Have fun with the Rules at Kelly's Closet

Hubby, no peaking! If you're smart you won't look down and spoil the surprise!

Moving in to the US to be with my husband has motivated me to blog, at first to keep my family in the loop and then just to share my experience as an expat with others. Therefore I started searching other French expat's blog in the US. It's thanks to that, that I found out about Kelly's closet. A fellow expat (Froggie) found her dress there and recommended the store.
So I went online and looked it up.
I fell in love with their way of thinking. Want to know why? Well read the rules posted on the website:

Source

Play dress up? That's exactly what I've been wanting to do. Be positive about yourself, don't say you're fat? How come those rules are not posted in every woman store already? It's just a dress and the partner is more important? Agreed.
This all philosophy that is advertised for from the start made me smile and feel so excited about going to the store. I didn't know if I would find my dress there but I knew that I wanted to.
My fellow expat had found a dress for $500 and told me that while they do have expensive things they also have options for smaller budget and that you are not looked upon for not buying the pricey items.

Just in case though, when I called to make the appointment, I mentionned the price range I was looking for. The woman on the phone told me it would not be a problem that they had items in that price range.
Already in good spirits from a better shopping experience at David's Bridal I was so excited to go to Kelly's Closet. It's located in Little Five Points in Atlanta and the area could not be cuter and more fitted to the store.
The windows and doors are painted a light yellow, the store is bright from natural sunlight and screams happiness. Just looking at the windows from outside I knew I was going to have fun just by looking at the dresses there. The store has two parts: one with street clothes and the other is the bridal shop where you can only go with an appointment.
They never take more than three brides at a time and while it's not a big room you never feel crowded, there are two sofas for the bride's crew, tasty decoration and the dresses are well organized on the walls.

My assistant, Kristen, quickly welcomed me and told me that I was allowed to try any dress I wanted. I could try every single dress in the shop if I wanted, it wouldn't be a problem. No dress limit like every other place I had been to. I explained again my budget limit, she was honest with me and told me most of their dresses were in the higher ends, as high as $7000. However they had some dresses under $500 and while I looked around she would bring them in the dressing room for me. She also told me that I was welcomed to try the expensive dresses too, as long as I made sure not to fall in love with the ones I knew I couldn't buy.
While she want looking for budget dresses my SIL Kalisa joined us, the fun could begin.

I knew right away the first one I wanted to try. I was out of budget, but there was no way I could resist it, it had caught my eye and my SMIL as well: a Suzanne Ermann dress.
While you technically can not take pictures in the shop, our sales assistant closed her eyes when I explained that my Mom was in France and that I wanted to share the experience with her. We didn't get all the dresses on camera though.
An other thing I loved with my sales assistant: Kristen came in the dressing room with me, and while some brides might feel uncomfortable with it, I was oh so happy to have someone helping me put every gown on.

I loved that dress. It was so much fun to be in it, I felt very unique and absolutely adored the bottom of the dress. I was not 100% in love with the top though and it was out of budget anyway. But oh so fun.

Dress: Suzanne Ermann

This one was very greek goddess like, but it had one slight problem: from the side I looked like I was pregnant. Err no thank you, not yet. I think it might be a Nicole Miller but I'm not certain.


Now I have to tell you the story of how I found The dress. You see, Kristen brought in a few dresses from the other side, but then she brought me to one of the small dressing rooms. There was a rack there with a bunch of sample sale dresses from the last season, every tag had punches marking the discount on the price. Kristen looked through and selected about 3 dresses within my price range and then told me to look myself in case she missed something. I looked and my eyes caught a piece of lace, I grabbed the tag and looked at it. It said 99.
-"99? As in 99 dollars?" I asked not believing it could be right.
-"Yes it is" she said smiling.
If only for the price I had to try it.

And so I did, along with other dresses: a silk mermaid gown, beautiful and I loved the fabric and the $99 price tag, but I felt that I couldn't move enough in it. A stunning dress that made me feel like Wendy's mother in Peter Pan: 1900's style, glamours, sleek and out of price, not to mentioned that it felt more like a cocktail dress than a bridal dress to me. There was a vintage style Claire Pettibone with tulle straps. All beautiful but not quite the one.
In the middle of all this was the One, my $99 dress. It had three pieces: the crinoline, the dress and the corset style top. It had a trumpet shape just like I wanted, it wasn't a diamond white color, just like I wanted, it had lace, a lace up back and I felt good in it. It also had much more train than I was planning for and it was strapless but for once I let go of my initial ideas because I just felt so good in it.
I couldn't help myself from playing with the lace. Indeed the lace is set up in funky ways, hanging down in some spot and covering a beautiful dupioni silk top. The skirt gives a floating effect and yet follows my curves in flattering ways.

I bought my dress there and then, along with a veil that was about as much as the dress itself. It needed a few alterations of course, and I could have had them done at the store, but it was a bit of a drive for me and I figured I could find something closer.

So here is the One ( I had to try it again at the end and didn't want to take it off). My SIL told me that the dress looked fun and creative just like me.




The original price tag was $3650, I bought a dress 97%off! The whole experience seemed like it was meant to be. The dress is by Linda Britten, an Australian designer.

I can only recommend Kelly's Closet to all Southern brides. If you are looking for something unique, great customer service and a fun experience this is the place.

Kelly's Closet
1649 McLendon Avenue NE
Atlanta, Georgia 30307
kellyscloset.net

Did you have an unusual experience finding your dress? Did any part of your planning made you feel like something was meant to be?

David's Bridal redeems itself (The Dress part 4)

If you read Part 3 of my dress search, you know that my experience at the David's Bridal in Asheville was far from good.
I had a good time at the small bridal boutique on Charlotte's St, but I didn't find The One there and I knew their dresses where not in my budget.
The only other bridal store in Asheville I knew about looked like they had beautiful dresses, and although I considered going there just for the fun of it, in the end I went against it for budget reasons.

So I was at the point of not knowing where to search next. I went online on pre-owned wedding dresses websites. I considered driving to Charlotte, NC; Greenville, SC and Atlanta, GA. All great places but without a bridal shop name it doesn't do much.
It's thanks to the blog of an other French expat' that I came across THE place: Kelly's Closet, which I will talk about later. I also wanted to go to La Reine, but they were closed the day of my visit. So I decided to go to Atlanta, we would spend Memorial Day week-end at my step-mother-in-law's place in the Georgia mountains and spend one day in Atlanta to do bridal shopping. My SMIL was very happy to join me and so was my SIL.
The day before we drove down, I talked with a friend and explain how bad of an experience I had had at the Asheville's David's Bridal. She was surprised. She had been to the one in Kenessaw for bridesmaid dresses and her sister's dress and did not regret it. I had a few doubts, but I decided to give them a last shot.

Before our road trip, I showed the previous shopping pictures to my SMIL so she would have an idea of what I looked good in and what I liked. I called David's Bridal 30mn before getting there to check if they had an opening and they did.
So we went it.
I was impressed at the size of the store: much bigger of course so close to Atlanta. But more than that, I was invited to look through the racks of dresses while I waited for my sales assistant instead of staying in the middle of the store. When the sales assistant came in she was so friendly, hugged us, quickly asked about my tastes and went on to the business of helping me find dresses. She listened to both my SMIL and I.
I tried 3 dresses in one hour compared to 4 dresses in 3 hours in Asheville. No comment.
She was there all along as I tried various dresses, said what she saw and was shocked when I told her about my previous experience. She even called several times since to check with me.
I think her name was Sheilah, and she definitely redeemed David's Bridal in my eyes.
I now know you can and should be picky with your sales assistant, and that there are great ones in chain stores too.

As far as the dresses, all the ones I tried were withing budget: $399-499 + a $50 discount if I bought it today.
The first one was dress T9395 A satin trumpet gown with beaded metallic lace, satin empire band with bow, and lace-up back. Chapel train.
While the train was definitely too long for my taste I absolutely loved the lace-up back. I tried it in Ivory with a Champagne ribbon.
Style VW9340, Beaded lace trumpet with godet inserts at skirt hem and charmeuse sash. Sweep train. I tried it before, but this time I got the right size.
Pretty, but it did not feel like the one either.

Styel EK9343, Floral print satin/chiffon burnout halter gown with beaded empire band. Sweep train.
I liked the halter and V neck look of it. But it wasn't the trumpet shaped I was looking for.
Although I let the sales assitant write down the styles of dresses I tried just in case, I couldn't decide which one I liked best. A sure sign that I had not found the right dress yet.
But I had a good time and it made a good introduction to our visit to Kelly's closet.

What experience did you have with bridal chain stores?

I wish I had guts (The Dress part 3)

I don't know what your personality is like but mine is the kind who doesn't speak up. It's not that I don't want to really. It's just that most of the time I simply don't know what to say when I'm in an uncomfortable situation. So rather than saying something right away I think about it, and by the time I have the perfect answer well, it's two days later and often too late. Not only that, but I try to be accommodation, too accommodating and when you are a bride this is not a good idea.
See the third time I went shopping for a dress, I brought my aunt-in-law and her granddaughter with me and things did not go as planned.

I had asked to have a new sales person, because the previous one was just not helping me. The manager was very accommodating and booked my appointment with an other lady. I had explained that the previous sales assistant had not been very helpful and that well she wasn't there for me. So I definitely had expectations with this new sales assistant.
When I smelled her cold ashtray breath I didn't get a good feel. I am a non smoker and while if other smoke or not is none of my business I expect a sales person to at least chew on a mint or something so I don't have to smell that. I'm sorry but ashtray breath does not ring quality service in my mind. I should have known right away, but I decided to give her the benefit of the doubt.
I wanted the granddaughter to have fun too. She is 11 and taller and bigger than me, I figured that at that age she would enjoy the fun of trying on dresses with the only goal of playing dress up and indeed she did.
That's the second time my opinion of the sales person went down. The way she commented on D's size was plainly and simply rude. So what if she is not a size 0 at 11 years old? She is there to try dresses. I had to ask her to go get a measuring tape to find out what dress size D needed.

When it came to my turn to try on dresses (because it seems we couldn't do both at the same time), things turned sour. I was simply left on my own with no idea where the sales person was. In the end my aunt-in-law told the store manager and that person came herself to help me, a little bit. It took three hours to try on three dresses, and the atmosphere and lack of help made me loose my smile and my interest in dresses. I simply didn't care anymore.

To top it all I had a conversation with my aunt-in-law about who were my bridesmaids. When I told her who they were, she turned to her granddaughter and said "Would you like to be one?".
What the heck? I was so shocked. I felt trapped too, she had not asked me but she had asked D, in front of me, without giving me a chance to discuss it. And because I was at the time hoping she would help me make a dress if I couldn't find one I like, I didn't have the guts to say no. Instead all I could say was: "Yes D, would you like to be one of my bridesmaid?"
I could have slapped myself.
While I later on figured out she could be a Jr Bridesmaid which would be much more appropriate to her age, I still felt like I had been forced upon a choice that was not my own.

So I wish I had some guts yes. I wish I had told the sales person that I expected her to be there for me and help me, here my questions and be there when I needed an other dress. Trust me I did not act like a bradzilla and I know I deserved better.
I wish on the way out that I had told the manager of the store that I'm very sorry but given the lack of customer service they provided they could be sure I would not buy my dress there, and that she should get her sales person to wash their teeth after smoking.
And finally I wish I had told my aunt-in-law: "No! No, I'm sorry but I have three bridesmaids and that's plenty enough. No offense but I'll find something else for Dorian to do if she wants to be involved in the wedding."

Oh and because it was dress shopping non the less here are some pictures (all dresses David's Bridal):

I loved the lace and the light feel of the dress, it was the wrong size however

The halter, trumpet lace dress that I thought was the one.

An A-line champagne dress I didn't like but tried to please the aunt-in-law

Me and Dorian (my unplanned Jr Bridesmaid)

Trying on a veil

Do you have the guts to stand up and give your opinion? Or are you like me and do you get in complicated situations just because you can't say no?

Unplanned dress shopping (The dress part 2)

My second dress shopping experience was completely unplanned.
My car was under repair and my husband dropped me north of downtown were I had an interview. I had been planning to take the bus home, not realizing that here on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, public transportation was not functioning. It was a cold day, I was all bundled up, and while I walked downtown to catch a bus (I still though there was one) I went by this very cute boutique that I had always wanted to go in:

Wedding Inspirations
Just the look of the boutique had always made me want to go in it.
But when I face the door I found out that they were not open on Mondays. I was ready to turn around when a sales person came and opened the door just for me. She had an appointment coming up that morning but offered to take some time with me.
I couldn't believe my luck.

She quickly asked for some information about me and our wedding and then explained how things worked. She pointed at the rack sales spot, showed me around the other rooms and then gave me several red ribbons that I was to attach to the dresses I liked.
What a difference from David's Bridal where I had to select gowns from a catalogue. This time I could feel the fabrics, feel the weight, look at the details and the shades.

The atmosphere was warm and cozy, I didn't feel pressured by the sales person and I took my time to look around and select gowns that caught my eyes. I was then escorted to the dressing room (a former bathroom) that made me feel in a boudoir. She then brought me a few dresses at a time.

Because I was on my own and didn't have my camera, I never took any pictures and I didn't think to write down the names of the dresses I liked either.
I had been looking for halter top, ivory color and trumpet shaped dresses. I didn't want really want an A line dress that seemed to puffy to me. There were few. So my selection included anything with straps.
No underskirt or bustier to struggle with made my experience much more pleasant.

I really like the second dress I tried. It was a Jasmine Couture gown made with silk. I mention to the salesperson that I like natural material, she says she is not surprised because all the dress I selected are like that.
I feel pretty in that dress, the trumpet shape is definitely flattering, the décolleté looks good and the natural silk color and texture looks great against my skin.
But when I look at the price back inside the dressing room, I read $1080 on the tag. Oh dear, natural fabrics means luxury tastes!

I try an other dress with an interesting structure but it's obvious that the color does not work with my complexion. The sales person uses the opportunity to tell me that I have a skin with blue undertones and that I should therefore avoid fabrics with too much yellow in it as well as diamond white that would wash me out.
So off white and ivories are my colors. Good that was what I had in mind anyway.

I also tried this Alfred Sung style 6631 wit organza and sateen ribbons, it's an A line but I do like it.
Nothing more catches my eyes after that so I headed downtown after thanking the salesperson and promising to come back with friends next time to get their opinion.

That's when I find out that there are no bus. I will have to walk miles to get back home. Not so exciting when it's close to noon on a cold January day.
On my way I stop by David's bridal with the simple goal of picking up their new collection brochure. It's close to 2pm and I wasn't really in the mood to try things on, but the sales person there insist that I should.
I get the same sales assistant as the last time. I don't like her. She makes me follow her, has me sit down on a chair and then leaves me to wait. I start chatting with a mother of the bride, a wonderful mom who will end up helping me out more than the sales person throughout the experience.

I spotted a new dress in the brochure that I wanted to try. It's far from what I had imagined so far: covered with lace when I was thinking of a simple gown.
The dress as select is Style: T9512, it's an all over lace, trumpet shape with an illusion halter top and a ribbon with the color of your choice in the middle. I love it, the shape falls so well on me. I want to try it with a coper colored belt but of course the closest they have is chocolate. I like it but the near-by mother of the bride tells me it makes it look more casual. The only thing is: it's way too long and it does not exist in a petite size, not to mention the $800 price tag.

The sales person believe then that she knows what I want and brings me an other dress. It simply looks awful on me. The sales assistant obviously does not understand what I am looking for nor what works with my figure.
I do try one last dress though, the one that my neighbor had been trying: Style: CV226, it's pretty too with it's empire waist and beaded lace sheath.
I like it too although not quite as much as the first one, and again it's close to $1000. But with little energy left I have to put a halt to my dress shopping and head home.

But the visit was not fruitless, it did help me again to define what I was looking for, and the T9512 made me realize that I do love lace and that maybe it's part of what I would like for my wedding dress.

Did you ever go shop on your own? Do you think it made it easier or harder to select gown without a close friend's opinion?

I do not want to look like a meringue (The Dress Part 1)

I never dreamed about a big wedding. Probably because I never real thought that I would meet someone I would marry.
I have to admit that I was very lucky when we had our civil wedding, I had a simple dress (picture to the left) that I had bought at Etam years ago. I saw that dress in the display, it ended up being the only one there and my size. I bought it for 50€. It was simple yet beautiful: ivory linen, sheath with 3 flowers embroideries in a light pink on it. Of course linen wrinkles extremely quickly, but I loved that dress and it worked perfectly for our wedding and one friends saw the pictures they couldn't believe it wasn't an official wedding dress.
I was happy given how quick things went that I had something available right then and there.
The pearl necklace and earings my sister-in-law let me borrow me also worked perfectly with the outfit. I couldn't have been happier.

When we decided to have a formal wedding though, I knew I wanted a real wedding dress. The only thing I was sure of was that I didn't want to look like a meringue. I also wanted something that would look different from my first "wedding dress".
I have too many memories of friends of my parents marrying in puffy outfits that really did not flatter the bride. I have curves, I am not a size 0, and guess what? I am proud of it.

So when I had a friend visiting in August 07, with only a fall wedding date in mind, I went in to the only wedding shop I had seen: David's Bridal. I did not even know at the time that it was a chain, nor that appointments are usually required, that's how ignorant I was.
With no definite idea of what I wanted I pointed to some dresses on the magazine that I was curious to try and let the assistant do the rest.

I had a hard time putting my first dress on. What with the corset and the underskirt and all those zippers that I couldn't get a hang off. I felt a bit abandonned. Thankully my friend was there and I managed not to get out of the dressing room in underwear.
Here are the various dresses I tried in that shop, and as you will see I tried very different things from halter top to sleeveless, A-Line to mermaid and long to short.

The first wedding dress I tried, ever. It was nice but it was hard to put one and...
... the cathedral lenght trail is not exactly my cup of tea.
The second dress is, beside The One, my mom's favorite dress. She of course only saw the dresses on line. I wasn't too fond of the strapless idea though.
This one is probably one of the least flaterring dresses on my figured that I tried. I was curious about a halter top, but obviously that shape is not for me.
This one was quite cute, but being a petite size didn't help to make me look taller. It's also not the best lenght for a November wedding in the mountains as I was not planning to wear wool leggings!

I had fun in the last one. I think it's mainly because by the fifth dress I started feeling like a real bride and I really like the trumpet shape of the outfit.I didn't come out of this first visit with a dress but it helped me tremendously to understand what I was looking for and what shapes looked flattering on me.

Did your first dress shopping experience gave you an idea of what you were looking for? Or if you already knew what you wanted, did it changed it?