Skipping the Middleman

Remember my post a Discussion on Dresses?  Yeap.  I did it.   I got a dress custom made straight from the motherland.  H2B — don’t read this, pictures are following.

My dad travels back and forth quite a bit for work.  My mom found a wedding dress manufacturer in a city 1 hour away from dad’s work.  We looked through their website, picked a design I like, sent in my measurements and paid 1000RMB which is the equivalent of $143.  Then they take 1-2 weeks to make it and ship it to my dad’s work.  The idea is to see if the fit was good, if not it’s not much down the drain.

Well.  The fit is perfect.  So perfect that I probably shouldn’t have waited until after dinner to try it on.  It is a tad long because my mom fudged my height when translating it into metric units.  I just need bigger shoes.

Holy shmoly, can you believe it?

Please excuse the commode.  Clearly not doing bridal portraits at my house.  It’s hard to see in the pic but there is a bunch of fabric flowers off to the side in the front.

Another bunch of flowers centered on my behind.  The skirt fabric is gathered under the flowers.

Look at how well fitted the bodice is.  Unlike the Davids Bridal/Alfred Angelo shops I have been to here, I don’t need to wear an insert (foam corset of death).  The bodice is full lined, boned, and cupped.  It even has bra straps that hook on the back on the inside.  Not that there is any risk of this falling down considering it’s pretty much a second skin.  No armpit spikes either.  Plus intricate beading and sequin work.  My mom insists that it’s hand-sewn but I wouldn’t go that far.  Oh, the skirt is fully poofed out as well.  There are at least three layers of tulle and fabric in there.  These things are all extra at bridal shops.

Either way the workmanship is spectacular.  The fabric is pretty wrinkled because it was packaged in a plastic bag of the kind bed sets come in.  The only concern I have is the sheen of the fabric.  It tends to reflect flash.  Maybe that’ll be less of an issue once the dress is ironed out.  I will also need to get it bustled.  Allow me to translate from wedding speak — add buttons on it so the train can be attached to my rear after the ceremony, for my safety and the safety of others.

Oh, did I mention they threw in a free veil that is edged (white border) with pearls on it??  That alone would have been $75.  Walmarts of bridal dress shops, hear me laugh all the way down the aisle muahahaha.  Don’t worry, the industry will still get me in all the other ways I can’t outsource.