You should already know not to wear WHITE to attend a wedding. But what other wedding attire etiquettes should you pay attention to? Your outfit choice will reflect on your good judgement and contribute to the joy and happiness of your host’s special day.

Add a splash of colour with a cardigan in a cheerful colour.	- DON’T wear Black in the daytime. In most cultures, black is especially viewed as a colour for sorrow. If you do choose to wear this colour, make sure you layer it with a lot of bright colours in the form of a cardigan, large shawl or smart blazer jacket.
Burgundy is a good muted choice over red.	- DO wear cheerful colours. If you’re not into bright colours, choose jewel tone versions of these colours. Eggplant, Teal and Burgundy are great alternatives to the traditional purple, blue and red.
Keep it simple but pretty.	- DON’T go over the top. You might have in your closet that dramatic designer dress that you have never worn because you haven’t had any place special to go in it. Now is not the time! This is the bride’s special day to feel like a princess so let her have the spotlight. Avoid wearing anything that you think will likely draw excessive attention to you. (ex. lots of feathers, sequins, beads, fluff or too much jewelry)- Don’t wear beads or sequins unless the invitation specifies that is a Black Tie event
Hemlines to the knee or past mid-thigh are safe lengths to go by.	- DO wear something feminine and appropriate out of respect for your hosts. Your hemlines should not be too short and the garments should not be see-through.
Do bring cover ups for extra warmth and coverage.	- Do bring ‘cover up’ for warmth and coverage. As the day wears on, weather conditions may change and you’ll look and feel more elegant when you’re relaxed and warm.
	- DO dress up! You’ll be surprised at how casually dressed some wedding guests have become. No matter how expensive or cutting edge your designer t-shirt or jeans are, they are still not appropriate or respectful wedding attire. There are exceptions to this of course. The venue location and specific invitation instructions in regards to “wedding theme” will be the determining factor to your wedding attire. Pastels and soft floral dresses for daytime or a little black dress for the evening are good choices for almost any wedding.

Now that you’ve bought that near-perfect item and made the decision to alter it to fit perfectly to your body, you may be excited to drop it off at the seamstress right away. But there are actually several things you need to do before letting the seamstress work her magic on your new treasures.

1. “Pre-Shrink” your item. Clean the item in the way you expect to clean it on a regular basis. For example, if you like to dry your clothes in the dryer, you may experience a little bit of shrinkage depending on the fabric. Once you’ve put your clothing through this cleaning process, you won’t waste valuable time and money altering an item only later to find it shrinking to an undesirable length or size when you do end up washing it.

2. Bring with you the shoes and undergarments you would usually wear with the item being altered. If you want to alter your pant length, you need to decide which shoes you would most likely wear it with and alter the length accordingly. For dresses or shirts, make sure you wear the same or similar bra underneath the item to be altered. For jackets, wear the same amount of clothing underneath it as you would on a regular basis. This way the seamstress can fit you appropriately and you don’t end up with an item that fits too snugly once the alterations are complete.

3. Decide on what type of alterations you need. If you want to alter the bust width to a strapless item, you can also consider adding small loops or hooks on the inside bust for hooking an external bra strap instead. This way, you can add your own bra straps for an extra secure fit and it will leave room for you to “grow” into the size if you anticipate your weight or height to fluctuate. (Extra tip: choose external bra straps that can be adjusted for length.)

4. Pack up those little extras parts and pieces that you will need to give the seamstress. For example, bra straps that are to be sewn onto strapless items, buttons, decorative parts etc…

5. Give yourself plenty of time. Chances are, the seamstress is not only working on your item. Most basic alterations have a turnaround time of 2-3 days and up to weeks for more complicated ones.

Lastly, you can always ask your seamstress to return to you the extra discarded fabric from your item. If you anticipate adding belt loops, straps or decorative parts onto your item in the future, these scraps of original fabric will come in handy.

Also read these related articles:

How Much do Alterations Cost?

Why You Should Stay Away from those Small Sizes

Every girl has experienced seeing that beautiful dress on the rack, picking it up, loving the feel of the item in her hands, envisioning how it looks on – hot!, actually trying it on – hot!, BUT… if only… it was just a little tighter here or a little bit shorter there..

Don’t be deterred! Chances are, if you’re not getting an item custom made specially for you, there will always be ones that just won’t fit exactly the way you want it to. Fortunately, alterations done by  a professional seamstress is inexpensive and cost effective. The money you save on buying a less expensive item can be spent on professional tailoring which will help make your items look amazing to fit on your body!

How do I find a seamstress?

Any reputable alteration house can take care of simple alterations, like shortening hemlines, width alterations or adding bra straps to a strapless dress. Ask your favourite clothing boutique to recommend a seamstress they work with or ask your dry cleaner. Most dry cleaners will do alterations in house or give you referrals to local seamstresses. If you happen to visit us at Metropolis at Metrotown or Richmond Centre, you can also try the alteration houses located inside the mall. They are convenient and reliable places to drop off your items once you purchase them.

This dress fits everywhere except in the bust area!

Many ladies find the fit of the bust area for strapless dresses to be of particular concern. In our “Why You Should Avoid Those Small Sizes” article, we recommended that you buy for the width of your hips and waist (if they happen to be larger than your bust) and then adjust your bust area accordingly with silicone bra or lingerie tape. If you want a more permanent fix, professional alterations will be the best alternative.

For the dress below, we asked a professional seamstress how she would go about altering the dress to fit for a smaller bust. The zipper would be replaced and the fabric in the bust area (in white) will be trimmed down to decrease bust width for a tighter fit. This type of alteration start at about $10 depending on the level of difficulty involved. If the zipper lies along areas of the dress that includes intricate details or panels, this could cost more because it will take more time to detach and reattach those parts.

This pant leg is too long, I don’t think its the right pant for me.

Wrong! Unless the pant has many variations for the in-seam, (length of the pant measured from  inside crotch to bottom seam) the item does not need to fit exactly to the length of your legs. With the exception of companies who specialize in jeans or pants, pant sizes usually only differ in the width and not in the length of the item. Pant lengths are usually manufactured for an average height and its expected that the customer will adjust the length to their own liking because it’s always cheaper and easier to adjust the length versus the width. If you’re above or below average height, then you most likely need to consider alterations.

In most cases, you don’t have to pass on a pair of pants that need length alterations unless removing the original hem significantly changes the integrity of the item. (ex. Bell bottoms, intricate details along the hem) But having said that, even original hems can be sewn back onto an item once it has been altered! (See pictures below).

So we say, Enjoy getting that almost perfect item and don’t be afraid to spend a little on alterations to make it look fabulous on YOU!

Below we have included various pant hems styles that can be achieved with alterations and price estimates of what you would be looking at.