Seamstresses - Does this seem like a reasonable alteration?

labro

I'm a bad sister and bride. I allowed two of my best friends to completely dominate our bridesmaids dress shopping appointment and pick out a dress that my little sister and MOH isn't a big fan of. But she bought it anyway because she's a good person and wanted to appease the group. She and I came upon a dress the other day and we're considering the possibilities of having her neckline altered to reflect the dress we found instead of the one we ordered. Does this look like a reasonable change? The overall dress shapes are fairly similar, it's just going from a halter neckline to sleeves like the one picture below. This is the original dress, we ordered it in pewter.

And this is the alternate sleeve option we're looking at.

theartistformerlyknownas

Hmm... they'd have to order more fabric to make the straps, since you'll need more material to make two straps going down to where the back of the dress starts than you would have with one strap behind the neck. Then they'd have to completely take apart the sides of the dress in order to sew the new fabric into the seam. It would be pretty expensive for what, IMHO, is not that big of a difference. 

Is your sister hoping to be able to wear a regular bra under her dress rather than a halter? It might be easier to sell/cancel the original dress and order the other one.

labro

@lolo883 It's definitely not a bra thing. She's a tiny boobs girl so she's planning to go bralass regardless. She just doesn't like the top of the dress at all and wants to explore other options. I wondered if there would end up being enough fabric left over from having the dress hemmed to also be made in to sleeves. I don't think it's a major difference either but I'm feeling guilty for her feeling unhappy with the dress and what to consider the options.

theartistformerlyknownas

Yeah that's rough, especially since she's the MOH. Might be easier to take the strap(s) off entirely. I've definitely seen some seamstresses work magic though!

NYCMercedes

You keep saying sleeves but the pic shows wide straps. Do you mean straps? If so, I see it as no big deal.

missdelilah

It would also depend on how the halter is attached, seeing as it looks as though it wraps all the way around the back, or at least to the sides.  It might be a real pain to unpick it, and if the fabric is delicate, it might show.  That said, seamstresses (good ones) can work magic, and if there's a lot of fabric left over from the hemming, you can definitely have straps put together from that.  You should get a quote on the price before making a decision.  Is it worth your MOH spending a lot of money altering or replacing something that, to be honest, no one but her is going to notice she was wearing.  Seriously, I don't remember what any bridesmaids were wearing at any weddings except those ones where I was part of the wedding party, and my sister's wedding when I was 12, but just because I sat next to her MOH at dinner.  

Alternately, could MOH sell/return/cancel the order for that dress and buy the one she's more comfortable in in a similar color?  It's not unusual to have the MOH dresses slightly differently.

atlastmrsg

It isn't a huge change, so I say save the money and trouble and leave it.

But ultimately, if you want to change it, you need to decide: (1) are you okay with her looking different.  That's your call.  (2) If you're comfortable with the tailor.  Just take it to tailor and let her look.  You'll get an expert opinion of higher quality than most of us/all of us can offer.  We can't see the back, so we don't know if the halter ties (more fabric to work with) or doesn't (might not be enough to make straps) and the time/cost/risk to damaging fabric involved.  You may have to go to multiple tailors if the first one says no, or you don't get the feeling s/he can handle it.

labro

@NYCMercedes Straps is the correct word. Sorry, I'm apparently mixing up my terms today...but yes, wide straps, not sleeves. Thanks!

@everyone else I'm cool with her looking different. I think we went about shopping the wrong way and should've just gone one on one (like myself and my sisters/myself and my friends) in order to not create the whole feeling of "We must agree on a dress". We definitely encountered problems with finding different styles everyone liked within one designer and it just ended up being easier to find something that looked good on everyone (most everyone has a similar shape thankfully).

I also like the idea of just taking off the strap entirely, I think she'd be comfortable with a sleeveless dress as another alternative. I have my first fitting September 4th so I may have to consult with the seamstress then just to pick her brain (we ordered my dress and BM dresses from the same salon). The halter attaches with snaps at the back of the neck and seems to be sewn in to the sides of the dress (but not 100%, just at the very ends if that makes any sense).