Author: Heather Gabriel

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The Tale of Two Sisters

It is very common in my line of work to perform alterations for several members of one family. Usually, it’s for the same event, but I will often see sisters from one family, for instance, for their wedding gown alterations a year or so apart from one another. What isn’t as common is doing alterations for two sisters’ weddings in the same year.

This particular set of sisters were only a couple years apart in age, but I could tell that there was a bitter rivalry between them even though there were other sisters in the family. Their mother joined them for many of their fittings. Though she didn’t say much when it came to her daughters’ relationship, I could tell that it had been a family issue since day one. For this telling, I will call them Monica and Terri*.

Monica was the older of the two in question, athletically built but not without curves, medium brown hair of medium length, sparkling eyes full of mischief, and a very bohemian outlook on life. Her wedding was first and she was getting married on the beach in Mexico wearing a strapless A-line gown with a crocheted lace overlay. Like I said, VERY bohemian.

Terri, the younger of the two, was very slightly built, no curves, long blonde hair, and steely grey eyes. Her dress was a lot more traditional–sweetheart neckline with a plain illusion bodice and a satin ballgown skirt. She was the more conservative of the two, getting married in a church and planning a very reserved reception.

Of course, they were both bridesmaids in one another’s weddings, albeit grudgingly. Monica let her bridesmaids choose their gowns to suit their body types with three stipulations: color (soft shades evoking the beach in Mexico), easy flowing style, and mid-calf length for comfort. Terri chose satin column dresses with a high jewel neckline in a dark burgundy for her bridesmaids. Are we seeing a pattern yet?

Monica’s wedding came and went, and I saw both afterwards for the dress alterations for Terri’s wedding. The story of Monica’s wedding from Monica’s point of view and Terri’s were night and day.

The first thing that was brought up was the fact that their parents had relatively recently divorced and neither daughter really wanted the new girlfriend there for their mother’s sake. At least their father adhered to that request. The second thing was the massive bachelor/bachelorette party that happened the night before the nuptials. If you’ve seen the movie Hangover, you get the idea–lots of drinking and debauchery, the groom arrested and bailed out, taken to the hospital in the wee hours of the morning to get fixed up so he was in reasonable condition for the wedding in a few hours’ time. The bride was no better apparently. She managed to dislocate her shoulder in all the chaos and silliness and ALSO had to be taken to the emergency room to get fixed up.

Of course, Monica was giggling during the entire telling, sprinkling crazy anecdotes all throughout. It was quite clear she viewed the whole trip as a massive success.

Terri, on the other hand, was thoroughly embarrassed by everyone’s behavior and clearly thought her sister should be thrown in wedding jail for the mockery she made of such a solemn institution.

Being the reverently irreverent person I am, I found Monica’s rendition of the story far more entertaining and had a hard time relating to Terri’s feelings of shock and horror.

Unfortunately, I didn’t get to hear about Terri’s wedding from either sister. I can only imagine that Monica was bored out of her mind and might have been intent on mischief just to lighten the mood, much to the chagrin of Terri. As I have a sister myself, I can completely imagine both reactions to the inevitable chaos of the day. I just hope they are still speaking to one another. LOL

Throughout my career, I’ve seen hundreds of brides and hundreds of dresses. I’ve heard hundreds of “how we met” stories and been sent hundreds of wedding photos. The one thing I’m certain of is that no one configuration of this ritual will satisfy everyone. This ritual for this immensely important rite of passage is intensely personal and SHOULD be a reflection of the two people making this solemn promise to one another. It’s not for me or anyone else, especially a sister, to judge what makes this ritual meaningful to any one person.

What made your special day meaningful to you? Please share … I love a good story. J

Until next time dear reader!

Heather

*All names have been changed to protect the innocent or extremely crabby.

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The Saga of Heather, Ashley, and Harvey

There is a popular idiom that says, “when it rains, it pours.” Four years ago this August, that idiom came true in too many ways for comfort. To begin, in Houston, where I currently live, hurricane season runs from June through November. Additionally, “wedding season” for me runs from about the second week of August through the first week of October, as October is the #1 month for weddings in Houston and November is #3. Basically, I don’t sleep during those 8-9 weeks, and there are anywhere from 15-30 dresses in my studio queue at once.

I remember watching the weather channel constantly that year and actively tracking the progress of Hurricane Harvey, which would eventually claim the lives of more than 100 folks and cause $125 billion in damage, qualifying it as one of the worst hurricanes on record for the Houston area and earning the retirement of the name.

It was the Wednesday before the storm hit the Houston area when the hubster and I made the decision to evacuate. We loaded BOTH cars with the contents of my studio–wedding gowns, Santa suits in various stages of construction, supplies, machines, and other accoutrements–and headed off to Fort Worth where my in-laws lived at the time. I’m SO glad we left early. My in-laws left the news on constantly, and I was regaled and terrorized with images of long, slow-moving traffic lines and horrific storm videos.

I’m extremely grateful to my in-laws. They yielded their dining room to me so I could continue to work. I even put the hubster to work now and again, although he mostly ended up doing honey-do list items for his folks. I texted every single one of my local clients every few days to make sure they were all okay and to assure them that their dresses or suits were safe.

There was one wedding coming up that was a question mark until the very last minute. It was to be held on Labor Day weekend, and much of Houston was still in pretty bad shape. I still had two of the bridesmaids’ dresses for that wedding in my possession, and I still needed to do alterations on a VERY pregnant bridesmaid at the last minute.

We had been in Fort Worth for nine days. For nine days, I watched horrific yet heart-warming images on the news of all kinds of folks helping one another. (I was VERY proud of how my city came together during this crisis.) For nine days, I read Facebook posts from my friends about all the damage their houses or cars or both had sustained. For nine days, I checked on my bridal clients and friends to make sure they were safe. For nine days, I assured my mother and other family members that I was safe.

Then, I finally got a call from the bride in question. She had confirmed that their venue had survived the storm and could go forward with the event as planned. She asked if I would come back to Houston to finish the event. We loaded the car, cleaned the house for my in-laws, and hit the road.

We arrived home the Friday before their event. I reached out to all her bridesmaids who still needed attention. The one I was most concerned with was the VERY pregnant one, as I only had a day to make her alterations happen. She met me Saturday morning before the rehearsal and accompanying lunch to get fitted. I completed the alterations while she was gone and then she came back after the festivities to pick up her dress. After that appointment, the bride called me again, asking if my husband and I would be their honored guests at the wedding. Considering all we had been through together, it was a no brainer to say, “Yes.”

Originally, when I was asked to be part of this wedding, I’d known both women from the local art community in Houston. The art community is close knit here; everyone knows everyone. I’d had them on my radio show and been to several of their concerts. (They are both in a local band.) I was honored that they’d asked me to help prepare their wedding garments. One thing they’d asked me to do–in addition to keeping both outfits secret from one another–was to add something in common to both ensembles. I had a lot of fun being creative with that and enjoyed teasing both of them that their partner was going to look amazing on their special day.

The day of the wedding, we sat in the third row (one and two being designated for family), and I elected to watch Ashley’s face as Heather made her way down the staircase and took her father’s hand to walk down the aisle since I had seen Heather previously during the bridal shoot. I think I’m going to make this my normal practice when I go to weddings from now on. Watching the “receiver,” for lack of a better term, is far more fun than watching the “aisle walker,” in my opinion. The look on Ashley’s face was sheer amazement and love. I believe gobsmacked would be a good term to use here. Her jaw literally dropped, her eyes bugged out like one of those silly cartoons we all used to watch, and then she dissolved into happy tears. It was glorious to behold.

Since then, I’ve been honored to be a part of many more weddings where the two joining forces were of the same sex. With all the hate and division going on right now, it brings my heart joy to know that love is out there in its many varied and beautiful forms, and it brings me hope to know that “Love wins,” regardless of the obstacles–whether they be human-made hurdles, hurricanes, or other natural disasters. Love always wins.

Much love to you, my loyal readers. Until next time!

Heather

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10 things to think about when purchasing your wedding gown – from a Seamstress’ perspective

Purchasing a wedding gown is an exciting excursion (although it can be scary and stressful for some). A lot of brides have dreamed of the perfect princess gown à la Cinderella for years, but there are all kinds of ladies out there who look at a dress maybe once a year and have no clue regarding what they are about to undertake. One thing that is common between these two groups of women is that neither have any idea about what is required in terms of alterations. The following list contains several things prospective brides should keep in mind while they are shopping.

1. Expectations–Unless you look like the model in the picture, presuming the gown will look on you as it does on her is unrealistic. Classic example . . . I had a bride come to me with a gown that would look much better on someone with a Jessica Rabbit figure full of curves, but said bride was extremely slender. As there are no refunds on wedding gowns, I did the best I could for her, but there was no making her look like the model in the picture because their body types were just too different. Keeping your expectations as realistic as possible when selecting a wedding dress will definitely help you escape this type of heartache.

2. Trends–Oftentimes, just following the popular craze in bridal gowns will cause you to err when selecting your dress. I can’t tell you how many times over the years I have had prospective brides who shouldn’t have done so bring me strapless mermaid dresses because they were currently fashionable. Most of these women were either too skinny to fill out the curves or too heavy to look good in this style. Be honest with yourself about your body type. Choose what really highlights your best features rather than adhere to the trends.

3. YOUR dress–Letting your friends, family, or salesperson talk you into something may cause regret. For instance, I had a bride bring me a ball gown with a super high boat neck that her relatives had convinced her to purchase. She had a great figure, but the gown was hiding all of it. I ended up cutting the ball gown into a tulip skirt and the boat neck into a deep V. She would have avoided my alterations fee if she had gone with the dress she wanted instead of the gown her mother and sister talked her into buying. Remember that this gown is YOUR dress. You’ll know when you find the right one.

4. Alterations–If you are purchasing a new gown, plan on a third to a half more than the cost of the dress for alterations. That way, if it comes in less, you are pleasantly surprised and have more for something else on your list. If you are purchasing off the rack, it’s anyone’s guess, unfortunately. I’ve done $100 in alterations on an off-the-rack dress, but I’ve also done $1,300 in alterations on the same type of gown. The latter was for a bride who bought the dress two sizes too large and then lost fifty pounds. Everything I did to the dress shifted something else. In the end, she still came out ahead though, as the retail cost of the gown was $5,000.

5. Size–ALWAYS buy a dress based on your hardest area to fit. For instance, many of my plus-sized brides are pear shaped, which means that the hip will be the hardest area to fit. If this matches your body and you are purchasing anything other than a ball gown, buy the size that fits your hips. If you’re buying a ball gown, then go to the next hardest area, which would be the waist in most pear-shaped women. It’s important to remember, anything can be made smaller. It’s a LOT HARDER to make something bigger. Caveat: if you are purchasing off the rack and you fall

in love with something a lot larger than you are, be prepared for a large alterations fee (see #4). If you can, purchase an off-the-rack dress only a size or two larger than you are for best results.

6. Skirts–Unless you buy an off-the-rack dress that’s already been altered or special order a dress, any gown you buy will be long enough to fit an Amazon. The most I’ve ever had to cut off a dress was 15”, but the young lady was barely five feet tall. In contrast, my tallest bride so far was six feet; however, I still had to cut 4” off her gown. Remember, it’s MUCH easier to make something shorter than it is to make it longer. Unless you plan to wear 6-12” platforms, expect to shorten the skirts.

7. Lace Borders–This is one of the more complicated things we seamstresses have to do. Some borders are easy to move, and then there are those that behave like an art restoration. In my experience, most lace borders take 1-3 hours to move all by themselves. My craziest alteration in this category was a border that was 7” tall at its tallest and 1” tall at its shortest and had a gazillion tchotchkes in between. It took me FOUR HOURS. In some cases, we can shorten the skirts from the waist—unfortunately, I couldn’t do that with the aforementioned example–but it all depends on what’s going on there. Either way, anticipate lace borders on skirts ADDING TIME to the alteration.

8. Beads and Other Bling–These things get in the way of our needles. Many times, we have to remove a swath of beads or bling in order to be able to put the seam through the sewing machine. THEN, we get to put them back on. One bride brought me a gown that was solid crystals from neck to hem. The thing must have weighed fifty pounds! It was quite the challenge to take in the bodice seams on that one. Assume that this will add to your alterations cost, as hand work ALWAYS takes more time than machine.

9. Fittings–Bring shoes and special undergarments to ALL your fittings. Things like strapless bras, shapeware, and petticoats change the way your dress will fit. Do not change what you bring mid fitting stream as this will cause confusion and possibly add to your alterations total. I had a bride bring a soft petticoat to her first fitting and then a hoop skirt to her final fitting. The skirts did not look the same, AND they were shorter with the hoop skirt on. I had to talk her into going back to the soft one because I couldn’t easily add fabric back on.

10. Professionalism–We vendors are here to help make your event magical. We understand how stressful this process can be as we’ve worked with hundreds of brides—or more. We understand about traffic, family, and work issues. We understand that life does get in the way sometimes. Please do us the courtesy of communicating professionally with us when things change, and we will do the same.

Stay tuned for my future blog series, “How to Pick Your Best Wedding Gown,” coming soon! Feel free to post additional questions.

Thank you for being a loyal reader!

Until next time,

Heather

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Stella

Those of you who have been one of my clients or know me well know that I name ALL of my dresses “Stella.” It is, of course, a reference to a play, and subsequent movie, by Tennessee Williams. There is an iconic scene where the protagonist hollers drunkenly up at his estranged wife, “Stella!!!!!!” with intense frustration. Some dresses are like that… I have to put them in time out… they cause me to drink… I swear at them. They treat me like their drunken estranged spouse. Sigh. Most of them are good, and the moniker is just a joke. Then there are some who not only live up to her namesake but who challenge me to the utmost.

Let’s talk about a May bride and her “Stella.” She ordered it from a trunk show in Los Angeles nine months ago. A custom gown coming from a distance is always a challenging thing. The dress arrived in the bride’s hands TWO WEEKS before her wedding. Her wedding planner recommended that she contact me to help with final tweaks to the dress.

It always cracks me up that both designer and client think the dress will fit perfectly. Let’s face it … two women with the same measurements will NEVER be the same shape. It’s just a curse we females have to bear.

At any rate, what should have been a small tweak turned into a huge project. The dress fit her perfectly from the waist down, but from the waist up, it was a disaster. There was just not enough fabric in the bodice to cover the bride’s buxom figure and the side seams weren’t in the correct place. She and I agreed that the best course of action was for me to replace the bodice if I could find the fabric.

I went to three stores and found something extremely close. After I got the bodice apart, I realized that it was rose tulle that was creating the tint to the gown and not rose satin as I originally thought (it was three layers of fabric). I went back to my go-to shop for bridal fabric where they had 30 different shades of skin-tone tulle. I had a very hard time discerning a match as all of their lights were florescent, so I took home four different shades of blush hoping one would match. In the fading light of day, it seemed that I did find a match and proceeded to rebuild the bodice.

When the bride came for her next fitting, I breathed a HUGE sigh of relief when the bodice fit her beautifully and all I had left to do were darts and decorate the neckline.

Or so I thought.

I got the dress sewn back together and went to take a photo of it with full midday daylight streaming through the windows of my studio and realized that the bodice and the skirt did not match. I proceeded to utter a stream of colorful metaphors that would have made even the crustiest sailor proud.

I sent the bride two photos… one of just the bodice and all my beautiful embellishments and one of the whole dress with instructions to call me as soon as she was able.

Bodice
Full Dress

I waited 30 minutes before realizing that I had a narrow window of time that I could make it to the fabric shop and back before my final clients of the day. Bear in mind that it was a Friday afternoon, the shop is on the border of downtown Houston, and the bride’s wedding is now a week away. I grabbed my keys and headed out the door, hoping I was making the right decision.

While on the road, the bride called me, and I explained everything and gave her three options: we could leave it as is, I could take the whole dress apart and take out ALL the tulle, or I could take apart just the skirt portion and replace the tulle with what I had used in the bodice. She decided on the latter telling me that she hated the rose tint anyway. (The bodice in its reconstructed form was not nearly as rose pink as the original.)

Friday night, I disassembled the dress. I took apart all the skirt panel “sandwiches” and replaced the tulle. Saturday, in between normal bridal appointments, I assembled the dress again. It was mid-afternoon when I heaved a premature sigh of relief. I hung the dress on the hanger and stood back to survey my work. I sank into my chair and began to sob. The dress hadn’t changed color. More swearing, more drinking. I played a few crossword games and took many deep breaths before going back to look at my charge. So, what was left? Maybe the ivory satin I’d replaced in the bodice had weird undertones to the fabric used in the skirt. It was the only thing left.

I released the side seam of the dress and proceeded to release one of the “sandwich” panels so I could take a peek. I held the ivory satin up to the satin of the skirt panel and gasped. It was white. Here’s where the saying “truth is stranger than fiction” comes into play. I took the whole panel off the dress and took the whole “sandwich” apart. I turned the satin over. The BACK was ivory and the FRONT was white. Un-freaking-believable. I have NEVER, in my 40 years of sewing, seen that particular weave of satin before. I’m not certain if it was the cheap stuff, something really expensive, or something the designer had made specifically for them. I was truly gobsmacked.

I knew what I had to do. I took my ivory swatch from the bodice to the fabric store and matched it. Took the dress apart for the third time and replaced the satin in the skirt this time. It worked. It was perfect now.

I hadn’t told the bride about the satin yet. I decided to wait until the fitting, which was scheduled for the following day. At this point, I was 22 hours into the dress, with 6 of those unchargeable because I had missed the very weird anomaly of the two-toned satin. Sunday afternoon seemed an age away at that point.

Unfortunately, the Sunday appointment got postponed until Monday due to a blackout from a rainstorm. (I’m seriously NOT making this up.) When she arrived Monday, I managed to tear her zipper while trying to get her into the dress. (I’m not making this up either.) I was far beyond crying at this point. She had another appointment to get to and said she would catch up with me afterwards. This gave me a few more hours to swear at Stella.

I zipped down to the fabric store for the nth time and bought TWO zippers (trying to head Murphy off at the pass) and rushed home. I spent three more hours on the dress, doing final finishing touches AFTER I replaced the zipper. I didn’t want anything else to go wrong.

The bride arrived around 8:30 PM Monday night. We both crossed our fingers and carefully zipped her into the dress. When she looked in the mirror, she got that wistful misty-eyed look on her face and started to swish her skirt. It’s the universal sign from women of all ages (even Drag Queens!) that they love their dress. I was so relieved that I almost started crying in front of her. I held it together long enough to complete our transaction and present her with a card and a bottle of wine. (After all, she broke my record of time spent altering a dress – 25 hours!)

As I closed the front door, my head gently hit the wall and the tears fell and splashed on the floor at my feet. I’m certain they were part relief, part gratitude, part guilt, and part sadness. The latter because I’d really grown fond of the bride. After all, she wasn’t the Zilla; her dress was.

Before
After

Until next time Dear Readers, may all your bobbins be full and all your seams be straight.

Heather

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Mommie Dearest

With Mother’s Day occurring recently, I was curious, so I did a bit of googling. The first Mother’s Day occurred in 1914 and was originally suggested by the same lady who wrote “The Battle Hymn of the Republic” as a day of peace. I think motherhood and peace are comfortable bedfellows. After all, who would want their child to go to war?

If you’re like me, I always send my mom a HUGE bouquet of flowers for Mother’s Day as well as call her because I am a distance daughter. If we lived within a few hours of each other instead of a few states, then I would be spending the whole week with her.

In my line of work, of course, I deal with moms all the time. The question I get a lot is, “Who’s worse in terms of being a Zilla, the bride or the mother of the bride (MOB for short)?”

I would have to say the MOBs, hands down, are worse, especially if it’s their first or only child getting married or if they themselves didn’t get the wedding of their dreams. At this point, it literally becomes “war” between mother and daughter.

The Zillas are always a hot mess.

Joan* was so wound up that she criticized her daughter for choosing a strapless dress, as well not choosing to have me make sleeves or a bolero to cover her arms. Apparently, she thought her daughter’s arms were ugly with their skin condition and scarring and didn’t want that to mar the pictures. She actually made her daughter cry, and I had to ask her to leave so we could get on with the fitting.

Judy was so close to her youngest child that she displayed her jealousy in childish ways in front of me whenever the daughter talked about doing wedding things without her. I could tell that she was having a really hard time letting go.

Mary was a real piece of work–a MOB who decided to text me behind her daughter’s back with instructions for the dress. I finally had to tell Mary that I wasn’t going to make any changes to the initial alterations request unless it came from her daughter.

Kathleen asked me to make her a dress for her daughter’s goth Halloween wedding. During the time frame (we started the dress process 6 months in advance of the wedding), her husband filed for divorce. Originally, I wasn’t to make the dress sexy. After he pulled that stunt, however, Kathleen decided that she DID want the dress sexy after all, but she had a hard time conveying that to me. Finally, I sat her down and asked what was really wrong. Through several tissue boxes and a glass of wine, she finally confided in me.

Speaking of dresses, I made Alice a stunning dress for her daughter’s wedding, but, two weeks before said wedding, the daughter told Alice that my creation made her look too old and frumpy. Crushed, she went to Macy’s and grabbed three dresses from the rack and brought

them to me for a consult. Fortunately, there was one in the mix that was perfect. It didn’t need any alterations, so I didn’t charge her for my time because I really felt sorry for her.

However, I’ve also had super cool MOBs–like Barbara who brought champagne to share with everyone when her daughter picked up her dress from me.

Or like Terri, whose over-the-top ‘80s dress I redesigned for her daughter. We giggled through all fittings like we were old friends. I’m sure her daughter thought we were crazy.

Or like Patricia, who brought her sister AND all of the bridesmaids (7 of them!) to the fitting along with the bride and turned the whole afternoon into an amazing dress party (pre-Covid, of course).

Or like Nancy, the future mom-in-law, who came to all the wedding appointments (including all fittings) in place of the MOB because she was deceased. I was so glad to see that the bride and her “bonus mom” got along so well.

Or like Lily, who came to all her daughter’s fittings via Facetime because she was several states away.

There were a myriad of other moms whose warm relationships with their daughters showed in their fun interactions with each other during our fitting appointments. Their laughter was infectious, and I was happy to be included in their fun.

There are far more cool moms out there than Zillas, thank goodness. I guess the point is MOBs are human, and we all deal with major life changes in different ways. I try to be patient and positive with everyone. Sometimes I play therapist, and sometimes a little wine and chocolate and a few tissues help make life a little easier. In the end, I think every single MOB would agree that it’s worth it when that beautiful bride walks down the aisle and her mother, whether she’s a “cool mom” or a “Zilla,” forms tears of joy and happiness during her daughter’s glorious day.

Until next time Dear Readers, may all your bobbins be full and all your seams be straight.

Heather

*All names have been changed to protect the innocent or the extremely crabby.

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Happily Ever After

One of the joys of my job is being part of some very romantic stories. I always ask my brides where they met their sweeties, and a lot of the answers involve college, online dating services, friends, etc. Once in a while, I find a real princess story, and quite a few of those gems happen with, what we call in the industry, encore brides. A lot of these women are older and have grown families, but that’s part of what makes their stories so compelling.

Case in point…I will call her Marilyn. Marilyn’s fiancé is someone she had a very serious crush on in high school. Unfortunately, she was the shy type back then and never did anything about it. They still ran in the same friend circles peripherally in college, so they actually did have one date during that time. However, nothing came of it. After college, they went their separate ways, got married to different people, had children, and those children grew up and had children of their own. Eventually, both marriages came to an end: his wife died, and she divorced her husband.

Thirty years or so go by for Marilyn and her sweetie. One day while she was surfing Facebook, the thought of him invaded her mind, and she did a search for him. There were a lot of profiles with his name, but she managed to find and confirm his. She took a deep breath and friended him. Much to her surprise, his confirmation came back almost immediately, and he messaged her. They began a conversation that led quickly to dating, his admitting that he had a crush on her too way back when, and ended six months later with a marriage proposal.

Since he eloped with his first wife, they are doing the big white wedding this time for him. She chose a dress with a bohemian style yet elegant flare (they are both “aging hippies,” in her words) and will wear a floral headband in her long hair. All their children and grandchildren will be bridesmaids and groomsmen, flower girls and ring bearers in tones beginning with lilac for the youngest grandbabies and graduating up to dark purple for the eldest of their children. This is one family photo I can’t wait to see.

The best part of this story is them realizing that they had to go through all those years of life lessons to be ready for the happiness they would have with one another. Neither regrets their first marriage, but both are grateful that they’ve found one another again.

My takeaway? It’s never too late to begin again. It’s never too late for a happily ever after.

Until next time Dear Readers, may all your bobbins be full and all your seams be straight.

Heather

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To Pink or Not to Pink?

May I be brutally honest for a minute? I always groan inwardly when a poor bridesmaid comes to me for alterations on a pink dress. Even in the movies, where they have the best make-up artists and the best costume designers, etc., a pink dress has never looked fabulous on any bridesmaid–whether it was in 27 Dresses,Bridesmaids, or Steel Magnolias, with bride Shelby and her two shades of pink, “blush” and “bashful.” (Boy, I just dated myself. Lol!)

Please, don’t get me wrong. I do love the color pink. It just has a bigger tendency to look “muddy” against the skin since it washes out the wearer, which is probably why I have not seen anyone yet that looks good in any shade of pink that a bride has picked.  I am glad, however, that brides have followed the trend of letting their bridesmaids pick the style that best suits their figures in recent years. That at least makes wearing this required dress a bit more palatable. Still, their color shade choices sometimes leave a great deal to be desired, so about the only thing that a bridesmaid can do if she likes the style of dress is dye the dress black afterwards.

To address this, let’s talk about color theory for a minute. If you line up a random bunch of people from lightest skin shade to darkest, you will notice that the undertone of each skin color is different. Some people, like myself, have a blue undertone to their skin. These folks are classified as either “Summer” or “Winter.” In other words, they look good in colors with a very strong blue undertone. “Winters“ are the easiest to identify because they look absolutely fabulous in jewel tones. The other set of folks have a yellow undertone to their skin. These people look good in fall or warm colors; hence, their classification is either “Spring” or “Autumn.”

So, what’s a bride to do? Well…aside from hiring a color theorist to line all your bridesmaids up and figure things out, you can do one simple test. You will need two fabric swatches, one orange and one royal blue. When you hold each fabric just under the chin of your bridesmaid, you will find that one of those colors will make her skin glow. If the orange makes her glow, then she has yellow undertones in her skin, and if the blue makes her glow, then she has blue undertones in her skin. If you luck out and everybody is one type, fantastic! That makes your job of choosing a color and a shade easier. If you have a mix, like most people do, then you should consider looking at neutral shades if you want your bridesmaids to be able to wear the dress again–or, at a minimum, not to look like they’re ghost extras in a bad horror movie.

By now, you might be wondering what my favorite choices are. Most of the dresses that have come through my studio that looked good–or, at a minimum, decent–on the bridesmaids are navy, darker shades of green, red (believe it or not), burgundy, and taupe. If you still have your heart set on pink, however, please use the color guide link I’ve included below. 

Your friends love you enough to be part of your special day. Love them back by choosing a color and shade that compliments them.

Check this blog out for a very easy to understand detailed explanation as well as color samples: https://www.simplifiedwardrobe.com/blog/how-to-do-a-color-self-analysis

Until next time dear reader!

Heather 

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Something to Warm Your Heart on a Cold Day

If you’re local, you know that this morning we actually woke up for the first time since last year with frost on our windshields, frozen dew on our lawns, and a shiver in our bones. Winter finally came to Houston. If you’re NOT local, know that this is a rare event indeed, a literal cold splash in the face the inform us that the year is about over.

True, I started the day with a blanket to warm my body and a cup of hot cocoa to warm the insides, but something recently happened that actually warmed my soul. You see, I’m very happy having two main clienteles – brides and Santas – but rarely do the two mix. Until now.

One of my clients is a wonderful gentleman named Adam Sinclair-Greenwood, the official man behind the Robin Hood Experience in Nottingham, England. For years, he has played the leader of his Band of Merry Men at the Experience in the shadow of Nottingham Castle. He may not rob from the rich, but he’ll happily take people’s admission fees and give them an entertaining time they’ll never forget.

Well, back in 2009, Robin met his Maid Marian in the form of Sarah, whom he met in The Netherlands at Elf Fantasy Fair Haarzuilens. In 2018, she became the woman he was determined to marry, and they were happily betrothed. Unfortunately, Sarah was not allowed back into England, as she was originally from The Netherlands and had a US passport. Adam and Sarah – just like the lovers in the Robin Hood tales – decided it was worth it to face the obstacles and overcome them together.

The fairy tale wedding finally happened just last month. Adam flew out to The Netherlands and – with Sarah’s two daughters – celebrated his wedding to the love of his life. They livestreamed the ceremony so that family and friends all over the world could enjoy the nuptials.

So, what’s my part in this? Well, as the wedding date neared, Adam and Sarah contacted me and asked if I could create their wedding costumes that would befit the Lord of Locksley and his beautiful bride. While I’m always proud of my work, I was especially heartwarmed at the “Robin and Marian in a Winter Wonderland” motif. Subjectively, it was quite the experience to craft two custom-made outfits when both of the clients were in different parts of the world from each other and me. Objectively, they were one beautiful couple. I hesitate to say this because I obviously can’t do it for ALL my clients, but I did make sure my wedding gift was a little cash to help them defray the wedding and travel expenses.

The fairy tale, unfortunately, is not quite at its happy ending, however. Sarah needs a visa to get back into England so she can take up residence with her husband. Until then, her Robin will just have to keep catching a ferry back and forth until the bureaucracy is untangled.

They’ve set up a crowdsource account to help them with the accompanying costs, and are on the lookout for any attorneys with immigration experience to help them at a reduced or pro bono rate. To learn more about them and their story, check out this newspaper article:

https://www.nottinghampost.com/news/local-news/robin-hood-marries-maid-marion-4715769

It’s so rare that I get to be part of a real life happily ever after, and this is one time that will stick with me for many, many holidays to come. What about you? Do YOU have any special holiday wedding memories you want to share? Sound off in the comments below!

Until next time,

Heather

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Deck the Halls… of FAME!

I’m so excited to let you know the latest news, dear readers. I have been awarded a special recognition from an awesome organization that I simply must tell you about!

As many of you know, I have been privileged to have won for the past three years the Best of Weddings award for The Knot, a multinational organization that showcases the best businesses in the bridal industry.

According to their website, “The Knot Best of Weddings is an annual award that recognizes the top wedding vendors across the country. This prestigious honor represents the highest rated vendors on The Knot who are trusted, dependable, and deliver quality service.” With such high standards, I was blown away that for three years in a row I was chosen for this august recognition.

Then 2020 hit, and it hit my industry hard. I was ready to be content with just the three awards. But what to my wondering eyes should appear but a fourth – yes, fourth – Best of Weddings award! That’s right; for four years in a row, The Singing Seamstress has earned the coveted award for being in the top of my field.

But the holiday joy doesn’t end there. You see, The Knot has a tradition: any business winning four Best of Weddings awards is permanently inducted into their prestigious Hall of Fame!

(Now, considering I started The Singing Seamstress in December of 2015 – meaning I won the award four out of the five years I’ve been in business – is nothing to sneeze at. But I’d be remiss in pointing out that the first year’s worth of awards was given out less than twelve months after I’d started. From December of 2015 to November of 2016, I was getting the business up and running, and spent the year creating two dresses and altering fourteen (sigh, those were the days), meaning there was no possible way I could’ve gotten enough reviews in that time to earn an award that first year. I’m just pointing this out for the same reason why a chewing gum company might try to justify only getting four out of five dentists to endorse their product. But anyhoo…)

In this COVID era, there may be no red carpet or paparazzi to mark the event, but all I need to make this complete, dear reader, is to share it with YOU. Thank you so much to all of you who gave me such high ratings – more than 100 five-star reviews – that enabled me to enjoy this life-changing event.

Now, as much as I’m enjoying the limelight of the moment, I don’t want to hog it: so, let me know what special things YOU’VE been recognized for this year!

Until next time,

Heather

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12 Things I Love About You

November is the month of Thanksgiving in the United States, but with all that’s been going on in 2020 one might wonder what there is to be thankful for. As a global community, we are dealing with a pandemic the likes of which we haven’t seen in 100 years. We are all tired of the restrictions and want our “normal” lives back. The US is dealing with a highly charged political environment that rivals the Civil Rights movement of the 1960s. With just about everything being politicized, it literally has come down to brother versus brother, not unlike the Civil War. Many people have lost friends and family members to the pandemic or to politics. Many more people have lost jobs and homes to the pandemic recession.

It’s too easy to let the negatives overwhelm us and to cave into the pressure. Sometimes, when the going gets tough, the tough get apathetic. Or aggressive. Or depressed. At times like this, it’s good to hear a little positivity. So, in light of all the bad things I listed above, here are some wonderful things I’m thankful for below:

  1. I am thankful for the folks on the front lines – the doctors and nurses, the law enforcement, paramedics and firefighters, the grocery store clerks and the clean-up crews. Without you, we’d be adrift. Thank you for all you do!
  2. I am thankful for the quarantine. It was a scary thing, but it brought into focus a number of things that were eye-opening. Like how much we humans have impacted our home, planet Earth. It helped grow the friendship between myself and my mother – we spoke on the phone nearly every day the lockdown months. It helped blossom the relationship with my husband, and we truly got to see that we have one another’s back.
  3. I am thankful for the quilt shop owner in League City who opened her shop to me during the quarantine so I could get nearly 300 yards of cotton that I used to make two-thousand masks for first responders in those early days when PPE was disorganized and scarce. When you’re shopping, consider Park Avenue Yarns!
  4. I am thankful that my husband remained employed. He works for a pharmaceutical company and lost his overtime, but we still have healthcare.
  5. I am thankful for my brides. In spite of the craziness, you showed hope for the future and gratitude that I opened my doors to you and greeted you with masked-and-gloved enthusiasm.
  6. I am thankful for my Santas and Mrs. Clauses. You are still out there in whatever way you feel safe because you know we need you.
  7. I am thankful for my friends who gently reminded me that I don’t suck when I start to get in my own head and get overwhelmed.
  8. I am thankful for my Mom. We grew a lot together this year.
  9. I am thankful for the seven years I got with my mother-in-law and grateful that she didn’t have to witness 2020 (see my previous blog “Remembering Jayne”).
  10. I am thankful for my husband. During this stressful time, he has risen to the occasion – not to become my knight in shining armor, but to be a warrior by my side.
  11. I am thankful for women’s suffrage. I’m still incensed that we had to fight for it, but eternally grateful to those who literally put their bodies on the line to get the 19th Amendment on the books. I exercise my right with pride as often as I am presented opportunities.
  12. I am thankful for all my friends from a different background than I am. I am grateful for all their lessons and am constantly amazed that with all those different perspectives that we can even communicate at all. It gives me hope – a hope that there is a life beyond fear, if we find our commonalities and appreciate the differences that bring spice to life.

Finally, I am thankful for you, dear reader. As we go into a very different holiday season this year, more than anything, I wish you serenity. May you and your family stay safe.

But enough from me; what are you thankful for?

Until next time, much love and virtual hugs,

Heather