Day in the Life: Wedding Dress Designer
My name is Trish Lee and I'm a wedding dress designer.
I've been designing wedding dresses for about two years.
What the dresses try to convey is a Californian,
laid back, relaxed, sort of aesthetic.
At the same time, it's vintage Inspired, but really not like a costume.
Ever since I was a kid. My mom, she'd help me make my clothes
We would go to the fabric store and I would get to pick out the fabric,
and the buttons and the trims.
At the end of the day. I had something so special and different and
I put my heart and soul into it.
Daily responsibilities, I think, vary so much
At a certain period of time I might be focusing on design.
I will start with sketching
and I'll look at fabric, and I'll start sketching different ideas based on what I'm inspired by.
I work with brides, and I do their fittings.
So, before I even see the bride,
in their actually fitting, I will do their pattern drafting.
And when you make a dress, there's a, you know, a blue print, almost,
and you have to alter that blue print, and that pattern to fit
a bride's measurements and different requirements.
I really love to hear brides different stories and how they came to pick,
you know, this dress and
what their wedding is like because I just like knowing what inspires people today.
You do have to work with suppliers and vendors.
So, imagine, you know,
when you're designing a dress, and you're thinking, well, I want to make
a dress in silk crape -- you do have too
find the right crape,
find the right maker of this fabric and,
review samples before you actually order a roll of this fabric.
I actually went to the University of California at Berkeley.
I pursued finance and marketing.
I thought, ultimately, I would work for another, like, maybe fashion retail company at first.
And learn behind the scenes what goes on in merchandising and marketing, and,
and how to operate a fashion business.
I really, highly recommend working for someone else.
You're learning on someone else's time, almost and
you learn from their mistakes, as well as their successes.
The most important skill that I use now is
how to build relationships with people through communicating.
"It's not to rustic..."
"Is it a winery? Is that what you're getting married in?"
"Yes."
"Okay."
"I think this is kind of a good..."
"midway point between something that is,"
"um..not too rustic and, but is still very elegant --"
<br><br>
"and, and it has like a soft train."
Being able to communicate effectively
what your ideas are and what
your vision is for this, I think that's
one of the best skills you can have.
Students in high school should really remember when you care about
the way you present yourself,
It means you'll care about the product that you give them later.
I get to see --
people so happy wearing something I created.
And it means so much to them and I'm apart of their day without really being there.
And --
I think that's the best part --
is something that you created is
bringing somebody happiness.
5 Tips on How to Dress for Your Wedding | A Groom's Guide to Wedding Dress Code
5 Tips on How to Dress for Your Wedding A
Groom's Guide to Wedding Dress Code
[0:00:00]
Hi! I'm Antonio Centeno. I'm the founder of
Real Men Real Style. Today, gentlemen, I'm
going to give you five tips on how to dress
for your wedding. This is basically a groom's
guide, an intro to style. I'm not going to
get into the specifics of each type of dress
code. That's something I've got an entire
video on. I talk about black tie, formal dressing,
semi-formal dressing, white tie, casual weddings.
I know I could get into a lot more of this.
If you are interested, you're getting married
maybe this year, getting married here pretty
soon, go check out Smart Groom Guide. I go
into a lot more detail there. In fact, that's
an entire course that helps a groom not only
with the clothing, but also with the etiquette,
gift guides, all of the little things that
make weddings sometimes a hassle. I try to
give you guys some checklist on the duties,
even some music ideas, gift ideas for all
the groomsmen and everything perhaps involved
in your wedding.
The purpose of this, I'm going to give you
five tips. These are very general, high-level
tips, but they're important because it all
starts with number one, which is be the best-looking
man you can be. Now, there are a lot of things
we can’t control in life. Our face and the
way it's shaped, what we were given, we can't
really change that, but what we can do is
we can work on the packaging. That's one of
the things I talk about at Real Men Real Style
and my other website, A Tailored Suit, other
websites across where I guest post.
I always talk about the purpose of clothing
is to help you be the best man you can be.
It simply gives you a bit of strength. It's
like a piece of armor that fits on you on
your wedding day, the day that you commit
yourself to another person. It's a sign of
respect. That's really what it's about. You're
showing not only respect to your bride. You're
showing respect to everyone, your family,
your friends, everyone who is invested in
you and wants to be a part of your journey.
That's why we're dressing and you want to
put your best foot forward.
In those pictures, for decades, people are
going to look back -- you're going to look
back on those pictures. Your kids are going
to look back on those pictures, your grandkids,
and you want to in a sense be, "Wow! Grandpa
was really handsome. I can see why grandma
went for him." That's the kind of response
you want to get, not something like, "Wow!
I can tell this was in the 1970s," which you
can with some wedding pictures.
Now, point number two, start early and I'm
talking about 90 days out if you can and that's
a bare minimum. The reason you want to start
preparing all of this early, number one, you're
going to save a lot of money if you have time
to start assembling. I own a custom clothier.
One of the most expensive things I would say
when a guy comes in is he needs everything
rushed. Literally he's getting married in
two weeks and we're having to stop everything,
put his order up to the front overnight, that
kind of stuff, which brings in point number
two. It brings in a lot of stress because
if it's not right, then you're going to have
to compromise. You're going to have to find
something that works.
Give yourself time. Give yourself about 90
days. If you can give yourself longer, especially
if you're on a very tight budget, you could
start looking in thrift stores. You can ask
around. You can find things that you're going
to get for pennies on a dollar. You're going
to be able to save a lot of money.
Have a short time frame? Okay, you're probably
going to spend a little bit more, but number
three -- and this goes with giving yourself
time -- practice what you're going to be wearing.
What do I mean by that? Actually wear the
clothing. Now, a little bit more difficult
if you've decided you're going to go with
black tie.
Now, I talk about this in another video and
in my guide to everything, when you should
wear black tie or white tie. A vast majority
of you guys know -- or a morning dress. You're
probably not going to go with that. Maybe
you guys watching me over at London, perhaps
you will, but for most people, the highest
level they're going to go is black tie or
the tuxedo.
I would recommend though thinking about suits.
The great thing about a suit and how it applies
to this point practicing is if you get a dark
suit, you can wear it with other things. All
of a sudden, you can own that suit early.
You can perhaps wear it out to an evening
out of town with your fiancé. You can wear
it around and you can possibly even wear it
to work. You want to be careful. You don’t
want to damage it. Ideally, what you want
is to get a feel for it.
Okay. I'm used to wearing this. What you don’t
want to have is on your wedding day -- and
this is why I think a lot of formal clothing
gets such a bad name, is we only wear it -- and
it's almost like a costume. Clothing is a
costume if you're only wearing it for that
one event and you're not used to it. What
you want is something that actually you're
proud to wear. You've worn it before and you
feel comfortable in. You've actually identified
some of the hotspots, perhaps had them tailored
and adjusted to fit by a local tailor or seamstress,
so you're used to wearing it.
You feel comfortable in it. It's not the first
time and you can really dress things down
by just wearing it open collar, white shirt
or something like that, but ideally you want
to practice wearing what you're going to wear,
especially the shoes. Don’t wear brand new
shoes the first day. Practice wearing those
shoes even if it's around the house. Practice
wearing the clothing.
[0:05:06]
Point number four, decide on a dress code
and announce it. Now, I've talked about this.
We've got from black tie to semi-formal to
suits to almost business wear to a casual
wedding. The thing is you want to be very
clear not only with the immediate people that
<br><br>
are going to be in the wedding party, but
you want to let people that are going to attend.
That's one of the things and that's a whole
separate video in which people have asked
me, "Antonio, I'm going to a wedding" or "Antonio,
I've been invited to a wedding this summer.
I've been invited to a wedding on the beach."
Be very clear in the invitation what the dress
code is, and if you have room, if you can
expand on it, give people examples.
Now, understand that as the groom, you're
going to be expected to be the best dressed
man there. Well, maybe not, perhaps if you
get married in Vegas and you've had a little
bit to drink. Well, don’t get married if
you've had a little bit to drink in Vegas.
The point is the vast majority of time, the
groom is expected to be the best dressed man
at the wedding, so that's going to set the
standard for every other man that's going
to be attending the wedding, so be very clear
what the dress code is and what's expected.
Number five, communicate with your future
wife. Now, I know some of you guys are saying,
"Antonio, that's where it's all going to start.
She's in charge." Well, I'd like to challenge
that. I think it's important that a man has
a say, that he's able to go back and he's
able to look at it. If you're in the United
States, we have this new tradition -- and
this is relatively new -- in which you have
all of these groomsmen and they're all matching.
Honestly, this came out of the rental industry
because they said, "Hey, if we do this, we
can rent more tuxes."
Don’t feel that you have to do this. What
I like to do is see a group actually give
a dress code and say, "Everyone needs to show
up in dark, solid suits" that are classic,
that fit them well, and we want to maintain
this general look. But to be honest, that's
going to be perfectly fine. Give people direction.
That's the cool thing about a dress code,
but communicate that with your bride. Make
sure she's onboard with it. I think if you're
able to take the bull by the horns and you're
able to say, "Hey, I've researched this. I'm
going to run with this. I'm going to make
sure that everyone is up to snuff," then she's
going to be fine with it.
I've been to weddings, I've been in weddings
in which we show up and everyone is renting
and half of them don’t even fit. In fact,
one time I remember we're going to a wedding
and my wife is adjusting people's suits. She's
not even a seamstress, but she knows how to
sew. She's adjusting people's suits in the
van as we're heading to the wedding so that
they fit a bit better. Half the stuff was
ill-fitted.
Guys, that's what happens when you rent, nothing
against rentals. I'm sorry. I know some of
you guys out there own those types of stores,
but the problem is when you're not prepared.
If you go through these tips, again, go check
out Smart Groom Guide. I go into a lot more
detail there. Guys, at the end of it, I wish
you the best in your wedding and have fun
on what is going to be one of the days that
you're going to look back -- I'm not going
to say it's going to be your most fun day,
but I will say it's going to be one of those
days that you're going to remember for the
rest of your life. You're going to look back
on it and your family is going to be proud
that you are able to show up there and put
your best foot forward for your future bride,
for your family, and for yourself.
All right guys, take care. See you in the
next video. Bye-bye.
[0:08:36] End of Audio
No comments:
Post a Comment