Wednesday, September 30, 2009

The anatomy of a dress...

Picking my dress was not an easy task by any means. I had a specific idea of what I wanted all along and while I did try on some other styles, I never really swayed away from what I wanted: a strapless, sweetheart, lace, form fitting, non-poofy, amazing dress.

When all was said and done, it came down to two contenders. The "Romona" as I lovingly called it was the first dress I ever tried on at Macy's and I later came back to at a Veiled in Elegance in Geneva. It fit perfectly and it was all lace and well, as you remember, it made my behind look really nice. (Since I've already tied the knot, I thought I'd share some pictures of me from the dress shopping days gone by...)


Looking back on this dress, I don't think I ever really liked the front as much as I did the back:


Obviously, I did not buy this dress. But, it was the one in the back of my mind the whole time I was trying to decide whether or not to get the dress that I did end up getting. In the end, I decided that this dress just didn't have that something special that I was looking for.

So, MY dress. I found my dress at the last shop I went to and it was the last dress I tried on. It was my 27th birthday, and aside from closing on our house (which I also did on one of my birthdays) this was the biggest birthday gift I've ever gotten. Thanks, Mom!

Our last appointment was with Vanessa at Vanessa's Modern Bride in Arlington Heights. The shop is really cute. Very girly, it smells really nice, and Vanessa is awesome. I tried on a few dresses here but I ended up choosing a Melissa Sweet dress called the Hallie. I had never seen this dress online or in magazines and the sample that I tried on in the shop was not in the best of conditions, but I really liked it. It seemed to have everything I wanted, besides the sweetheart neckline...but that could be fixed. I spent about an hour in this dress and hemmed and hawed over it with my Mom and my Aunt. They both LOVED it but they didn't want to influence my decision so they downplayed their enthusiasm. I'm thankful for that because I know I chose the dress because I liked it, not because other people did. I'm not a crier and I never had one of those "OMG THIS IS THEEEEEE DRESS" moments. I just knew that I liked it the best out of everything I had tried on. (I can't find the photos from the actual day that I bought the dress. But if I do, I'll put them in here eventually. )

So, I bought this dress on Aug. 12, 2008. I then waited nine months until it came in and when it did I was seriously nervous that I wouldn't like it anymore. It's a long time to wait to see something that you can't return!

I have to admit that when I tried it on again for the first time, I wasn't totally thrilled. In fact, I started thinking that I made the wrong decision. I thought the drop waist was totally wrong on me and that it made me look dumpy.

Here is my definition of dumpy:


Yeah, not exactly dumpy...but still, I just didn't feel 100 percent great in it. It looks a little bit better from further away, ha!


A few things that I didn't realize were going to help out...a lot. A) some spanxx. Because no matter how skinny I am, I will always have a stomach bulge. B) A "long line" strapless bra to put everything in the right places. C) A dress that actually fits like a glove. I would eventually get all these things, but after my first fitting, I felt very nervous. Not about the shop, or Vanessa, or the seamstress. I knew I was in great hands. I just wasn't sure if I had really picked THE dress.

When I came back for my second fitting, everything just came into place. I didn't remember to take any pictures because I was so excited at how good the dress was coming along. But, just imagine it looked better than above, but not as great as below.

The last appointment was right before my wedding and when I tried on the dress the last time, I knew I made the right choice. Not only on the dress, but where I bought it. Vanessa and her seamstress knew exactly what I was looking for and they made sure that the dress looked perfect on my body. Which, it did. These are from my last fitting:

I like the last one because you can see the back of the dress fully spread out. For some reason I don't have any pictures of the back like this on the day of. I think I was just moving too much!

Speaking of the day of, here is a sneak peek at what the final product looked like! It fit like a glove and it was super comfortable. I only wish I had another occasion to wear it to!
(photo by Kris Kasperek)

So that's how my dress went from being the right dress to the perfect dress. If I could give any advice to those who are shopping for dresses it would be to

  • Try on every single dress you want to until you find the right dress. Don't feel like it's not the right dress because you don't turn on the waterworks and hyperventilate over finding THE DRESS! It didn't happen to me and it might not happen to you.
  • If you are going to make major alterations to the dress, talk to the salesperson and seamstress to see if they can even accomplish what you are looking for. If you don't feel confident, maybe this isn't the dress or shop for you.
  • Don't feel pressured to make a purchase by your salesperson or the people you have with you. Remember--most likely, you can't return this purchase.
  • Make sure you bring people with you who are supportive of you and honest, but not mean or judgmental. It's a tough decision but it comes down to the fact that it is YOUR day and you should wear exactly what you want to wear, not what your Maid of Honor, Sister, Mother, or Mother in Law wants you to wear. Even if they are paying for it--it's not worth a dime if you don't feel like a million bucks!
  • Most importantly, have so much fun with the process! Enjoy every minute of wearing your dress, even in the fittings!

    That's all for now! We have all of our professional photos now, so I'll be starting to recap the day and all the details! Take a sneak peek at the pro-pics here: http://iklikphoto.blogspot.com/2009/07/k-s-wedding.html

3 comments:

style-for-style said...

amazing, I almost ended up in the same dress!!!
lovely, but decided on something without lace...looks amazing on you.

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