My 22 year old daughter fashion style is sophisticated and modern/edgy. Due to a short engagement she only had a week to decide on a wedding dress as they usually take time to order and alter. After searching at so many bridal stores in Sydney, I made the appointment for her to see Helen at which stage she was frustrated and didn’t think she’d find that special dress. On entering Helen’s studio, she instantly saw the bridal dress she wanted for her big day which had newly arrived as it was from Helen’s new collection and had not yet been photographed for magazines.
The bridal gown needed to be stunning, edgy, sophisticated, stylish and modest with long sleeves and a high neckline to not show cleavage.
Helen along with her business partner, Roderick, who is also insanely talented, are so kind and caring, putting in as many hours as needed to create perfection. Their customer service and workmanship is outstanding. They ensured that my daughter’s request to make the original strapless dress more modest with long sleeves and a higher neck and back by creating a boat neckline would look stunning.
The unmodified dress was made of organza with gorgeous beading, lace and flowers (not overdone). Under the layers of organza was a square mesh soft fabric which was subtle but visible on movement. I knew nothing like it existed in the world. It made the dress ultramodern. The long sleeves and higher neck and back were made of the same mesh fabric but double layered and the same flowers, lace and beading were added on top. All of that work was extremely intricate requiring hand/invisible sewing techniques. It all blended so well that no part of it looked like add-ons. Helen and Roderick are so good at their work that a total of only three fittings were required. Roderick spent two hours to steam the dress to perfection and Helen put it in her special white protective bag, zipped it up and helped get it in her car to not spoil it. At the fittings, Helen also spent extra time beyond the dress and was very helpful with suggestions for hairstyles, accessories and shoes.
Helen and Roderick had just a tricky job to modify my mother-of-the-bride floor length dress that I purchased online. They made my dress look more amazing. Not wanting to wear a long sleeved top underneath a sleeveless dress, no one could tell the “skinny” long lycra style sleeves were added on as Helen also raised the dress at the shoulders to reduce the armholes. Helen took time to find the same black colour as it’s almost impossible to match black from another fabric and she then added the same silver braid from the extra length of the dress at the end of the sleeves.
I can’t thank Helen and Roderick enough for their amazing talent, craftsmanship and outstanding service.
