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wedding dress

Rude staff and a wedding dress update

A quick drape of the wedding dress.

 The lace fabric for the wedding dress.

Long time no talk! I have been on a much needed sewing break, so not much to blog about. Now it’s time to rev up things again though. I got some orders from family and friends to finish up and then next week it will be all about the wedding dress. As a friend noted “it seems like that dress has been going on forever”. Yup. Sourcing the right materials has been a very time consuming process, with many hiccups on the way. It all culminated yesterday when the bride-to-be was treated so rudely by the shop assistants in one of the fabric stores in town. She was going to buy some regular bemberg (rayon) lining, but when the staff realized that they couldn’t persuade her into buying expensive thai silk for the lining, they became unbelievable snotty and in the end she couldn’t even get samples of the bemberg lining! What happened to the adage “customer is king”?

I don’t frequent this store much myself, but I was still shocked to hear this. I have only had great experience with staffs at local fabric stores, but I think it’s because I frequent the smaller ones and they are mostly staffed by the owners, who tends to be real fabric and sewing geeks and thus very knowledgeable.

By the way, isn’t the recommendation to line a dress with thai silk a little over the top in most cases? It’s fairly stiff and rustles a bit too from my memory. I guess it does create a great body and Susan Khalje do recommend dupion silk for a high end couture lining in her book,  but the bride wants a more casual party/cocktail kind of dress, that isn’t as stiff and precious as a full blown wedding gown. Plus using thai silk for the corset bodice, which requires four layers of fabric, will make the bodice way too thick I think.

Update: We went together to a nice store today and found the perfect bemberg lining, it looks really lush and luxe and the hue is a perfect match (see the first photo for the lining + lace). We chatted a bit with the store owner and ended up mentioning the incident yesterday, and she said she had heard similar horror stories about the staff there before. Apparently they act like the customers are total fools.

7 Comments

  • melissa
    July 6, 2010 at 3:45 pm

    Ooh the lace is very nice at least! Where did you source it from in the end?

    (and stuff the staff – I love bemberg lining!)

    Reply
  • Ann's Fashion Studio
    July 6, 2010 at 8:47 pm

    The lace is beautiful and the lining underneath looks wonderful.

    People can be so rude/mean, for reasons only they will know. I just don't go back and give them a second thought, and it is totally their loss….on so many levels. Good for you for going elsewhere and finding exactly what you wanted 🙂

    Reply
  • Magdalena
    July 6, 2010 at 10:07 pm

    This looks great!

    Reply
  • Gail
    July 6, 2010 at 11:28 pm

    Customer service is a thing of the past. Speaking of themes nostaglic, your beautiful wedding dress as a feeling of 50s glamour about it.

    Reply
  • becki-c
    July 7, 2010 at 1:19 am

    I love bemberg, I think it would feel better next to the skin than thai. You are right, it would be awfully heavy. I wouldn't even consider all that in the heat here! I love the look of the lace and the fabric, they are so perfect!

    Reply
  • Johanna
    July 7, 2010 at 7:05 am

    Melissa: It's from Harringtons fabric in the UK.

    Ann: Yes I will never get my head around why they treat their customers like that. The shop is rather posh and I think that they must have a "we are so much fancier than the regular store" – attitude.

    Magdalena: Thanks!

    Gail: Yes it seem that way, at least in some stores. I can't stand when shop assistants are being snotty to the customers, they did so many wrongs towards her, she was pushed back in the line, the shop assistant that had promised her the samples disappeared to lunch, she overheard them saying "ooh she wants the cheap stuff" etc etc

    Becki: Thank you about the affirmation of using bemberg over thai silk! You know both me and the bride has developed a slight aversion towards thai silk now due to snotty shop, we can't look at it without thinking about the rudeness. Shame, it is a nice fabric!

    Reply
  • Lisa & Peter
    July 7, 2010 at 10:05 pm

    Hi everyone, this is the bride speaking. 🙂 I'm thrilled and delighted you (Johanna) decided to give this bridal couture-thing a try – I can't think of anyone I'd rather trust with my outfit on that day.

    I just have to share what I found on Gårda textil (the snotty store) on a Swedish site that rates stores etc.

    http://www.rejta.se/omdome/535353/Gårda+Textil+AB

    It seems like I'm far from the only one they have been rude to!

    I ordered the right color ribbon today by the way, I'll be in touch when I get it.

    It looks so good on the doll! This will be the best wedding dress like ever!

    /Lisa, bride to be

    Reply

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