It's a little bit like being on drugs, this dress-buying business. As the responses poured in from designers and seamstresses, Ibrahim and I became excited. They directed us to dancesportinfo.com, their Instagram pages, or sent photos through email. We sent out a packet with my design description, photos, and a sketch to our top contenders.
Our #1 choice then dropped the bomb and said she couldn't do it, one reason being finding the materials I wanted. But she recommended her friend in NY. We were disappointed - she seemed like the best seamstress and probably the least expensive. Nonetheless, we followed up with our other candidates who still maintained interest and sent our ideas to the NY friend. We inquired about prices, fabrics, and stones used. Then we narrowed our choices down to a Russian designer in England, the NY designer, and two more potential Russian designers in Russia. I also sent an inquiry to a woman in Portugal someone recommended.
Sometimes messages come in immediately, giving you a rush of dopamine. But then some of the designers take days to get back to you, which makes me lose confidence in communicating with them. Of the people we've talked to, the prices were nearly comparable to the woman I first started working with in Utah (after she gave me her "deeply discounted" price). I was more willing to work with them over her, however, because they were less pushy and didn't give me any hard sells. I'm still waiting to hear from the Portuguese woman and then I will make my decision. I'm hoping she'll work, but if not, it looks like I'll be forking over about 1k for a dress.
No comments:
Post a Comment