Why a $16,000 costs $16,000.

Never been married, never went to prom - never tried on a gown. Or anything that costs over $2,000. 
Research days are always a hit or miss. Sometimes people like to talk, sometimes they know they're wasting their time. It's also a mode you have to get into. Prepare your head for sucking in so much information while looking all calm, collected and sometimes, rich. Fun times. 

Giorgio Armani

Not sure why I picked some of the brands that I picked - it mostly out of intuition. 

Paneled Dress - Polyamide, Triacetate, Polyester and Spandex.

$3,775. Holt Renfrew.

Rather odd dress... Took it off the rack because it was interesting. The mixture of fabrics made me think that it might have been draped because different fabrics do different things. I've never tried on a dress that had spandex and still so much attention to fit (because people mostly rely on the stretch to do the job). 

The one thing I paid most attention to during this trip was seaming. Why the design lines were where they were. Did it help the fit - or just complimented the body? This dress in particular was just, odd. 

Velvet Dress - Viscose, Cupro, Spandex.

$5,545. Holt Renfrew.

Seaming detail of a dress. Most probably flat patterned, but still fun to look at.

Also, expected a dress with more seaming to cost more but not in this case. 

Unknown fibres, but most probably wool, with leather trims.

$4,675. Holt Renfrew.

Coat price is also lower than velvet dress? Armani taking full advantage of their popular velvet dresses. 

Some cool detailing - tie-belt for coat is held in the back with hidden belt loops. Won't look awkward without the belt, won't lose the belt when wearing it!

Dolce & Gabbana

Lucky stars in my favour, no attendee at the Dolce & Gabanna boutique. So I grabbed anything and everything that was to my fancy. Playing dress up to make research fun. 

Wool, Spandex.

$2,545. Holt Renfrew.

After draping the strapless bodice to fit like a second skin on Meredith, I am now a believe that no out-of-the-world fit can be created from flat pattern drafting. Even with multiple fittings - there is nothing better than sculpting the fabric straight off the body. 

I look at these design lines and I think that we usually would pick one or the other, instead of combining the bust dart, cross dart and empire seaming. All I can say is - I have a rough time finding fitted dresses that can accommodate my ta-ta's. This  dress did it so effortlessly. 

$16,000. Holt Renfrew.

Cannot begin to explain the weight of this dress. It's one of those you pick the hem off the ground, hold it up to your waist, and still have enough layers to cover the legs. 

Lightly ruched sweetheart bodice. The same tulle polka dot fabric was gathered and attached to the bottom (notice the sudden explosion of polka dots!)

The inside construction was more beautiful than the outside. Full corset, with boning through out, even at the bust. My thoughts is that part of it is to keep the dress on the body, and also to hold the dress up. 
Elastic at waist - probably to relieve the pressure of the layers. Gives the wearer more room to move and breathe. Also covering up the ends of the boning ever so slightly, so it won't jab straight into the tummy. 

Quilted cups for added comfort? Probably so. 

A thin ribbon sewn in between each cup to hold up the dress when on hanger. Even retail merchandising is thought about when constructing. 

Silky slip skirt is part of the dress, but completely removable. Did not notice that the dress was not lined (but makes so much sense now). 

My favourite was the closure. Snaps were used waist down so that the skirt would not have a zipper interfering it. A separating zipper was used waist up. 

This is definitely a dress that needs help to get on (already paying $16,000, and still need to cash out more to get someone to zip the dress up...).

First thought when one thinks about draping as a method of drafting : flow-y dresses and cowls and things that run down the red carpet that we cannot figure out. 

So much more than that. 

Delpozo

Saw it, had to try it on. 

 Wool, Polyamide, Viscose, Sapndex.

$2,700. Nordstrom.

More views here.

Delpozo is a brand I've always admired for the intricate details, handwork and in some designs, the construction. This piece was so attractive on the hanger and I wanted to try it on, simply because. 

Up close, I notice this - the way the bust sculpts out to take the shape of the body. Can't decide if this is an ironing technique or a construction technique (the way the darts are sewn? The way it was drafted?). What a beauty!

Zac Posen

Did my homework and nowhere said they offered Zac Posen dresses, except maybe his bridal line (in Langley). This is probably one of the reasons I was on the search for dresses with lots of seaming - anything that was close to what Zac Posen's dresses would carry. 
Big surprise at Nordstrom! About 10 Zac Posen dresses. Not a single one in a size 6. The store orders one of every piece, and gets alteration to do the rest of the work. 

 Silk outer, Polyester lining.

$1,990. Nordstrom.

More views here.

All I could think about was how great this dress would be for a wedding weekend. Except you don't spend $2,000 on a dress for someone else's wedding. You save it for your own. (Or you pay your for your education).

This dress is pretty close to the 1/2 scale replica I'm working on. Pleats are made from seaming on the bodice. In this case, most of the seaming are mostly darts. Pleats plus circle skirt and a stiff silk fabric makes a beautiful skirt that stands on its own. No tulle under to help the pouf. 

The darts and seaming are proportional on either sides - but the size and depth of each of it is different. Pleats are commonly made the same size throughout, but with so much volume in the skirt - I think it gave a gathering effect, but in a neater and more pleasing way. 

Silk.

$4,990. Nordstrom.

Sales Associate : Is this for your wedding?

This is another dress that was not made to be put on alone. The fit was exquisite and because there wasn't a ton of layers on it, it was not extremely heavy. 

You can tell that a lot of thought went into making a dress like this. Each seam was an added design line and also a fit element. The bodice of this dress had raw seams on the outside - which leads me to think that some pieces in here were cut on a bias (or there's a tool out there that makes raw seams not fray).

Pleats for the bottom of the gown gave it that much more fullness and for me, created so much more elegance and drama. 

Like most ZP designs, design lines went from the front all through the side and back. 

Little details on the dress - an added panel on the inside of the low neckline. The hem of the skirt is done up exactly the way we have been taught - with so much more fabric involved. Some sort of fusing was definitely sewn into it as well, to help give the skirt more shape. 

Now calculating how many years of school these dresses can pay for. Fitting room lighting are also the worse.