Searching for the One...(Part I)

...is never an easy quest. Even if you have some sort of clue in your head of what you're looking for, chances are, that's not really what you really want, or need, or..eventually, get. The search for the One is also surprisingly perilous. A lot of options will come your way that masquerade as something you might consider and unless you're utterly certain you know what your heart is looking for, you will end up confused and in despair.

Once again, dear reader, I'm talking about the Dress. (Yes, yes the search for Mr. Right is important but I already found Him so this entry is about the Dress, hehe)

Shortly after I became engaged, I went back home to Malaysia and also visited my sister in Adelaide. It was then I started my search for the Dress. Since I was back home, I decided to start looking for the Dress in Kuala Lumpur, Petaling Jaya and Subang Jaya. I started by speaking to some of my friends who have been brides, asking them where they have been and where they would recommend going. I also bought many bridal magazines and planners, which I really enjoyed looking through (it's the pretty pictures!). I trawled through the internet as well, which was a great source of inspiration! I've included here a quick summary of the three general types of wedding dresses:

What is Bespoke? In lay-woman terms, it's a one-off, designer dress that has been made specially for you. Usually on the upper-end of the budget scale, a bespoke dress gives you the creative freedom to design your own dress together with the designer.

How about Made-to-Measure? Still a designer dress, but whilst it will be made from scratch using your exact measurements, the design remains the same. Small design alterations are sometimes allowed, but will usually cost extra. Usually, this is a cheaper way to get a designer-label dress.

...and Off-the-Rack? The most affordable range of dresses that are ready-to-wear. You'll probably need to send it for your own alterations if necessary or if you wanted to add more detailing.

Here are some of the bespoke/made-to-measure designers in Malaysia who I visited, and my experience with each of them.

Eric Choong Haute Couture - I dropped by Eric Choong's boutique in Bangsar with my Wedding Planner and her husband after meeting up with a few photographers. It was a good-sized boutique but not particularly well-lit. Having said that, there were a lot of shoes and dressy accessories, and quite a long rack of gowns. I don't remember seeing any dress I liked but mainly because his dresses are very elaborate. From the designs I saw, he tends to favour a more relaxed silhouette, with ribbons and lace, featured quite a lot. I thought some of his cheongsams were quite pretty, although still more elaborate than I would have liked.

Keith Kee Couture - With Keith Kee's boutique in the Alam Suria area (quite close to Tropicana), I made an appointment to try on some bridal dresses before coming in. I was attended to by two designers who worked for Keith Kee. They were very friendly and allowed me to pick any dress I wanted to don and on top of that, suggested some that would look good. The customer service was great! However, I found that he had more evening dresses than bridal gowns and his creations, although beautiful, placed emphasis on striking colours and modern cuts.

Carven Ong - This was my favourite, out of all the designers I went to, probably partly because I had a much better experience as I met Carven in person (who is very down-to-earth and friendly, but you definitely need an appointment before seeing him) and because his dresses were much simpler and more structured. Carven talked me through the various silhouettes and necklines and encouraged me to try on quite a number of different dresses. I did like a lot of his designs plus he was very frank with me in terms of what would suit me best. It was still early during my search for the One, and as a result, Carven told me to continue looking for a while more and think of a design I liked and to contact him when I was sure of what I wanted.

Trying on a duchess satin dress at Carven Ong (a bit too big for me and don't really like the front though!)

There are other bridal dressmakers on the more affordable end of the Malaysian market, with less well-known designer names, such as Pretty in White and White and Lacy. I did not find any dress I particularly liked in Pretty in White (PIW) at Sri Hartamas. Nevertheless, they do have quite a good range of dresses for you to try on, which is always good and no appointment was necessary. The best part of buying a dress from PIW is that you can opt to sell it back to PIW once your wedding is over. This is mainly because PIW also offers off-the-rack and rental gowns. The above bespoke/made-to-measure designers charge from RM4,500 onwards for a fully bespoke gown, depending on the material, details and workmanship required whereas for Pretty in White and White and Lacy, you could get a gown made for RM3,000 or slightly less. Bear in mind, these are prices for 2010 and of course the prices escalate every single year!

My Wedding Planner's lovely dress from White and Lacy.

My high school friend looking really pretty in her Pretty in White designer dress!

There was one other popular bespoke designer house that I did not visit as I was running short of time called Divine Couture. I absolutely adore their cheongsams (one of my friend's got married in a Divine Couture cheongsam and it was breathtaking!) but bear in mind, Divine Couture do tend to use a lot of intricate beading which would contribute to a more expensive price tag. Divine's popular wedding dresses are also quite flow-y, lacy and less structured. If you've got some flexibility with your budget, it would be well worth a visit.

Divine cheongsams

Another affordable option is to search out your dress and rent it from one of the many photography studios in Petaling Jaya (there's a whole host of them in SS2). There is quite a good range of gowns to try on and they allow alterations to the dress as well. The package price you pay will include photographs, albums and two to three outfits. I did try on a couple of dresses but as I was interested in getting a more personalised touch for my photographs, I didn't continue my venture down this path.

That summarises my rather hurried and short search in Malaysia. Before reading Searching for the One...(Part II) for my continued search for the elusive One in London, I thought it would be helpful to include a few internet links that give you (if you are a bride on a search as well) a guide on what sort of silhouettes/shapes you can decide on:
http://www.weddingchaos.co.uk/BridesArea/bridal-wedding-dress-styles.asp
http://www.henryroth.com/tip2.php
http://www.ribbonsandpearls.co.uk/style_guide/dress_guide.htm