bride's maids dresses

first of all, i would like to thank the girls (and kelvin... hehe!) for coming last sunday to demetrios to see THE dress in person and, of course, to browse around for your dresses. i know that it's the very first time that all of us (except nicole) went together, so it was a little bit "disorganized" and overwhelming. so many colors and shades, different types of fabrics, a variety of silhouettes, sleeves or lack thereof, and even necklines to choose from. nonetheless, i thought that it was still a very good start coz it gave me an even greater confirmation of what look and theme i really want to go for.
anyhoo, for some reason, by the end of the afternoon, we ended up steering to the direction of the long a-line brown dress with the ribbon on natural waist. i'm aware that melody, the consultant, had a huge influence on that, and not that it really matters anyway because it's not like we concluded that that was our final decision, BUT to be honest, it really was FAR from what i envisioned what your dresses would look like. i know i've openly expressed to pretty much all of you that i wasn't contented with that particular dress, but since monica wrote me an email asking me what i truly prefer in terms of your dresses, i, of course, wrote her back a more detailed - maybe even way detailed - description of my preferences. and since it was already brought up, i figured, i might as well post it on here, so i don't have to keep repeating and explaining it again to each one of you coz trust me, it's just TOO LONG to be saying over and over again.
so here you go... ready?

Date: Wed, 21 Feb 2007 21:51:40 -0800 (PST)
From: "Sheila R"
Subject: RE: Found on TheKnot.com
To: "Monica Hang"

Hi Mon! wow! you actually had the time to email me... hehehe...

SHORT! from the very beginning, I've always emphasized to you, ladies, that I prefer tea-length or cocktail dresses for my bridesmaids... remember how my theme is contemporary? minimalist but bold, vogue but classy, playful but feminine... i think maybe that's one of the reasons why even though we tried so hard to look for the princess-style wedding dresses, i never seemed to be contented, like i was pushing myself to like it... and you noticed that even those princess-style looking dresses that i've been eyeing, i still tend to choose those minimalist styles, the not-so-ornate ones, because it really wasn't "me." you know how i am... i always like to be a little bit different. just a little bit. hehehe...

honestly, out of all the dresses you tried on sunday, it was sharon's blue dress that i liked the best. (sorry, i'm gonna have to disagree with you on that one. hahah!) i know the price tag is too high, but in terms of fabric and style, that's the look that i'm looking for. i really like taffeta (the fabric) as opposed to satin or chiffon. taffeta gives that rough metallic look that makes a dress dramatic and stands out, especially when it's in a dark rich color, like chocolate or dark blue like that dress. (but i don't really like taffetta on wedding gowns coz taffeta doesn't look too good in white shades.) satin is the most common fabric they use on bridal dresses, but notice how you can wear a satin blouse as an "everyday" look. the same applies to chiffon dresses; like, you can wear a chiffon dress for church without looking overdressed. but a taffeta dress? "it's something that you can wear ONLY on very special occasions or at a fancy evening party," as valerie put it in words for me. remember our most favorite bubble dress with the big ribbon from david's bridal? that's a taffeta fabric, and look at how great and special it looks even in photos.

and in terms of style, i'm really going for the vintage vogue look, the tailored look but still so lady-like without being uptight... like, imagine if you were going to an evening party back in 1950s, and audrey hepburn is attending, what would you wear? also, for the alterations, i've heard that it's more expensive to re-hem if the dress is long because almost always, long dresses will have to be hemmed, especially for your height. i think the only tall one is valerie, but you, sharon, nicole, especially sheryll, will for sure need to have alterations done because your dress will be sweeping the floor. but for cocktail dresses, even if it's a little bit longer than it's supposed to, you can (almost) ignore. plus, i think the main reason why the dresses were so long on you, sheryll, and sharon anyway was because it was size 10, so there were lots of unfilled materials that are just left hanging. size 10 is like what? at least 6 sizes bigger (smallest is usually size 4) than you're supposed to wear.

anyway, i'm just trying to explain more in detail the look that i'm going for. i'm not saying that i want you guys to pick and purchase the blue dress from demetrios. mon, i understand the whole realistic financial situation (i think you forgot you're talking to Sheila here!), which is exactly why i am not letting any of you buy that long brown blah dress, alright!? haha! seriously, i know it's cheaper than the blue dress, but that's still $180+ worth of closet crap because do you seriously think you can wear that anywhere else after the wedding??? you see, i want you guys to buy something that you can actually wear again at another fancy evening party after wearing it at my wedding. and please, i adore Melody, my bridal dress consultant, to death, but i don't necessarily believe in what she's saying that my bridesmaids can't be too playful with their dresses because the bride has to be THE focus. i am strongly convinced that my bridesmaids - my best girl friends - do NOT have to dress down and look plain and blah, so i - the bride - can stand out more. i'm the only one who's wearing the long white gown. even if you put me at the back corner of the venue, i think it's still pretty hard to take the focus out of me. i want you, girls, to wear something you feel you look beautiful, glamorous, and confident in, not just uniform-looking decors who stand in line next to me... are we getting this??? haha!

but yes, i've been sending photos of different dresses to you just to show you examples of the look i'm going for, but it doesn't mean i am making you buy the same exact overpriced dresses. i think the only difference in pricing of the dresses comes from the brand and/or where you buy it from. (demetrios is the higher-end version of david's bridal, but they have so many similar dresses.) in fact, valerie and i found these dresses at david's bridal, and they're about $100 cheaper than the dresses from demetrios, and with the style and length of them, i really believe that you can get away from doing any alterations. also, if you notice, i keep emphasizing that i don't even really care if you wear different styles as long as it's the same fabric and color. click this link (http://www.davidsbridal.com/images/makeamatch/catalog_page01.jpg), and you'll get what i'm talking about. uniform variety looks good.

and of course, i wrote the last seven paragraphs just blabbing about tafetta and cocktail dresses. muhahaha! enough!

okay, get back to your studying, and i'll chat with you soon!!!

much more love,
sheila-la-la