Dress Shopping

kaitlyn142

My FMIL is Taiwanese and has mentioned that she would like me to wear a red Chinese-style reception dress. She wants to come up in a few weeks to go shopping for one. Where around here would we go? Or do you think my best bet is to go into the city, though I don't even know where I would look there.

ayip24

I think I may be able to help you here.  Many bridal shops in the city, specifically Chinatown will have these dresses.  I don't know how you feel about it, but you can rent these dresses sometimes....when will you wear the dress again.  There are tons, just google "wedding shops, nyc chinatown" or "queens chinatown".  In my experience, most of the women don't speak English, so I would DEFINITELY call ahead if this is an issue.  The chinatown in Queens may actually be better equipped with English speaking help.  You'll have a variety of styles to choose from, but I'm super picky so I'm actually specially making mine as they are suppose to be quite form fitting.  

I would start with Just Pretty Bridal in Manhattan Chinatown, but again call ahead to see if they can accommodate you.  The reviews I've seen haven't been so great for non-Chinese speaking folk, but if you bring you FMIL then she may be helpful.  

I've attached a link to help you get started with what to look for, this site also helps with any other Chinese traditions you FMIL might want to incorporate.  http://chinese.weddings.com/articles/how-to-buy-a-chinese-wedding-quipao.aspx?MsdVisit=1

I really hope this helps.  Good luck.  

kaitlyn142

Thanks for the help! I would definitely be going with my FMIL, since my Chinese is limited to ni hao and xie-xie, with a sprinkling of random other phrases.

So far, this is the only tradition she seems to care about including. Ah, the joy of blending an inter-cultural family.

ayip24

Believe me, I understand the woes of mixing cultures.  Let me know if I can help any further.  Good luck.