The Dress Search Part Two

Disheartened after my first attempt to find a dress, I wasn't sure what to do or where to go next.

I tried looking up some local places online. But naturally only bad reviews were up.

I tried eBay. Nothing second hand jumped out at me. There were a ton from dressmakers in China who could emulate many of the popular styles, but I was unsure of spending that kind of money without getting to try the dress on first (Although I had heard many good experiences about them).

I considered going with a white/sliver Qi-pao, like this. However, I have a TON of dresses this style. Even though it would look great on me, I didn't think it would be "special" enough. It would be on my "Plan B" list.

So then I remembered the suggestion about hitting consignment stores. I made a note of a few and got their hours for the upcoming weekend.

Being the patient kind of person that I am, I decided to go to one the Amvet's near my home right then and there. They only had 3 dresses. Two looked like 1981 called and the other way too large.

I checked the time real quick and decided to make a run for their other location before they closed. As I was walking in, I noticed my maternal grandmother's car. I spotted a whole slew of wedding dresses, but wanted to make sure I said hello to my gram first.

There had to be about 30-40 brand new wedding dresses on display. Most of them were much to large for me. I managed to find one, labeled size 8, that look like it might fit.

The intercom blared out that there was 10 minutes left until close. I hurried to a dressing room and tried it on. I needed some help zipping it up and when my gram caught up to us, her eyes lit up and biasly exclaimed that I looked like Audrey Hepburn =) She then handed me the money to buy it, I just had to cover the tax and pay for it to be cleaned of the shopping cart wheel stain.

So for $40 (plus tax) and the cleaning ($35) and pressing ($20), I got a brand new Christina Wu wedding dress. I never needed to alter it, because it could not have fit any more perfect than it already did.

One of the harder parts was over.

Here are a few links for you:

preownedweddingdresses.com
budgetbridalgowns.com
woreitonce.com
weddingdressmarket.com
oncewed.com
eBay.com

Also, check your local second hand stores or consider a non-traditional wedding dress - Maybe a bridesmaid's dress or prom gown. The dress my mother wore was not a wedding one. It was a blue one, because that is her favourite colour! It was my father who wore white!