Why having your dress custom ordered matters….

Oftentimes, bewildered brides ask us if ordering a dress with custom measurements is important.  Our store, unlike many others in our area, orders almost all of the dresses with custom measurements, which include custom bust, waist, hips, and length.  When the dress arrives to our store for the first fitting, it has already been customized to the bride’s body.

In a standard scenario, the dress is ordered by looking at a sizing chart. Measurements of the body are still taken, but usually only of bust, waist, and hip areas. The dress is then ordered by size only. When the dress arrives for the first fitting, the alterations for the dress begin. Usually the seamstresses have to alter the dress quite significantly, since not many people are a standard size. The dress is usually opened at the seams and reconstructed in order to fit the body better. A lot of times, this results in additional costs and brides end up paying hundreds of dollars for alterations to the bodice and the length of the dress. Most importantly, this causes significant stress to the brides. Stress from fittings should be avoided as much as possible, since fittings usually happen very close to the wedding, a time when tensions run high.

Not all measurements are taken equal! It takes an extremely experienced professional to be able to take measurements of the body in order to properly order a dress. Depending on how ‘tight’ one pulls the measuring tape, the measurements can be ‘off’ from 1 inch to several. This is truly an art form to be able to know how ‘tight’ to pull the measuring tape around the body. Since the body is soft, there is always room for error. Moreover, a body part that is measured with the same measurement (36 inches, for example), can have different shapes. Some people have wider busts and more narrow backs, or the opposite wider backs and narrower busts, which means that the person ordering the dress needs to specify the shape of the body. A lot of stores neglect to do this, which results in poorly fitting dresses (even if they are ordered with custom measurements).

In our store, the fittings are included in the price of the dress (when ordered with custom measurements), which eliminates the hassle and stress on the bride. Knowing that your fittings are included in the price of the dress eliminates that stress, since our store takes the responsibility to alter the dress that was ordered with custom measurements.

What if the bride changes size? After all, the dresses are usually ordered about six to eight months ahead of time. In our experience, very few brides actually end up changing their size. However, weight loss/gain still happens. In order to prevent further stress, our store only charges a small flat fee to completely resize the dress if the bride changed more than two sizes. If the bride changed less then two sizes, then the alterations are still included in the price of the dress.

So, if you plan to change sizes, is it still important to order your dress with custom measurements? Yes, it is! First, the dress’s length will be custom, which is important since paying for the hem of the dress can be quite costly. Second, the dress’s shape will still be close to the body, which would need only minor alterations in resizing.


more info at White Swan Bridal Boutique 


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