Friday, November 16, 2012

COUTURE OR 'READY-to-WEAR'?

As a bride, you will need to make a decision as to which service suits you the best; Couture or Ready-to-Wear'? Apart from the price point, ‘ready-to-wear’ or ‘of the rack’ is convenient for brides who don’t have the time to go through the fitting process and want to instantly see how the final dress looks like on their figure. This is suitable for those that are prepared to have alterations done on an existing garment they buy or have figures that fit into standard sizes.

But what about the figure shape that is not what we call, ‘standard’ or ‘stock’ size. This bride has no choice but to have it made. Where this becomes a true necessity is when your bust size well exceeds the ‘D’ cup. I am not aware of any bridal range or label that caters for a ‘DD’ cup size and over.

A cup size alteration cannot be performed from side seams or back opening. As a patternmaker, I can assure you that the cup size needs to be inbuilt at pattern construction stage, before the dress is cut. At this time, the pattern pieces are drafted to cater for the extra fabric needed for the fullness of the bust, i.e. the curves and depth of the bust.

A qualified technician, will draft patterns and then produce a toile to fit you first to get the distribution of width, depth and bust lift just right.

A bride with anything over a ‘D’ cup will have difficulty finding an ‘off the rack’ to fit her perfectly. The picture above is of a ‘off the rack’ gown with probably a ‘C’ cup allowance worn by a ‘F’ to ‘G’ cup bride. Notice there is not enough fabric to cover her round cup.

I wonder why this was allowed to happen. Did the bride try on the dress in her size before she bought it? Most bridal stores don’t carry every size gown in every style. So, did the sales assistant assure her that when the dress would arrive in the bride’s size that the bust will fit ‘right’? Did she buy it on the internet? 

Maybe the bride wanted this look?