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"Meet Me at the Alter|ations" will be a series dedicated to bridal alterations commissions completed by Syreeta C.
Today's bride is Brittany!
Brittany's story features 2 looks: bridal shower & reception gown. She’s a classic case of a client with great foundational garments who simply needed tailoring to make them perfect. Both garments were online orders, if memory serves me correctly. (However not the cheap online clothing hauls we’re getting way to used to these days.) My best gauge for garment quality outside of fabric hand is the “turn it inside out“ test and both passed with flying colors.
Intermission: Fabric hand is defined as the estimated quality of a fabric, evaluated as reaction of the sense of touch, which is integrated in our brain to a total value.
We’ll start with the bridal shower look!
It was a chic cotton re-embroidered lace number. A-lines are universally flattering and the fit was okay as is. But sometimes “okay” isn’t the premier standard and that’s especially true for strapless. Many wearers prefer to have this style bodice fit a bit more snug, not only for garment security but to maximize shape.
The construction was pretty solid, featuring boning and elastic for support. Although I’m not a fan of elastic, it made sense from this stance of mass production. I worked my way through all of the layers in order to bring in the top and then refit the skirt back onto the new bodice size. Those couple inches were enough to transform the dress into the perfect fit!
Brittany‘s reception gown was a bit more complex. One reason was it simply had a few more things to edit. And the other was the bodice style. One word: beading.
But despite how intensive beading can be, the original garment quality helped. Poorly constructed gowns tend to shed beads easily. Lose one and they often unravel with great spread. This gown featured and appliqué on top of a sheer bodice. Luckily it was installed well and remained intact after some (admittedly delicate & careful) lifting.
On the topic of a sheer bodice, this one was also lined with cups. As I’ve mentioned in blogs before, I have a strong aversion to white cups… they can be super distracting in some designs. Same for if the nude is too far off from the wearer’s skin tone. We quickly elected to recover the cups and additionally upgraded them to a thicker bra cup, as well. I opted for a tear drop shape to fit the neckline better and recovered them in silk.
As we move down the length of the gown, the sides were taken in from the bodice through the hip to improve the fit.
The gown was also too long and the hem was skimmed off a few inches. I always offer the option to taper a hem to leave drag in the back or hem it all flush. Brittany opted for the latter since she wanted no fuss for her reception.
After a fitting, we also chose to remove 2 of the front godets to lessen the flare volume for a sleeker look.
In the end, this gown was a great mix of tailoring and preference driven refinements. The aim, as always, is to complement the wearer. Brittany is already stunning so that’s not a challenge, however it was a pleasure to lend a few stitches towards the goal!
Honorable Mention: Brittany me I attended high school together. I’m always so honored by those who follow my work and commission me for such amazing moments but even moreover little reunions like this. Thanks again, Brittany! It was such a joy to catch up with your and be a part of your special day.