Dress Nightmare- I want to die

[Cheekyprincess]

I am so upset I want to be sick! My wedding is in 2 weeks and my dress was being made, it is a simple silk satin and georgette gown empire cut, with a cute bias hemline. I went to have a fitting today, NOTHING about the dress was correct- except that they used the fabric I purchased for them.

It was so horrible- the sewing was terrible- the fabric is totally back to front and INSIDE OUT. The put the georgette on the inside and the satin- matte side out on the outside- Back to front! the hemline was wrong, the neckline was horrid, the zip was not where it was supposed to be, the halter was supposed to tie up, it didnt fit at all! I am so upset, just wanted to vent.

Hopefully it can be salvaged by the shop owner herself- I will know by saturday- otherwise I have to try and buy something off the rack- not easy considering I am Australian, living in Singapore and cannot stand the local styles, much less fit them.

 

[diamondfan]

Don''t know what to say except I am sorry...do not really know what the options are there, and it seems like there are not many good choices in terms of off the rack...I am really sorry you are going through this...

 

[cara]

Um, time to start dealing. This does not sound good. Think about what style dress is likely to look best with you. Go SAFE, not adventurous, in terms of cut, find one off the rack online in your size, as best you can tell from measurements and sizes (probably in another country) and order it. Its just not worth waiting for this to be fixed...

 

[hoorray]

Cara is probably right. Start working on plan B immediatly so that you have some time.

I just want to tell you that both of my sisters went through similar disaters with their custom made dresses. Last minute, neither were what they had invisiond, planned, or contracted for. Neither felt good about them, like how they fit, etc... Both were fit to be tied. The good news is that after some last minute scrambling, both looked great on their wedding day in these dresses, and at the end of the day, neither cared about the dress, good or bad. When the day arrived, the dress was not what was important. The huge smile on their faces out shown the dress, by far.

Scramble to get something that you will feel good about, but don''t let it ruin your day. Something always goes wrong, but remember, it''s just the implementation of the process of getting married, not the actual marriage.

 

[onedrop]

Oh that is just horrible! I can only imagine what you are going through right now. Hopefully the dress can be salvaged by the shop owner. But in the event that it can''t, I agree with the others, immediately start working on plan "B." From the sound of things, maybe it would be difficult to salvage in 2 weeks time, though of course I am not a seamstress.

If you have your measurements available, maybe you can find something in a rush order on-line.

 

[Cheekyprincess]

Thanks everyone, this wasnt just a few problems it was completely sewn wrongly by the seamstress- thankfully the cutting was done in-house so the material can be salvaged (hopefully). I cant do anything today- I really dont want to, and dont feel like it. I will wait till saturday, look at what the store owner has done, and see where to go from there. Worst comes to worst I will just buy a nice evening dress in any colour that I look great in, then I will have time to buy another dress for my actual reception in October.

 

[gail013]

I don''t even know if I would want them to remake it. You may see needle holes, and have some small tears in the fabric. Anyone who did sewing like that obviously doesn''t have a clue. I would implement plan B immediately, instead of wasting precious time hoping your dress will get fixed. Was there a language barrier? Hoe did it get so screwed up?

 

[Scooba]

This is about the worst thing I have ever heard, I am SO sorry, and SO glad I decided against having a dress made.

Anyway, this is what I would do...go online and order a whole bunch of dresses you think you might like from Neimans, Saks, Nordstroms anywhere that you can return, hope that you love one and it fits and send the rest back, you can''t really shop where you are now right? It sucks and it will cost you a ton of shipping but hopefully one will work out.

 

[Tacori E-ring]

I am so sorry! That is horrible. Is there any store there that has styles you like? Two weeks is so little time. I will keep my fingers crossed that the owner can fix the problems.

 

[Cheekyprincess]

Luckily I didn''t really want a ''wedding gown'' this is just what the locals here would call ROM, registry of marriage, where you sign the docs, say your vows etc- locals will do this with their family and then have a reception at a later more convenient date (usually the ROM needs to be on an ausipcious date). I am having photos taken though, and it is just us and our witnesses, I would wear the dress again for my reception back home in Australia in Oct.

I wasn''t going to go with a white or cream gown, wasnt even going to bother with full length, but I worked out a lot, lost weight and figured I would look good so why not? You only get to do it once.

There are some UK labels available here, soon their spring range should be coming in, at the moment it is wintery stuff in dark colours. I am limited by budget, but there is a label called Laundry that has beautiful gowns (above my price range) there are others such as monsoon, mango, BCBG, Ted Baker etc so I will just have to not be too fussy on colour and I should find something.

I was worried about the needle marks, but the georgette won''t show marks and it is supposed to be over the top, it was all too big anyway so they wont be sewing along the same lines. I wanted the back higher as well, but the hemline was correct- no way I wanted it shorter, she assured me she can make the back higher without shortening the length- oh I hope she is right.

Her (the owner) english is fine (it is the national language here) I have no idea where the seamstress comes from but I would guess china or philippines (probably on very low wage, didn''t want to ask questions, didn''t care what she did so long as she produced something) The owner said it might have been a trainee girl who did it too.

Ughhh to top it all off I have PMS, and really just feel stressed right now.

 

[robbie3982]

oh no! I''m keeping my fingers crossed that everything will work out for you!

 

[vizsla]

this.. for a back up - someone could embellish this a little for you.... it''s 89.99 with an extra 25% off - final sale... ivory empire silk chiffon dress - check out the emily short version on the model to check out the fit

 

[vizsla]

oops.. it''s from jcrew - they ship overseas

 

[Jas12]

oh boy-- i feel for you...i would certainly be (really) upset. I think your idea about finding a dress you look great in (regardless of colour) for the ceremony is the best idea...then you can find a dress you really love to wear in front of all the guests on the reception date.

I hope you get a full-refund, that is unacceptable

 

[N-jo]

Date: 1/10/2007 11:30:04 PM
Author:Cheekyprincess
I am so upset I want to be sick! My wedding is in 2 weeks and my dress was being made, it is a simple silk satin and georgette gown empire cut, with a cute bias hemline. I went to have a fitting today, NOTHING about the dress was correct- except that they used the fabric I purchased for them.


It was so horrible- the sewing was terrible- the fabric is totally back to front and INSIDE OUT. The put the georgette on the inside and the satin- matte side out on the outside- Back to front! the hemline was wrong, the neckline was horrid, the zip was not where it was supposed to be, the halter was supposed to tie up, it didnt fit at all! I am so upset, just wanted to vent.
.

I am SO sorry to hear this... my dress was ruined in a similar fashion by a dressmaker chosen by my mother. Ruined to pieces. Mine had a cranberry velvet bolero, I gave her a photo, a bolero to copy and 3 pattern numbers. She went out and bought an old-lady "shawl with sleeves" pattern. Total mess with style and sewing. Like she used a rusty fishhook. Used taupe thread on my ivory gown, white thread on the red velvet! I cried for a day, then managed to get it together, found someone in my town via word of mouth and she totally rescued the whole outfit for $60. (the dress had only been altered, but the jacket was made from scratch, the original sewing lady charged $10

This happened SIX DAYS before my wedding and it got fixed. I hope and trust the same will happen for you!

good luck, keep after it, someone is out there to help!

 

[eks6426]

Could you have a friend in the US overnight you some dresses to try that could be returned?

 

[mela lu]

Good luck. I don''t even know what to say...but I think that having a back-up is a great idea; and in my opinion, don''t focus on the cost of this ''Plan B''. In the end your happiness and good memories are worth whatever $$ you may have to dole out to fix this sitch.

GL GL GL!!!

 

[FireGoddess]

OMG, definitely start working on a plan B immediately. This sounds very shady and I would seriously go off on the person who is supposed to be making the dress. It should have been done at least 4 weeks before the wedding!

 

[FacetFire]

Oh, I''m so sorry you have to deal with that! How awful! I hope you can find a backup that you love! Just remember that it''s going to be you making the dress beautiful on your wedding day, not the other way around!

 

[ladykemma]

ok ladies for those in the future are going to hire someone to sew. . make sure the seamstress knows what you expect and can draw the dress front and back. always make sure they make a toile, a dress in scrap fabric-- way ahead of time. THIS is where you make and correct your mistakes.

did they ever do a toile fitting on you?

 

[Cheekyprincess]

Good news, the dress has been salvaged- and looks good- not exactly as my initial plan, but I think just as nice. It was now a little small around the bodice- flattening me- but that was no issue and can be easily adjusted. The neckline and halter are 1000% better, I won''t look top heavy as I was on my first try.

As far as time went, this was my fault. We only had a 3 month engagement, and during that time I decided to lose weight (very successfully) I wanted to wait till I had most of the weight off before looking around for dresses, otherwise I would only depress myself, and I wouldn''t have looked good. I haven''t worn a pale coloured top or dress in 3 years as I carried a lot of weight in the waist/tummy and not much at all on the bum/hips and it would be really obvious, so I always wore black.

No there was no toile, there wasn''t even a fitting in just the pinned fabric- it went from being measured to trying on the dress already sewn. Anyway the shop owner seems to be suffering a lot of headaches from incompetent staff, she also runs the shop and is present 12 hours/day 7 days a week, she was very, very sweet though, and has done a really awesome job of it- definitely doesn''t look like tha fabric was previously sewn. I am glad I trusted her, and now should have my dress in my hands on Monday- complete!

 

[gail013]

I will keep my fingers crossed for you. Can you send pics so we can see?!!!!!!!!! Maybe if you need to, you can put a wrap over the dress too.

 

[nejarb]

Nordstrom has many pretty and reasonably priced dresses online. maybe you could order several, rush delivery, and then pick the one you like the best? I''m sure something will work out. You just have to make it happen.

 

[AndyRosse]

Yay, I''m so glad it seems to have worked out! How about some pics when you get the dress Monday??

You know we love pics!!

 

[Cheekyprincess]

Well it is monday now, so HOPEFULLY my dress will be done and up to my standards. I will post pics when I get it. I went underwear shopping yesterday- So hard to find underwear here. I could get any of the control top type briefs I wanted unfortunatley and I am worried there would be a bit too much VPL going on and my belly button does weird things under the chiffon. I just got a seamless half slip that I will pull up to my natural waist I pray this is OK- underwear is ridiculously priced in this country! I cant wear pantyhose as it is too hot here, also didnt want a bustier for the same reason, but want to hide the extra belly flab as best I can.