dress me up.
disclaimer: no, i am not engaged, but i am very close.
the other two girls, however, are engaged,
and provide great justification for these trips.
it's amazing how different bridal shop experiences can be.
today, nicole, liz, and i had appointments at two different shops:
[1] a location that will not be named in oakland,
and [2] flair in san francisco.
at the oakland shop, the sales lady was confused at our arrival as if she had no idea we had an appointment, tried to have us try on bridesmaids dresses even though we specified bridal, and knew nothing about the dresses. she claimed that a dress that nicole tried on was the exact one from a picture when one was a ball-gown and the other an a-line, not to mention the beading and design were very different. she never tried to make us feel comfortable, and really did not know what she was doing. at one point, she even tried to chastise nicole for trying on dresses "way too early" because by the time her 2010 wedding comes, these dresses would all be out of style - an interesting tactic for a sales woman with dresses from a 2005 line still in her store. halfway through our scheduled appointment, the owner of the store finally arrived, and instead of introducing herself and taking charge, she simply came in and said "Do you need anything? Oh, you're trying on dresses? Okay, the limit is four." the whole atmosphere was pretty uncomfortable and the dresses were really low quality. we left early, nervously laughing all the way.
as we entered san francisco, we already knew our next appointment would be the polar opposite as that experience. we got to the area with about 45 minutes to spare (partially due to running out on the previous appointment early), so we wandered around the other cute boutiques nearby.
flair was a great experience. the second we walked in the door, the smiling sales lady greeted us with handshakes and introductions. she apologized for not booking us for a longer appointment since we all wanted to try on dresses, and took us one at a time to get an idea of our style. she explained each dress that she showed us with great detail and praised each one's different aspects. throughout the hour, we were able to enjoy fun conversation with her as well as take time on each dress for discussion and consideration of it. the atmosphere was very relaxed, not stuffy, but they still had some very beautiful, high quality dresses. she was even the one to suggest we take pictures and wrote little cards with all the information of the dresses that we had each liked most for us as we left.
i must now admit that i am no longer a kirstie kelly disney dress hater. after seeing (and wearing!) the dresses myself, i must say that they are a much better quality than i gave them credit for, and while they don't seem to hang right on the models and just don't look good, i admit they looked pretty darn great on us (well, mostly nicole).
picture time! WARNING: if you have any reason to refrain from seeing nicole, liz, or myself in a wedding dress, do not click this link!!!
REALLY! if you clicked and shouldn't have, DON'T SCROLL DOWN!
i'm serious!!!
okay, i think they're gone by now. everyone else is welcome to read on. :)
um, please ignore my crooked posture and cheesy grin.
this dress is the "platinum gown" from kirstie kelly's line. it is the one in basically every ad.
it is a Cinderella dress, style C2826 from Spring 2008.
this dress was so heavy. even after sufficient warning, i was still shocked at the weight.
it was just so. much. dress. but oh so beautiful...
we all tried it on:
the back. you know the drill, ignore the black bra please. ;)
then, nicole found another Cinderella dress that was nearly perfect for her.
it is style C2802, also from Spring 2008.
the dress was more typically bridal but also very princessy and definitely nicole's style.
she tucked in the tiny straps that the dress comes with, making a major improvement, in my opinion.
if it didn't cost over $3000, nicole would probably own it right now.
moving away from the disney line, i tried on a dress by Coren Moore, which i loved in the shop.
it is called "Charlotte" and had a beautiful mermaid cut with lovely lace inserts at the bottom.
looking back at pictures, i see why liz and nicole weren't thrilled about it.
but, let me tell you, in person this dress made me look super tall and made my booty look fabulous.
okay, so it's not so great in photos, but i've gotta say, i LOVE that veil.
even if this dress looked as good to me now as it did in the store, i would have to pass on it.
the dress itself costs $1500, but the lace pleats cost an additional $800, making the dress way over budget.
no matter how high my budget, i don't think i can ever justify spending $800 just on lace.
the other two girls, however, are engaged,
and provide great justification for these trips.
it's amazing how different bridal shop experiences can be.
today, nicole, liz, and i had appointments at two different shops:
[1] a location that will not be named in oakland,
and [2] flair in san francisco.
at the oakland shop, the sales lady was confused at our arrival as if she had no idea we had an appointment, tried to have us try on bridesmaids dresses even though we specified bridal, and knew nothing about the dresses. she claimed that a dress that nicole tried on was the exact one from a picture when one was a ball-gown and the other an a-line, not to mention the beading and design were very different. she never tried to make us feel comfortable, and really did not know what she was doing. at one point, she even tried to chastise nicole for trying on dresses "way too early" because by the time her 2010 wedding comes, these dresses would all be out of style - an interesting tactic for a sales woman with dresses from a 2005 line still in her store. halfway through our scheduled appointment, the owner of the store finally arrived, and instead of introducing herself and taking charge, she simply came in and said "Do you need anything? Oh, you're trying on dresses? Okay, the limit is four." the whole atmosphere was pretty uncomfortable and the dresses were really low quality. we left early, nervously laughing all the way.
as we entered san francisco, we already knew our next appointment would be the polar opposite as that experience. we got to the area with about 45 minutes to spare (partially due to running out on the previous appointment early), so we wandered around the other cute boutiques nearby.
flair was a great experience. the second we walked in the door, the smiling sales lady greeted us with handshakes and introductions. she apologized for not booking us for a longer appointment since we all wanted to try on dresses, and took us one at a time to get an idea of our style. she explained each dress that she showed us with great detail and praised each one's different aspects. throughout the hour, we were able to enjoy fun conversation with her as well as take time on each dress for discussion and consideration of it. the atmosphere was very relaxed, not stuffy, but they still had some very beautiful, high quality dresses. she was even the one to suggest we take pictures and wrote little cards with all the information of the dresses that we had each liked most for us as we left.
i must now admit that i am no longer a kirstie kelly disney dress hater. after seeing (and wearing!) the dresses myself, i must say that they are a much better quality than i gave them credit for, and while they don't seem to hang right on the models and just don't look good, i admit they looked pretty darn great on us (well, mostly nicole).
picture time! WARNING: if you have any reason to refrain from seeing nicole, liz, or myself in a wedding dress, do not click this link!!!
REALLY! if you clicked and shouldn't have, DON'T SCROLL DOWN!
i'm serious!!!
okay, i think they're gone by now. everyone else is welcome to read on. :)
um, please ignore my crooked posture and cheesy grin.
this dress is the "platinum gown" from kirstie kelly's line. it is the one in basically every ad.
it is a Cinderella dress, style C2826 from Spring 2008.
this dress was so heavy. even after sufficient warning, i was still shocked at the weight.
it was just so. much. dress. but oh so beautiful...
we all tried it on:
the back. you know the drill, ignore the black bra please. ;)
then, nicole found another Cinderella dress that was nearly perfect for her.
it is style C2802, also from Spring 2008.
the dress was more typically bridal but also very princessy and definitely nicole's style.
she tucked in the tiny straps that the dress comes with, making a major improvement, in my opinion.
if it didn't cost over $3000, nicole would probably own it right now.
moving away from the disney line, i tried on a dress by Coren Moore, which i loved in the shop.
it is called "Charlotte" and had a beautiful mermaid cut with lovely lace inserts at the bottom.
looking back at pictures, i see why liz and nicole weren't thrilled about it.
but, let me tell you, in person this dress made me look super tall and made my booty look fabulous.
okay, so it's not so great in photos, but i've gotta say, i LOVE that veil.
even if this dress looked as good to me now as it did in the store, i would have to pass on it.
the dress itself costs $1500, but the lace pleats cost an additional $800, making the dress way over budget.
no matter how high my budget, i don't think i can ever justify spending $800 just on lace.