Checking for quality construction
While many gowns you will find throughout New York salons are beautiful, and you may be h appy with how they look on you, there is more to your selection than trying on the gown for fit. You want to be sure it will hold up for the hours of pictures before the wedding and the hours of dancing afterwards. And you don’t want to get up at your wedding to find that the back of the dress is all wrinkled. To check if the fabric wrinkles too easily, scrunch some in your hand to see if it returns to smoothness. After all, you don’t want to carry a steamer for a touch up before your walk down the aisle. In addition to looking at the fabric resilience, check for quality construction.
In a better made dress, the seams are well sewn, so that no threads are visible. The inside should be completely lined with finished seams. The lining should not be so heavy that it impedes the drape of the gown, while it should not be so light to let points of construction or what you wear beneath show through. Good fabric should not feel flimsy or scratchy where it touches your skin. The hem would be sewn in herringbone stitch, rather than a simple straight stitch that is more easily ripped should you catch your heel in it. On a cheaper dress, beads are attached with glue, which may disintegrate in cleaning or cause discoloration over time. It takes more work to sew on pearls and beads, which is why that is another mark of quality. One of the drawbacks of a dress decorated with cheap trimmings is that it will not stand up to a cleaning. Either the glue or the beads will disintegrate, and your drycleaner will not be liable. That is why the dress may have a care label that warns not to dry clean. But if the care label indicates that it is neither safe to wash nor to dry clean, then it will not be of use to anyone after it is worn, for it will have to remain dirty.
Check the fastenings. A long row of tiny buttons down the back is the classic closure for a wedding gown. The buttons should extend past the waist down to the hi
While cheap construction often goes with a cheap price, it not always true that you’ll get a bette
r dress if it costs you more. A poorly constructed dress may simply be overpriced, and a very fine one may be very reasonable, especially if you find one you like marked down at a sample sale. Also the fabric is a big factor in the cost. The many yards needed to construct a ball gown in a fine silk cost far more than the equivalent in polyester. And while silk, with its luxuriously smooth feel and breathable quality, seems to be the better choice at first blush, there is more to consider. Unless it is treated in some way to make it washable, silk can be damaged by water. What that means for you is that should something spill on your silk dress during the wedding, you cannot use stain-remover on it without leaving a mark. On the other hand, a stain on a polyester gown may be removed with a baby wipe or a dabbed away with some water. So take all the factors into consideration: your budget, construction quality, the shade that flatters your complexion, a cut that suits you, and your comfort in the dress. After all you are going to be wearing it for quite a few hours, so you do not want something that makes you feel squeezed, squished, or scratchy.
For an index of wedding planning articles see http://kallahmagazine.com/WeddingAdvice.html
You can get notified about new articles by subscribing with the tool on top of this page or by following on Twitter or marking that you "Like" http://www.facebook.com/KallahMagazine?ref=nf Check out the summer issue of Kallah Magazine at http://issuu.com/ariellabrown/docs/summer10. It is also be available at http://www.kallahmagazine.com
Comments