A Question from My Brides
A question I’ve often heard from my brides, after we’ve got to know each other a bit, is a version of the following: “What is your favorite kind of dress to design?”
The answer is that it really depends on the context and the client. I’ve been making dresses for over 20 years, and have worked both as a commercial designer, where I produced designs to meet a corporate brand aesthetic, and I’ve created and sold my own branded designs.
What I love about designing custom wedding dresses and working with my brides is being able to create a dress that not only comes from their inspirations, but also brings their best look out of of them. That comes from being able to suggest the right silhouette for her body type, or knowing the best type of fabric to use for a particular design.
Sometimes my brides don’t have a very detailed “vision” of the dress they want to create, though they do have ideas about certain elements they want it to have (eg. sleeves, train, lace, etc.). Others are trying to achieve a very specific look. In both cases, my ultimate goal is to produce a design that fits the bride’s body perfectly. That comes from having a wide knowledge of styles and construction, and how that works with a bride’s body type to create the ultimate shape of the dress.
So I guess you could say that my favorite type of dress to design isn’t really a particular style or aesthetic. It’s the one that’s going to fit you perfectly and make you look your best.
Another Question
The other question I’m often asked is: “Have you ever designed a dress like mine.” And the honest answer is both yes and no.
To the extent that I’ve been designing dresses for over twenty years and bring that experience to every design, the answer is probably yes. But as the nature of my business now is to collaborate with my brides to create something from their inspirations, the answer is no.
I think when some brides ask that question, what they mean is: “Is my dress really one-of-a-kind?”
The answer is that every dress really is as unique as the bride — no other dress is going to look the same as one that was designed specifically for your own body, no matter the style. My design starts from an original sketch based on your ideas — it’s not “customizing” a template or mixing and matching pre-fabbed pieces. I create a unique pattern based on your requirements.
When other brides ask that question, I think what they really want to know is: “Are my design choices and tastes OK?”
My answer to that question is that your dress should be what you want, and look how you want it to look — it’s your wedding. My job is to guide our process and make helpful suggestions so that the end result is a beautiful dress that you love, and that perfectly fits you.
Why trust Angela?
Angela Kim has worked in fashion internationally for over 20 years. She created Angela Kim Couture in 2017 and now specializes exclusively in custom wedding dress design.
