I’ve been “shopping around” for a wedding gown. I am not getting married nor are we renewing our vows, but as I am planning a wedding dress business, I need to check out the competition. While searching, I noticed that the terms in bridal fashion are quite rubbery, and it’s easy to be misguided if you are not quite sure what the terms mean.

One of the most misused terms is “custom made”. This is often offered together with a range of styles that you can “custom order” and then they are “made to fit you”. They tell you that they have this fantastic new way of making “custom dresses” for affordable price. In reality “custom made” means that you dictate exactly what you want for a dress and it is made from scratch of the fabrics you choose to your exact size. What these sellers really do, is that they “customize” the dresses, but that doesn’t make them custom made. In fact, I believe what happens with some of them is that they get your measurements and they select the closest standard size they have on stock and ship it out to you and there’s your “custom order”. Some of them may actually make the dresses after you order, but then it is a question of a “made on order” instead of “custom made”.

“Unique” is one of the rubbery terms. “Unique” refer to something that is one of a kind or completely different to the rest. Obviously, looking at these “unique” gowns, that is not what they mean by it. It is unclear to me what it actually means here.

“Couture” is the next. Haute Couture is a French term meaning high quality sewing. The term cannot be just adopted by anyone who wishes to sound posh, but there are stict rules and regulations to who is eligable for the term. However, when speaking of just “couture” it really doesn’t mean anything. It’s just a fancy way of saying that they have something that is sewn together. :p Not to say it was a bad thing to say as such, just don’t be fooled to think that couture and haute couture would be synonyms.

Tips for finding a high quality wedding dress:

- Look for natural fibres, such as silk and cotton. Yes, cotton! Cotton is a fabulous fibre, and a lot of fabrics described as simply “satin” is actually either cotton or polyester. The third option is that it is silk, but you can be rest assured that silk will be mentioned in the description if it is silk satin! Cotton satin is still very nice fabric, but silk is obviously the most desirable one. “Satin” refers to the weaving of the fabric, and you know it by the shine of the fabric. The low quality gowns are often made out of 100% polyester or polyester mix, and you should avoid those if you don´t want to sweat or alternatively freeze on your wedding day.

- The most luxurious dresses are often made out of raw silk. I personally love this fabric, but it would be way out of my price range, even if I made the dress myself. You can expect raw silk dresses to be quite pricey even if they were off the rack (ready to wear) dresses.

- The price of the dress depends on several things. The fabric used, obviously, the detail on it, the difficulty of the sewing and the quantity of same dresses made. There are some bridal houses that allow only one or two same kind dresses into any given geographical area, and this certainly can be seen in the price.

- One of a kind and custom made dresses are necessarily not unaffordable. Not all seamstresses are equally talented, and what they charge is dependent on how much they value their own talent. A lot of dress makers won’t be comfortable with very adventurous designs, but then again, not many brides are either. And that is a perfect match, as the most dressmakers can knock up a wedding dress that isn’t terribly ambitious.

What you should expect from any seller is to offer a fitting and alterations for the gown. Some refer you to a certain dress maker, but most should fit it in the shop and handle the alterations for you so you will get the gown fitted for you and ready to wear. Some sellers seemed to offer this like it was something very special but it isn’t. Admitting, that most retailers will charge extra for the alterations, and sometimes, if you’re handy, you can do it for yourself.

When you are fitting for a gown, it is quite usual that you won’t be allowed to take photographs of the dress. This is to prevent the customers to come in, fit gowns and then have them copied by a cheap local dressmaker. Protection agains piracy you see. This is unfortunate, but I understand the point of view of the shop owners.

That’s all I can think of about the subject right now, but that should get you a long way anyway. Ask if you have more questions!

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