July 03, 2013

As for Alterations..

I've got a few things to say to all the brides and friends/family of the bride that plan on stopping by David's Bridal..

As an adult getting married, it's your responsibility to make yourself available for all the things you need to get done for the wedding (not just for alterations). With today's technology you should be able to set a reminder or add it to your calendar. We offer appointment cards, and do confirmation calls for the first appointment only. You should be responsible enough to read the big pink receipt we give you with the date and time on it, for the fitting we schedule WITH you..

YES, you do need an appointment. It's bridal season and my store specifically sees around 30 brides a week, and that is because we are turning a LOT of them away. We have too many brides, not enough seamstresses and never enough help for customer service. If things are moving slowly, or seem hectic it's because behind those curtains we are moving at light speed trying to get everything done. NO it is not ok to call us three weeks before your wedding and expect it to be done immediately. We are not your small time tailors, please remember that most brides in your area go to your store, and it's their "special day" too.

PLEASE do not bring, or leave, food in the alterations room. Also, please don't chew gum while we're fitting you. We have to maintain very close quarters while fitting a dress to your body and cannot walk away while you finish chewing very loudly. This also applies to anyone who has accompanied the person being fit.

If you are not the one currently in a dress to be fit, then please to do NOT get on the fitting platform. I know you really care and want to be helpful and inspect for any errors, but not only is it physically in our way, it's also very discouraging to the bride and seamstress. The Bride needs to be able to see the whole dress. No one who loves her will come up with a magnifying glass and inspect the dress shes wearing on the day of, so trust us to do our jobs. We have limited space and time to work in and the more you walk on stage and fidget with the dress on the bride the more we have to pause, explain, and correct what you're doing. I'm the least experienced of the seamstresses with only a year and half of in-store experience, but most of those women have had their own shops and have been doing this for over ten years. if you don't trust us because you can sew and think you know better, then why not do it yourself? Save the bride some money.

NO, We cannot change everything about your dress. It's a chain store, ladies. We have outside designers who we have contracts with, and we are legally not allowed to alter the style. If you bought an a-line dress but want it fitted through the hips, WE can't do that, Legally. If you bought a dress with a train but don't want a train on your dress, WE can't remove it. Legally. If you bought the strapless sweetheart and want straps made for you out of chiffon or whatever fabric you found, we're not even supposed to do that! If you want the dress you bought altered significantly, call a different seamstress. And if a sales girl reassures you "yeah they can totally do that" have them ASK alterations just in case. Most of the girls in my store know better, but we still get brides who are hurt because they "wouldn't have bought this dress if I knew I couldn't do that."

You need to bring ALL the things you plan on wearing underneath your dress, including but not limited to underwear, bras, slips, & shoes. It's an average of 2 or 3 fittings, meaning yes you have to show up 2 or 3 times with all your undergarments and shoes.

Payment is due at the end of the first fitting, we can't work on it until it's paid for.

and finally, please remember that this is your wedding day, but we are people. we have emotions, we bleed, sometimes literally and specifically FOR YOU. Yes things are getting stressful as it gets close to your special day, please remember to treat everyone you interact with, with human decency. You deserve to feel special on such a special occasion, but it should not come at the cost of someone else's dignity or job.

... over a year later ...

In case you didn't realize, I've been gone! I've officially graduated college with an AS In Custom Dressmaking and Small Business Orientation, I work for David's Bridal as an alterations specialist, and am trying to bump up my work outside of that for custom dressmaking!

I'm doing seven bridesmaids dresses for a wedding in October, which I am so excited for! The bride has purchased the fabric and the girls all get to decide what designs they want to wear, so it's going to be a lot of creative work and just so handy that they will definitely have professional pictures taken of them! I've already done two dresses for the bride, and she liked the experience so much she recruited me.

For HER college graduation my cousin Karen asked for a custom dress (to recreate this adorable dress), I haven't gotten to actually see her in the dress but I heard she loved it, and am eagerly anticipating the photograph I asked her to take :)

I've finally gotten hooked on Reddit, and specially the subreddit /r/ABraThatFits. My own sister has called me a Bravangelist. Doing fittings for brides and bridesmaids at Davids has just made me SO AWARE of how poorly some women understand their bodies. even my own coworker tried to tell me she was a 38D and I asked her if I could measure her and she was a 34E... Ahh if only I could be everywhere with measuring tape.. LADIES, your boobs are relative to your ribs in that Ds are actually kind of small on small rib cages. Don't be afraid of bigger than D cups. As a 32H, I feel like my boobs are proportional to my body most of the time. If you want to double check your fit, here's the quick start guide to A Bra that Fits

I've got two more dresses I plan on cranking out before the end of July, one for a coworker and one for a friend, and if anyone wants to work with me, PLEASE let me know. I'm pretty cheap for custom dresses and I make house calls (if you're not too far).