A Couture Wedding Dress
Wednesday September 5, 2007
For many women, a wedding dress is the first (and perhaps only) expensive dress they'll buy. It's an opportunity (and excuse) to buy a couture piece of fashion, made especially for your body. If you're considering having a dress made you're probably wondering how to go about doing so, and what it will cost.
There are several options:
(Listed from least expensive to most expensive.)
- Customizing an existing wedding dress. For example, combining the skirt from one dress and the bodice of another dress, both from the same designer's collection.
- Having an existing design made to fit your body precisely, from a muslin. Rather than tailoring an existing shape, your precise measurements will be used to make a mockup of the wedding dress, called a muslin. You'll have a fitting or two with the muslin, then it will be used as the pattern for cutting and making your wedding dress.
- Going to a dressmaker. Many towns have seamstresses and dressmakers that will help you create the dress of your dreams. If you bring them pictures and drawings, they'll work with you to create the dress. Find a dressmaker through recommendations from friends, inquiring at your dry cleaners, or calling the costume shop of local theater companies. Be sure to see examples of work before beginning, and be very clear about what your expectations are.
- Having a designer make a wedding dress custom for you. The most expensive option, usually costing in the tens of thousands of dollars. Access to the most famous designers is sometimes restricted, so start by telling the salon the type of wedding you are going to have and the kind of wedding dress you envision. The designer will help you create a dress from start to finish, and often there will be couture detailing, such as pleating, beading, hand painting, or other fabric treatments.
So what's the bottom line? Find Out How Much a Wedding Dress Costs
There are several options:
(Listed from least expensive to most expensive.)
- Customizing an existing wedding dress. For example, combining the skirt from one dress and the bodice of another dress, both from the same designer's collection.
- Having an existing design made to fit your body precisely, from a muslin. Rather than tailoring an existing shape, your precise measurements will be used to make a mockup of the wedding dress, called a muslin. You'll have a fitting or two with the muslin, then it will be used as the pattern for cutting and making your wedding dress.
- Going to a dressmaker. Many towns have seamstresses and dressmakers that will help you create the dress of your dreams. If you bring them pictures and drawings, they'll work with you to create the dress. Find a dressmaker through recommendations from friends, inquiring at your dry cleaners, or calling the costume shop of local theater companies. Be sure to see examples of work before beginning, and be very clear about what your expectations are.
- Having a designer make a wedding dress custom for you. The most expensive option, usually costing in the tens of thousands of dollars. Access to the most famous designers is sometimes restricted, so start by telling the salon the type of wedding you are going to have and the kind of wedding dress you envision. The designer will help you create a dress from start to finish, and often there will be couture detailing, such as pleating, beading, hand painting, or other fabric treatments.
So what's the bottom line? Find Out How Much a Wedding Dress Costs
Comments
With the costs of gowns today I think you have to do whatever it requires to get the dress you want that makes you feel like a princess without having to rob a bank to do so. If that means getting a dress that someone else used or going to a thrift shop then that is what you have to do you can always go to a dressmaker and have them make any changes you want to have it go from a “used gown” to a “brand new gown” and you didnt have to empty your bank account to do it.
With the costs of gowns today I think you have to do whatever it takes to get the dress that you want that makes you feel like a princess without having to rob a bank to do so. Even if that means you get a dress that someone else used or get it at a thrift shop. You can always take the dress to a dressmaker and have he/she make changes that you want made to make it go from being a “used gown” to a “brand new gown” and at least you didnt have to empty your bank account to do it.