Bridesmaid dressness

[danaeris]

So now that my finances are in nasty nasty shape, I'm searching for a bridesmaid dress that won't break the already broken bank.

Someone pointed out this place:
http://www.millybridal.com/store/comersus_index.asp

They'll make a custom gown for as little as $50 plus shipping from China.

But that got me wondering about ethical issues. So I read this:
http://www.youandyourwedding.co.uk/index.php/chatroom/topic/85594

Anyone think a lot about fair trade, or ethical purchasing, have opinions on this sort of thing?

Comments

[weegoddess.livejournal.com]

I love the way some of the You&YourWedding commentors think that because Milly's shows a clean factory with well-kempt workers that they must be a legitimate company. I also notice that there is nothing the big promises Milly's gives that imply that the workers are treated well. In fact, reading between the lines suggests that the workers don't matter at all; only the customer is important and they'll do anything to please the customer.

If you're looking for actual research on this issue, there's a lot here:

http://www.consciouselegance.com/index.php?page=8

All the links should be live and accurate; they were last I checked.

And good luck with the dress - I personally would suggest that you check in Oxfam or something of the US equivalent or a consignment store (coraline has super-power clothing-foo and could help you greatly here). Depending on how much time you have, you could find a fabulous dress that could be fit to you or the material worked into something else.

[weegoddess.livejournal.com]

BTW, I took the opportunity to comment in the forum -- thanks for the pointer. (I already had an account but hadn't used it lately). These women need to have a bit more info. I'm assuming that most folks will have already found their gowns at this point in the season and so I don't expect much interest to come from my posting, but clearly people need to be told of what's happening. It's the only way such practices will stop.

[90pointmetaphor.livejournal.com]

Have you thought about either borrowing a dress or buying one second hand? This may take more effort to accomplish, but would be cheap and wouldn't involve using new materials.

[friend-of-tofu.livejournal.com]

ariiadne recommended www.offbeatbride.com to me - maybe they might be a useful resource for you on this topic also? I concur with the idea of a second-hand/DIY-altered dress as that's what pretty much all my smart outfits have always been! Thrift shops & selling communities are your friends.

[shellyquade.livejournal.com]

I can't comment on bridal stuff specifically, but I know for formal dresses getting one second hand is VERY worth looking into, but you're really not guarenteed to be able to get anything that way. [this is awful, but it's worth the trip to the Value Village in rich areas like Unionville - people with more money throw away a lot more in almost new or brand new condition - my best friend always gets new appliances like bread makers there]

The other option is to look around (say, the pagan community) for someone who sews well enough to make the dress, but maybe isn't an offical business or for whatever reason isn't going to charge you what it's actually worth. I know that sounds a lot like exploitation too - but there are people who will under-charge for their labour BECAUSE they're not actually working in a sweat shop or anything, since 100% of what you do pay goes to them, and no cut to an employer. If you're really on the used fabric idea - you can get someone to cut a new dress out of one really big or a couple of other dresses bought second hand. A lot of DIY clothing looks terrible because people don't know how to sew - but if you just use old material like it's new cloth, and lay a pattern on and cut it normally - it'd be pretty easy to make whatever style suits you out of older fabric for a dress-maker friend.

I also think it's good to look into - but ultimately you do what you have to do to like, not ruin a wedding.