To Buy My Wedding Dress Abroad or Not To Buy Abroad..That Is The Question!!!

31st December 2011 was the last time I wrote a blog and like most New Year resolutions I vowed to keep the momentum going. I thought I would unleash all my experience on being a dressmaker, tell the tales of antidotes and generally talk about business! So much for New Year’s resolutions!!!!!! It’s now July, seven months on and I’ve only just got the right mind-set to put pen to paper, so to speak!!!! I’m now in the middle of the bridal season and like most people, brides are looking for “the bargain” particularly with the present economic situation. So this year I seem to have a number of ladies coming to me with dresses bought from China telling me about their experience of buying abroad and what a deal they got. However I am yet to have seen a real bargain because when they bring them to me to alter, the conversation goes……”I bought this from abroad for £.... which was really good BUT is doesn’t fit properly around the bust…. Or….it doesn’t fit it’s too small” etc. So are they really happy hmmmm not really the conversation is usually tinged with panic and HELP can you make it fit with magic!! So I wonder if it’s really worth the hassle and stress of finding a “so called bargain” particularly a wedding dress because if it doesn’t fit and it needs altering you have to pay market price for a dressmaker like me to correct it and sometimes the alterations are major. I know why people do the whole Ebay thing and I really understand it but in the long run isn’t it a bit of a false economy??!! Wouldn’t it be best to find something in the sale and see what you are buying or look at other ways of stretching your budget for a dress that you want rather than gamble on buying something practically blind and getting upset when it gets here! I know a high proportion of wedding dresses come from abroad (I won’t pick on China) and a lot are good but I am speaking from the brides that I see. So my advice is: You Never Get Something For Nothing!!!! Way up the cost of buying abroad and factor in any changes you may have to make on it. The usual suspects are the bust doesn’t fit, it doesn’t do up at the back, and the length is too long. Find out if you are able to return it if there are any serious problems Possibly have a plan B, just in case!