$99 wedding dresses – you may get what you pay for

It’s happened twice.  The first one I thought was a fluke.  The bride called me into her dressing room to tell me her zipper had come unzipped.  Upon closer inspection, I noticed that her zipper had come out completely.  The dress fit well, but was not too tight – but I thought perhaps she had strained it somehow by trying it on several times or something that would’ve caused wear.

With only moments to spare before the opening chord of “Here Comes the Bride”, I quickly produced some white thread and a long needle to sew her back into her dress.  Thankfully she didn’t have any reason to need her zipper for the remainder of the evening .  I had to give her groom instruction on how to get her out of it.  (His choices were scissors or rip the threads – I never asked which method prevailed; although I have a sneaking suspicion…)

The second time it happened was a very thin bride who was losing the shoulder stitching on a tank dress (not typically a high-stress area of clothing construction).  We discovered it as she was getting ready to walk down the aisle.  I suggested that she not breathe until she came back down the aisle and we would take care of it then.  Apparently she breathed, because when she got back to me – they were barely holding on.

Once again, I came armed with my white thread and needle and took to stitching her back into her dress.  There are several wedding pictures with me in them sewing her back in.

My first theory was that the manufacturer used a special thread that dissolved when heated up to body temperature, but that didn’t make much sense.  So, the only thing I can come up with is you just may get what you pay for.  As great as the $99 rack looks when planning a wedding on a budget – keep looking.  It may cause more grief that it’s worth.