I want to add sleeves to my dress - Help!

dottiandj

Hey all! I'm sure hoping this band of creative wonderful women can help me. I impulsively bought a dress that (and I cannot stress this enough) I LOVE. It's romantic, vintage inspired, and perfect in all ways except one... I have always wanted a dress with sleeves. It wasn't possible at the time of purchase to add them on (David's Bridal strike number 1) and since then I have found a wonderful seamstress who says she can add on sleeves no problem if I can get matching fabric/lace. So I call up DBs store customer service, and DBs corporate customer service who both said basically they couldn't help me order more fabric (DB strike 2/3) even though the dress is still being sold online and still in production. So what's a girl to do? The lace has been practically impossible to match from what I've tried to do so far, any creative suggestions? I'll add photos below!

ernursej

Is there potential to use fabric from alterations from hemming to do a short sleeve?

dottiandj

It's fortunate (and unfortunate in this case) that I was able to buy the dress in a petite size and avoid needing a hem (I'm only 5')... Now I'm wishing I had that extra fabric!

ILoveBeachMusic

That is a beautiful dress! Can you contact the designer directly?

dottiandj

Davids Bridal would not give me their contact information and I've been unable to find Oleg Cassini's customer service number online 

justsie

Depending on the budget you could see if anyone is selling the dress secondhand, damaged dresses might be at an even bigger discount and since you only need the lace for sleeves it would be a viable option. I think many sites let you put a "looking for" ad up so you could let people know you were ok with damaged dresses at a bigger discount. 

ernursej

I've found this contact info ... not sure where you live, but might be worth giving them a ring.

https://cassinionlineboutique.3dcartstores.com/crm.asp?action=contactus

MesmrEwe

Any chance they have a matching Flower Girl dress?  That'd get you the fabric with as little drama as possible.  I'd go simple and just use organza which will be easier to come by in the right color (FG dress) through David's... 

dottiandj

Thank you all for your wonderful suggestions! I'm going to add this here in case any other bride who purchased through David's Bridal is looking for fabric. Call their Salt Lake City, Utah store and ask to speak to alterations. They are seriously shipping me fabric from Utah because adding sleeves is a common request for religious reasons in that area. Not sure why all David's Bridal stores offer this as an option but regardless I'm over the moon I'll soon have sleeves on my dress!

P.S. I'm going to go with something like this 

hyechica81

Oleg Cassini no longer designs dresses he passed away in 2011 and davids bridal bought out the name they make the dress in wherever the dresses are made for david's bridal and they sew his label on the dresses the same with vera they have the rights to use her name on there dresses but she does not design for them. 

you wont find contact because the contact info is davids bridal. they wanted to add a boutique feel to there stores so they bought out some designers who were no longer producing gowns

CMGragain

All David's Bridal dresses are made by David's Bridal.  They have purchased the rights to use the designer names.  They use factories in China, which they supervise.  Their dresses are made up in advance, not to special order, which is why they can keep their prices low, but cannot offer custom services.  It is just like buying a dress in any department store.  They will ship your dress from their warehouse.
DB is a godsend to brides on a budget.  I wish they had been around when I was a bride!  Their marketing strategy is different from other bridal manufacturers, but is being copied recently by Alfred Angelo.
My own dress was a sample gown from Galina, back when they were around.
Yeah, Vera Wang sold her name to Kohl's, too.