20 for my 10:30 appointment and was greeted by a doorman who checked to see if I was on the list. (Yes, exactly like at an exclusive nightclub.) When I was finally let in, I had to re-check in at the front desk with a woman who is clearly not a people person. (How did she get the front desk job?) After she told me to head upstairs (and snipped at me to get upstairs after asking about my friend who was meeting me), I ascended the spiral staircase to find a room of white dresses and girls scrambling to score one. I tried on 3 dresses there, but didn't find much b/c most of their dresses are pretty elaborate and too fussy for my taste. But if you like beading and pouf, it's definitely worth checking out. There were even several dresses for $500 that I'm sure people went home very happy with. Anyway, no winners, but here are the ones I tried on.
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Dress Search Part 1: Warning! More pics of Mary in white dresses
I thought since I posted the bonus dresses, I would go ahead and post the other dresses I've tried on. Most were too expensive but I was just trying to figure out what type of dress to go with. So please let me know which are your favorites and I'll keep you posted as the dress search continues. These dresses were either found at sample sales, David's bridal (the princess dress) or Proposals boutique in Arkansas.
P.S. Try to ignore all the goofy faces I'm making in the pictures. I felt weird having strangers take pictures of me in a big white dress. I guess I should get used to it.
P.P.S. The ones not worn by me are the ones I tried on at Macy's where they stingily don't allow pictures. The first two are the same gown, but look drastically different from the model to the bride. When I tried it on, it look more like it does on the bride, but I guess it all comes down to the fitting. Note: I do NOT like the way it fits the model. The super tight, 80s look is a no. I like the more romantic look on the bride.
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