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Good luck retreadbride! I hope you are able to find the dress of your dreams (and in your budget!).
In my ongoing quest to find the perfect dress I felt a pilgrimage to that altar of TV consumerism, Kleinfeld Bridal, was called for. So we made an appointment, and off we went. For 3:30 on a Thursday afternoon, the place was pretty busy, and after watching some of the familiar faces from TV schmoozing with family in the waiting area, we met our bridal consultant, Ingrid, and off we went.
Ingrid’s room was significantly smaller than the ones you see on TV, but there was enough space for MM and I to talk to her and try on dresses. I made it perfectly clear what I wanted; form-fitting, show off my figure, no A-Line, and most importantly; something that I could actually try on, not “examples” of dresses that might look good on me.
Ingrid pointed out that her samples were mainly size 10’s, and that despite my being an 18 she was sure that with my narrow waist I could fit into that in some fashion. My waist is only narrow in comparison to my bust, and I told her that as a 16-18 in street clothes my chances of fitting into a 10 were non-existent. She then, of course, asked the magic question; what was our budget for the dress?
MM told her $10,000, but that I was considering a separate dress for our welcome party event the night before the wedding, too. Ingrid then asked if the budget was firm, as she had a couple of ideas that she thought would look great on me, but were a little pricier.
MM told her that he was flexible, but when I reminded her that I was only interested in dresses that had samples I could try on, she dissembled a bit, and then admitted that there were no larger sizes to sample in those pricier dresses. I guess they don’t expect a plus size woman to spend more than $10,000.
After a bit more discussion, Ingrid went to pull some dresses. She came back with three dresses, all Pnina Tornai. The first one I tried was a beautiful beaded crystal fabric in a mermaid design (at $8400), that looked good, but simply had the wrong neckline and couldn’t be modified due to the beaded fabric (straight across necklines in strapless give me the giant “uniboob” look I hate).
The next dress, also a Pnina, just didn’t look as good, and the third was in far too small a size. Ingrid then took us to a small storeroom and told us to pull some dresses that we thought would work. There were about 40 plus size dress in this space, which I presume was the higher-end plus size closet. Note: all these dresses were labeled BG- which I think meant big girl- jeez- couldn’t they think of something else?
We pulled our selections and went back to the changing room. This dress was the best of the bunch http://digitalperf.com/albums/userpics/10001/normal_P1.jpg It really did a good job of accentuating my figure and had excellent structure in the bodice of the dress, much better than any other dress I have tried on. It had two problems, however. First, for $7300, the Swarovski crystal appliqué at the neckline looked really cheesy. I was told it could be removed or replaced. The second problem was the appliqué and the location at which the skirt was gathered. Its location drew the eye directly, as I put it, to “the magic kingdom.” It also drew the skirt forward in a way that just wasn’t esthetically pleasing, putting a “clump” of fabric directly in front of my feet. But this dress fit extremely well, and that was a major plus. Note: For $7300 I expected a dress to be perfect in design and fit.
I tried on a few more dresses including a couple of Lazaro’s that didn’t look as nice as the Pnina (the difference in structure in the bodice was really noticeable) and, a Maggie, that was brought in under Ingrid’s protests (she didn’t want to show me a $1000 gown) that was just ugly. Other than the Maggie, Ingrid didn't bring in any dresses under ~$6K or so; it seems that she was going for the big sale or nothing at all.
Ingrid then brought in her last offering, another Pnina that was brand new to the collection and I was the first to try it on. It was definitely the silliest looking dress I had tried yet. http://digitalperf.com/albums/userpics/10001/normal_p2.jpg I have no idea what Pnina was thinking when she mixed the two designs together but the dress looks significantly worse in real life than it does in the picture.
It was clear to Ingrid that she couldn’t find the right combination for me and she didn’t even ask the famous Randy to help us out.
When we were leaving I spent a little time watching the girls in the main salon- the one they show on TV. There, Sarah, Joan, Randy, Keesha were helping out younger, thinner brides.
All in all the experience can be summed up by a paraphrase by the Cathy Bates character in Friend Green Tomatoes—“Honey, Im older than you, have more money than you, and know what I want” and it wasn’t at Kleinfelds.
So the first pictured dress I loved until you said the crystals looked cheap and the appliqué drew attention to "the magic kingdom." I can't see the second dress picture, but I wish I could since you describe it in a way which makes me laugh.
I love your summary of your experience and hope you can find a dress that's everything you want because it really doesn't matter your age or size. You're a bride and you should have the dress and experience you love!
That sucks! If I went there, I'd EXPECT randy to help! I adore him!
http://digitalperf.com/albums/userpics/10001/normal_P1.jpg
try that- you have to see the dress to say- what were you thinking- miniblinds meet mummy?
darn technology- but I did have time to name the dress- Mummy attacked by miniblinds
...that's what I expected it would be like.
I loathe that they only show young thin women. It's not realistic - most of this country is big!
Hmmm...sorry to hear that you didn't find what you were looking for at Kleinfeld and felt a bit disrespected/like they weren't giving you their best possible effort. :( To be fair, they may not have brought in anything under ~$6k because they assumed with your budget that you wanted something of the quality/attention to detail of a dress in that price range. Also, I was getting excited as I read your post at first because I hoped that at the end I'd find some pictures of a curvy gal rocking a Pnina dress, because I have seen it and it always looks awesome. Ah well. At least you have the wisdom and strength not to let the experience there get you too down. Where do you think you'll go next?
The trip to NYC was about 200$ with cabs, food, tolls and parking.
I am going to invest that much in a offshore dress and just see what happens. Now I know- I need rouching, drop waist, corset back, sweatheart neckline- at this point I can design the dress;)
oh yea- I have a business trip to Nebraska next month- I will see what is out there. Maybe the midwest understands curves better
yeah, I went there a few months ago and I told them my budget was $3000 maybe I can go up to $5000. I'm a size 14/16. First they tell you to print the top 5 dresses you want to see from their website and bring it in. When I got there, they told me all five dresses were discontinued. They weren't able to suggest any dresses similar to what I printed out and then I was then taken to the BG room to search for a dress. I have to say I was pretty disappointed.
I am full figured and went to Lefty's Bridal outside of DC and it was AWESOME. Her philosophy is that there are no thin or fat brides, only brides.
She had the sizes IN STOCK. I tried on 4 dresses but she had far more than that, and I ended up with a beautiful simple dress (what I wanted) with a custom veil for under $1k.
If you want to make a trip to DC, I HIGHLY recommend her. She was great to work with.
Loved your summary of Kleinfeld's. Good luck with the finding the dress :)
Thanks for the summary...your dress is out there, good look search (or designing)!!
@retreadbride:Thanks for sharing your wonderful sense of humor (not to mention fashion). I've wondered about Kleinfeld's for a plus size bride myself, think you've answered my questions. Sorry it was so disappointing (can't believe the BG tags, what are people thinking?).
sometimes i wonder how kleinfeld's manages to stay in business. i have heard so many horror stories about the way they treat their customers. it's a high end salon and they are expecting people to spend huge amounts of money--shouldn't they at least be nice? i just don't get it. i would be beyond mad if i was one of the girls on the show and then i watched the consultants bad mouth me behind my back. i recently saw a "top 10 worst brides" episode of the show--is that any way to treat customers?? i get that some of the girls are full-on bride-zillas, but when someone walks into your store willing to fork over thousands of dollars for a dress she will wear one time, you should treat her well, to say the least.
glad to hear you had such a great sense of humor about the whole experience, and even happier to hear that you are taking your business elsewhere. they don't deserve your money.
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Ok Ladies- tomorrow is my Kleinfelds appointment. Two things- I am a plus size bride and 53 years old. So I am interested to see what they suggest. Hopefully Mountain Man will be able to take some pix with the iphone. Yep, he is going with me, because he has amazing taste. If he was gay,he could have Randy's job at the shop;)