Project: Custom Prom Dress

The Search for the Perfect Prom Dress

Besides April fools and Easter Sunday, April is the month known for Prom!! In the prior months, it meant shopping, shopping, and more shopping. Girls would search high and low for the prom dresses of their dreams.

Many will purchase their dresses thru huge retailers such as Macy’s, Windsor, David’s Bridal, and even Amazon. However, others get custom made prom dresses.

As a designer, I often receive several requests for custom made prom dresses. With my heavy workload as a freelance designer, blogger, mother, and dance director, I can only accept a few of these requests.

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Dedicated Time

By limiting the requests, I am able to design and give my clients the dresses/gowns that they dream of. Not only that, it allows me time to dedicate everything to their dresses.

With that said, I’m so excited to show you all what I’ve been working on for the past couple weeks.

My client, Pan had reached out to me for a custom made dress. Due to her petite figure, she was unable to find a dress to fit her without paying a heavy sum for alterations.

She wanted a dress made to fit her and hug her in all the right curves, which is why she reached out to me. After assessing all the projects I had going on, I agreed to take on her request.

Budgets & Frills

Before getting to all the fun stuff like designing, we had to talk about all the uncomfortable things, such as budgets. Having a budget will allow us to determine what kind of materials and items we can get for her dress. Therefore, it was essential to get that part nailed down first.

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After assessing the budget, we then moved on to the fun things. We talked about what colors, silhouette, and aesthetics that she wanted. Once we got those details out of the way, I started to design.

If you would like to read more about my creative process, let me know in the comments below and I’ll write about it in a later post.

I bounced ideas back and forth with her about the dress.  Once we settled on the final design, I then began creating the prom dress for her.

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Transparency is Key

It is crucial to have a transparent and honest relationship with your client. The reason is that you are making them a one of a kind prom dress. Not only that, they don’t see the whole process until the final reveal of the dress. Therefore, it is essential to be as clear as possible and have a final fitting.

During the final fitting, you are accomplishing various goals. Such as fitting her in the actual dress (of course it isn’t completed yet). Also, talking about what it would look like once it is completed. As well as getting her feedback on what she likes about the dress so far. The final fitting will also allow you and your client to make any changes to the dress before the dress is finished.

After finishing the prom dress, Pan came to pick up her dress. My favorite moments are when she sees her dress for the first time and tries it on. The joy in her face makes me feel accomplished as a designer. The accomplishment that I helped someone achieve their dress goals. Nothing is more satisfying than this.

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One of a Kind Prom Dress

More and more girls are buying custom made dresses because you can customize it. Especially for people who are petite, plus size, or have different body shapes.

The usual sizing for dresses are changing now, therefore there is a movement towards custom made dresses. Not only that, there’s a huge movement to shopping local. This is another reason it attributes to the uprise of custom made dresses.

Custom made dresses are great as they are made to fit the body shape of one particular person. In working with a designer, you get the dress of your dreams, a one of a kind, and have it fit you like a glove.

As a designer, there is nothing more rewarding than helping someone create, design, and breathe life into a dress.

Photoshoot Bliss

It was such a blast working with Pan, we even went out and did a photoshoot! I want to thank the people who helped me with the photoshoot!

Model: Pan

Contact me if you like Pan to model for you!

Makeup Artist : Linda Lee

IG: Cosmelinda

Photographer: My Hubby

Below are some photos of Pan in her dress. Enjoy!!