Weddingbee boards

So after eight months of being engaged, I am already burnt out on dresses.  I swear I have seen millions, and tried on hundreds.  I was in love with one, for a long time, but there are just too many problems I have with it now.  I can't do it.  I want my dress custom made, because what I want is unlike anything I see on the market right now--something heavily inspired by the Victorian era and House of Worth designs.  My original dress was going to cost about $12k when all was said and done, so obviously quality is of huge importance to me.  Not just any Victorian reproduction dressmaker will do...I want to find somene who's willing to work with me to create the perfect dress, will use high-quality materials, and is a fantastic seamstress. Anybody have any clue where I'd find such a person?!  Or am I living in lalaland and no such person actually exists and I've been staring at my costume history books for too many years and need to suck it up and get with the times.

Help plz I am so desperate. :(

The only suggestion I can think of, since you’re looking for a specific time period style of dress versus your "standard" wedding styles would be to contact theater and ballet companies and see if they can refer you to a costume maker or seamstress that they use to create costumes. I'm sure the higher end theater/ballet companies have large, skilled costume departments that either maybe could take on an outside commission, or refer you to someone who would.

Maybe contact some museums that have Victorian era clothing pieces, and ask if they use a specific seamstress for any work they may need.

Thanks!  That's a great suggestion.  I wanted to all up and defend myself, like, "Noooo, I don't want a completely literal period piece"....but I realized, that's a lie.  Aside from a lack of desire to corset my waist to 18 inches, I really do want something that shares all of the important details of a dress from the mid to late 19th century.  

Thanks again...not sure where to start and who to ask, but I will definitely try to work from there.

daisy: thanks!  I can't believe I didn't think of that.  I have been all over the NYMag wedding guide; it's so helpful.  I took a look through and found one designer who seems like she might be a good bet, and we're now emailing about the prospect of designing me a dress!

meliss--no, it wasn't the cost, I'd just been staring at it for soooo long and picking out every last thing that wasn't right with it!  It might sound ridiculous to those who prefer very simple dresses (I know you're not in that boat, haha), but it started looking too plain to me, more than anything!  It was hard for me to admit to myself at last that I did not want to get it.  It was kind of like breaking up with the man that for a long time you thought you'd marry.   When I started thinking about going this custom route, I was prepared to spend just as much, but it looks like I'll be able to get something even more detailed for about HALF the money by going through a small but competent business (one that, you know, isn't plastered all over SYTTD every week and sold as "the cream of the crop" at one of the most expensive bridal stores in the country! Pah!).  I've always been totally nuts for late 19th century fashion, and I'd been staring at all the details on too many House of Worth dresses, which are just full of rich silk brocades and satins, soft-as-cloud silk tulles, and ridiculously perfect amounts and placements of glass beads, rhinestone, lace, pleating, bows, and rosettes.  So I started sketching (even though a talented artist I am not)!  The fact that it will be a lot cheaper does make me happy, but I guess the problem now is that it'll be virtually impossible to resell it (and if it's basically my own design, it'd be damn near impossible to convince me to part with it too!).  Ah well.