My friends Julie and Phil got engaged and Julie wants a one-of-a-kind wedding dress. So in early May, after a lot of questions as to what she wanted, it was decided we should take her to a bridal shop to see what looks good on her.
We went to David's Bridal and received some fabulous help from Christina, a very nice young lady who is very knowledgeable about getting preferences from brides who have no real idea what they want, or what really looks good on them. She was awesome at helping Julie.
So the first dress she tried was a lovely ivory colour Grecian style gown with a pleated wrap style bodice, a flowing A-line skirt, and spaghetti straps with shoulder draping in the cold shoulder style. We forgot to take a picture of it, but that's okay because Julie didn't really like it. The shoulder drapes made her feel like the straps had fallen.
The second dress was a lovely ivory lace over a champagne coloured under dress. The style was a fit and flare that was fitted to the hips and then flared out. It's a dress that really showed off Julie's fabulous figure. She liked the colour combination. It's ivory lace over champagne. But she said the armholes felt like they were cutting in.
The third was a nice gown with a fitted bodice that had a sleeveless yoke made of illusion and a gathered skirt with a waistband. While the gown looked nice on her, the waistband made her look shorter. So this one was definitely a no-go. Though she did like the armhole shaping.
Fourth gown had the shoulder straps she liked and an interesting back, tied at the neck with a big diamond shaped cutout exposing her back. She was wearing a bra, but because of the back the bodice had a built-in bra. And the back waist shaping was a bit low cut as you can see the waistband of the slip she was using. Not sure what kind of slip she'd use for that style of dress. I'm not sure if the back cutout was right for Julie. It really didn't seem her style. And the front seemed a bit plain. Though the shape of the gown worked for her figure.
The fifth gown had a corset bodice and looked absolutely stunning. It was chiffon over peau de soie. It had a lovely beaded, yet understated, applique across the top edge of the bodice and trailed down the left side down to the hip. The chiffon swept across the front of the bodice and skirt, and gathered into soft pleats up to and under the applique. At the end of the applique at the hip the chiffon of the skirt splits. If the skirt were opaque and had no under skirt we'd be seeing a bit of leg. Speaking of the skirt, it's a full skirt but not quite to the ball gown width. Deb and I got a lot of ideas from Julie's reaction to this gown and from the gown itself. Especially from the applique. And seeing how the back was designed helped my understanding of gowns with a corset bodice.
The sixth gown also had a corset bodice. This time it was lace and chiffon over satin. It, too, had an applique, but it had more beading and glitz, and looked a little too much like it needed batteries. It went around the edge of the bodice and down both sides of the corset lacing. There was another bit of applique at the left hip where the lace split but the chiffon did not. Honestly, I thought it looked a bit chintzy and did not flatter Julie at all.
All in all, a very informative excursion. We now have a better idea of what looks good on Julie and what she likes and dislikes. I've already taken her measurements and I've finished making up a bodice sloper for her from which I will be making the pattern for the gown and I've fitted to her. I am also working on a design for the gown. Can't make the pattern without a design.
