During my search for stores that sell qipaos, I came across a post somewhere about a couple of stores in Philadelphia. Since I haven't had any luck locally, I decided to go check out the stores in Philadelphia last week while I was visiting my parents for the holidays. We ended up going to Ivy Bridal & Photography in Chinatown first as it's easier to get to for us compared to the other store and from my search, they speak Mandarin (turns out the owner is from Taiwan).
I am glad we went there first as they had a lot of dresses and they were having a huge sale due to closing of business. They don't do custom dresses and all the dresses were off-the-rack, but I think they still have a lot of dresses in different sizes to choose from. I'd need to hem the dresses and my mom asked if they would hem the dress right there, but we were told that since I am not sure of what shoes I'd be wearing, I could easily hand stitch them myself, and they showed us how to do it (which I thought was so helpful and saved us the money to get someone to hem for us). They also have an on-site seamstress.
I ended up buying two qipaos from them. One fully sequined and another one in silk. The best thing about it was, I got both for a total of $138! All, if not most, of their silk qipaos are $39 each or 3 for $100. The sequined ones were a bit more expensive, but still a steal at $99.
Besides the great prices, the owner was SUPER nice. She was so helpful and friendly that my mom ended up chatting with her endlessly. She was genuinely thinking of my needs while helping me and she was not pushy at all. It was sad to see her closing the store when we had just discovered her store.
They also had MOB qipaos, men's Chinese outfits/tux, Qua, western wedding gowns (I think I saw at $59!), evening gowns, various accessories, etc. All at really low prices. Since the owner is closing the business, the sales are final and only cash is accepted (FI had to run out to an ATM machine to get cash lol). I'd say go early if you are interested for best selections, as she told us the sale started in early December and she had a lot more before than when I went there.
I am just so excited that I finally got my qipaos and at such great prices and experience that I just had to post about this! I hope this helps someone who's looking for a qipao or other wedding items.
Oh, here is their address:
117 N 10th Street, 2nd FL
Philadelphia, PA
