You're invited to celebrate the simplicity and sophistication of Vera Wang VERA WANG CHICAGO
34 East Oak Street
2nd Floor
View the current collection featuring romantic, sensual, and luxurious styles. Receive special savings on your special order gown, and $100 off a veil and headpiece.
· come up with a team uniform- matching hats, t-shirts, headbands, carry whistles-anything that would make it easier to find each other in the crowd
· assign jobs to team members—someone to gather, someone to trade, someone to help you in and out of the dresses, someone to guard your inventory from prowlers
· tear out pages from bridal magazines, or print styles from on-line wedding gown sites to show your team what you’re looking for
· pick place to rendezvous in the store
Dress code-- wear a sports bra and shorts or a bathing suit so you can try on dresses anywhere in the store; DO NOT WEAR FLIP FLOPS if you plan to participate in the “rush to the racks.”
Leave your handbag at home—you’ll need both hands for this.
No food or drinks inside the store; get rid of trash before the doors open in the receptacles provided.
Best Time to Arrive
The doors open at 8am. Brides-to-be and their teams who have been in line the longest will get to the racks first. In fact, it’s possible that the racks will be bare by the time you get into the store. DON’T DESPAIR! The dresses are not all gone. You’ll see brides trading or putting dresses back on the racks almost immediately. Use the first hour to look for brides who are trying on dresses you like. Then, be there to grab or trade for her “rejects.”
At the Event
Be nice—with all the excitement, shoppers have been known to get a little territorial and competitive. As our security manager once said to a TV reporter, “you don’t want to be walking down the aisle knowing you had to punch somebody out to get the dress.”
Be fair–keep only the dresses you are seriously considering, and set the others free as soon as possible.
Remember, wedding gowns don’t always run true to size—look not only for your regular dress size, but try a size or two bigger as well. Even if a dress isn’t the perfect fit, at this price it may be worth the cost of alterations. Experts on gown cleaning and alterations will be on hand to advise you.
Try on whatever comes your way--sometimes a gown that isn’t what you pictured yourself wearing turns out to be “the one.”
Be decisive--it’s only a one-day sale and gowns are not returnable.
The annual "Running of the Brides" at Filene's Basement Chicago will take place on July 25, 2008. The Chicago store will house 1300-2500 designer wedding gowns that can be had at three price points: $249, $499 and $699. This is such an incredible deal considering they carry some wedding dresses that retail for $9000.
The doors for this event open at 8am. But please be advised--most brides camp out overnight for this spectacular sale! Not sure that you have the patience or stamina to "run with the brides?" It may not be at all necessary. See a few of the answers below from the FAQs from Filene's:If you don’t get out of work till 5:00PM, or you’re just not up to the frenzy of store opening, the odds of finding a dress are still excellent. Only one in three or one in four people in line are shopping for a wedding gown. The others are helpers. For instance in Boston, usually the biggest event, there may be 800 people in line but only 250 of them are brides-to-be and there are up to 2500 gowns for sale.
What happens when the doors open? Customers run full speed to the racks; they grab as many dresses as their arms will hold. It takes less than sixty seconds for the racks to be stripped bare; the record is 36 seconds. The brides-to-be stake out a spot on the selling floor, preferably in front of a mirror and start trying on dresses. Even though we sometimes build a temporary fitting room on the selling floor most brides try on gowns in the aisles. Some women wear sports bras and shorts, others wear the lingerie they plan to wear under the gown.
Should I bring help? Definitely bring help—your mother, bridal party, a style-savvy friend. You need people to help grab gowns off the racks, make trades with other parties, help you in and out of the dresses, and guard the ones in your “maybe” pile from prowlers. It’s a good idea to have a team “uniform”—something that will help you find each other in the crowd, like wearing the same color shirts or big hats. Some teams get very creative. They print their team name on t-shirts, carry whistles or walkie-talkies, and so on. Some teams have strategy meetings before the sale; one woman created a Power-Point presentation for her team all about the dress she wanted.
Please be aware that dresses are non-returnable, because Filene's doesn't carry wedding gowns except for the day of the bridal sale. But if you find a gown that you later fall out of love with, I'm positive that it wouldn't be that hard to get rid of. You could list the dress on eBay or Craig's List or take it to a consignment shop.
I think this is a very timely post. This has been on my blog to-do list, and just yesterday, Miss Canary from Weddingbee did a post on bridal undergarments. So here is my two cents on the subject. . .Bridal undergarments do not get the necessary attention they deserve. I think this may be true of good undergarments in general. My sorority sister made a comment to me some time ago and I walk with this statement daily: “We are too old to be jiggling everywhere.” Such a true statement and I make sure I do my part when I get dressed. I HEART Spanx and Sara Blakely.
At any rate, I’m here to talk about strapless bras. And I speak from personal experience. I was in a wedding last summer and we wore beautiful strapless mermaid gowns (can’t wear it again, but it was gorgeous!). At the bridal shop, I was offered the standard strapless bra that retailed at $55.00 and I was so less than impressed! I’m only a C cup, but these babies are heavy! I didn’t get the lift I was expecting, I didn’t feel “secured” in the bra—I felt if I were dancing, my boobs might flop out! Nor did this standard strapless bra do anything for my back side—if you catch what I’m saying. So I ended up saying, “thanks, but no thanks” and started my search for the perfect strapless bra.
My search landed me at the Special Woman Boutique on the northside of Indianapolis. It’s a little storefront in a commercial park off 86th and Michigan and I had never heard of it before. It was opened by Carole Coogle, a breast cancer survivor. When she went through her ordeal, she found that there were very few places for women who underwent lumpectomies or mastectomies to go for prosthetics, bras and accessories. Nor did they have that special touch and personal attention that she craved. So she opened her own boutique and I am so glad she did! She eventually began to see the need great bras and support garments in larger sizes (up to KK) so she expanded her business beyond prosthetics and medical bras.
You have to make an appointment to be seen at the Special Woman Boutique and each employee spends about 45 minutes to an hour with each client. I got the opportunity to actually work with Carole for my fitting. She was so nice and sweet and told me the background on how she started. She presented several long-line strapless bras for me to try and walked me through various “exercises” while trying on the bras. I had to jump up and down, bend over at the waist, stretch my arms, dance and a few other things. Carole pointed out that my boobs didn’t exactly fill out the cups of the best bra, so she put in some bust cups and the best bra became the perfect bra! I love, love, love the Goddess long-line bra that I purchased from her! Not only did I spend the same $55.00 on a far superior bra and bust cups, I also had a superior experience. The service was so much more personal and I was ecstatic about my purchase! I was Carole’s biggest fan for weeks after I left her shop and I still refer everyone looking for special undergarments to her. And the handwritten thank you note that she sent me after I made my purchase didn’t hurt one bit. She provided exceptional service.
At the wedding, armed with my Goddess bra and Spanx, I was unstoppable! I performed my bridesmaid’s duties, danced and strolled all night at the reception and I never felt better. I was smoothed out and lifted: Look, Ma! No jiggling! Nothing is worse than to be pulling and tugging all night long while you are supposed to be enjoying a wedding. And remember the photographer?? She’ll be there to capture it all—lumps, bumps and all. So this is my official endorsement of Carole Coogle and the Special Woman Boutique. You do not have the settle for what they hand you at the bridal shop, especially if it does not work for you. If you are in the Indianapolis area, do not hesitate to pay Carole a visit. . .and be sure to tell her Katasha sent you!
The Special Woman Boutique
317.876.3770
8770 Commerce Park Place Suite A
Indianapolis, Indiana 46268
Photo Credit: Goddess Bra
