Anything but fancy
There is no hard and fast rule that states brides must walk down aisle wearing poufy white gowns that eat up six percent of their total wedding budgets. I can’t stress it enough! It is absolutely up to each individual bride to decide whether she’ll wear satin and lace, comfortable and colorful cotton, or a t-shirt and jeans. As I’ve said many times in the past, those who say their I dos in shorts and a tank top are no less married as a result.
Plenty of brides-to-be, ensnared as they are in the mishmash of ideas promoted by the WIC, think in terms of absolutes. They envision either a creamy confection of hand-sewn silk or a bright white bikini a la vintage (and not so vintage) Pamela Anderson. Middle of the road gowns are seen as being for bridesmaids and moms.
Brides-to-be looking for something in between (and I know they exist because I’ve met them) should check out One Kind Couture. A certain Marie of Portland, Oregon creates feminine and figure-flattering dresses designed for “real women with all of her soft curves.” Her off-the-rack frocks are reasonably priced–think $100 to $450–and she’s happy to modify existing designs by varying the fabric, cut, or hem.
Marie also accepts custom orders, which sounds good to me considering her creed is “Fashion is about looking and feeling beautiful, so let’s create something that makes you feel like a goddess!” I’ve been sick for the last three days, and at this point I’m searching for something…anything…that will make me feel like a goddess.
I love the look of the dresses and I love her stated mission.
But.
I found only one ready-made item that would fit anyone over a size 8 and most items were smaller yet. For someone who claims to glorify the soft curves of womanhood, that’s a little… odd. Not to say there aren’t small and curvy ladies, but there is really quite a lot of clothing available for the small percentage of women who fall into that category. (I would say most of it, actually.)
I know she does custom orders, but my size 20-22 self would be deeply uncomfortable ordering a dress from someone who doesn’t show anything remotely my size, or even something that would fit the *average* woman without using a drawstring.
I’m feeling that middle one a lot. And a quick visit to the website definitely makes me want the Azala and Flame of Brigid for my own.
Get better soon, NtB!
Gah, mcmiller…I need you around to remind me to look at sizes. It’s not just a problem on the blog! I fall in love with dresses and shoes and other things while browsing online, only to have my heart broken when I realize that they don’t come in my size or my size is sold out.
NTB – Any time.
My *first* instinct on viewing beautiful clothing or accessories is to see if it comes in my size. This is part of my window shopping fantasy. Unfortunately, at size 20-22, most things do not come in my size (or their version of “one size fits all” means s/m/l juniors).
I hope you feel better!
This is the one thing that makes me think I should re-train as a dressmaker and open up shop. I’m sick of the phrase ‘real women’. All women are real. I’m small and have no curves whatsoever – so am not ‘real’ apparently – and would dearly love to find a dress that makes me look curvy, and maybe some shoes that don’t make me look five fricking years old. I’ve stood in a shop with my friend, both of us wearing the same design of bridesmaid’s dress, me with bulldog clips all down the back and her with the zip open, hardly able to breathe. Why do they do this to us? I might get wed in the noddy.
Do it, weeza! I’m pretty sure that 90% of all women everywhere, on every side of the size spectrum, would like to see at least one dressmaker catering to their shape. Personally, I’d like to find someone who recognizes that some of us are big in, shall we say, certain areas. I’m pretty sick of having to buy clothing two sizes up and having it altered down because I have to accommodate “the girls.”
Gee…wish I had girls! If it fits my belly, then I have acres of cloth in the boobs for tops and seriously saggy ass in pants… Maybe I should just start wearing my clothes like the guys in denial. Drop the waist under my belly and proudly left it lead me forward….
She is no longer doing clothing for anyone over a size 10 or over a C cup, after her experiences with a recent customer who was a size 10 with a DD cup. The dress was not made well and did not fit well.
That’s a rather odd response, Katie Thompson, but I suppose it’s a good thing that she knows her limitations.