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As a couture based company, with many years of making and altering the most beautiful dresses, we are proud of the quality of our clothes and alterations. All our making and alteration is done in Hagley, West Midlands, by a very expert and experience staff.
Unfortunately, every week I have brides coming to me in despair with wedding dresses they have bought elsewhere and which have been deformed by the most dreadful and inappropriate alterations.
There are two problems. Firstly there are a lot of new sellers taking on bridal shops with no experience of of fitting a bridal dresses. They simply ‘buy in’ collections and sell hard with no thought for the bride and absolutely  no skills in fitting or alteration.
But they have a problem.
With the switch to China as the main supplier for clothing production, there is a demise of the sewing industry in the UK. There are no longer banks of ladies (or gentlemen) capable of carrying out essential alterations to your clothes. This loss of expertise in the UK means that it is extremely difficult for many bridal shops to carry out quality alterations. Even many of the 'couturiers' in London send their production to China on what is termed 'The Hong Kong shuttle'.
Be aware that the so called 'Designer Dress' is NOT made ‘especially for you’, but is simply a READY TO WEAR dress in size 12 ,14 etc. made for a specific designer. Many of the ‘designer collections' are now made in China. The dress has to be altered to fit you by the retailer and these dresses are often more complicated than the larger collections so it is doubly important to observe the alterations situation.
Brides now have a major problem in their choice of dress supplier.
The observations of the ability of the staff of the bridal shop to provide fit and comfort is now just as important as choosing the design of a dress. After all, what good is it if you have found your special dress when on your wedding day you are in tears in the toilet because it is cutting deeply into your armpits, or you have have bones sticking into your bust, or are falling over because your dress is too long.
A bad shop will sell you anything so you must do your best to ensure your supplier is capable.
Always look out for signs from the staff that they understand about fit and comfort. A dress which is being tried on should be PINNED to fit your size, shape and height. If you are asked to stand on a box to keep the dress off the floor, if you have the dress tugged together at the back whilst you are in front of the mirror, if you have a cushion or packing stuffed down your back, you can bet they know nothing about fitting. What chance has even a good alterations hand to get it right if the fitting is not pinned correctly. Without question you should leave the shop immediately.
Ask if alterations are done in-house by their own staff. If it goes to an out worker, then who is responsible for the alteration and any problems if you are unhappy. If you are unsure then delay and think about it.
One of the ploys of a shop doing poor alterations is to provide the dress just before the wedding so that there is no time for you to complain. It is now important that you have your FINAL fitting of the COMPLETED dress at least ONE MONTH before the wedding so that you have time to get help if necessary.
Be wary of the shop that pesters you for a tiny deposit - a deposit is a contract and you could receive a letter the next day demanding the remainder of the payment within a month. Only make your deposit when you are not only totally happy with the design of the dress, but equally happy with the expertise of workmanship to be applied.
Please let me know your story and any advice you can offer to make the choice of a bride’s dress a happy occasion so that we can include it on our web site, or give me a ring at 01562 884163.
Barbara Clark
barbaraclark@me.com
www.barbaraclark.com
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