Looking Under the Hood

If you are looking for a prom dress that makes you look good, you also need to look for a prom dress that was made good. Not all formal dresses are created equally.Not too many of the customers who cross our door have a great deal of experience buying formal dresses. Nor do they have a mom with a sewing room that's littered with fabrics and all the various materials that go into constructing quality garments.
So how is a girl to know if the prom dress she is dreaming about really is made good?
To some extent, she's going to have to trust the brick and mortar store or online shop that sells her the dress. But with a few tips, she also can make some judgment on her own about the quality of the dress she is about to purchase.

Compare Price to Product

If you shop around for a while, or look for legitimate online retailers, you'll begin to get an idea about how the price of the dress compares to the features of the dress:
• More bling = more dollars: Good quality beads cost money, so the more beads you see on a dress, the more they are going to add to the price of a dress. Sequins are less expensive than beads, so a dress can sparkle with sequins and cost considerably less than a bejeweled dress.
• Lace can be pricey: When the lace trend began a few years ago, prices were quite high as makers had fewer suppliers to choose from and they had to pay up for lace fabrics. Lace dress prices have come down considerably as more lace has is manufactured. But unique, heavier laces that require more time and threads to manufacture still can raise the price of a dress.

• A weighty issue: Heavier weight fabrics are higher quality and come at a higher price. This applies to every type of fabric, from jersey to satin to chiffon to tulle. These heavier fabrics hold up better to the stresses of wear and also are easier for a seamstress to work with on alterations.
You still can buy a good quality, inexpensive dress, but don't expect it to have all the frills of a 

Construction Details

Checking the construction details of a dress also is a way to understand the quality.
Better-quality formal dresses will have more solid construction and bra pads built into the dress so you don't need to spend extra money on an expensive brassiere.
Even the seam allowance will be greater on better formal dresses so seams can be reinforced and more easily altered.
Fabric edges also should be finished on each layer, except tulle, which will not fray, though a tulle finished edge will indicate a truly top-line dress.

Where You Buy

Of course, if you're purchasing your formal dress from an online retailer, you won't be able to check all of these details yourself until you have the dress in your home. A reputable online seller should be willing to answer your questions about quality before you purchase the dress and offer to accept returns if you are unsatisfied with the quality when you receive the dress.
A few years back, one of our suppliers had posted on its website a list of know scam websites that sold fake or knockoff dresses. The list was a pdf, two rows wide in very small type and ran about 4 feet long.
If you want to be ensured of the quality of your prom dress, your best option is to purchase from a local retailer who understands the quality you desire.

The Belle of the Ball: To Be or Not to Be

Have you always had a princess fantasy? Did you dream of dressing up in a sparkling dress with layers upon layers of tulle and chiffon? Did your imagination have you surrounded by a court of maids preparing your stunning frock? Followed by being surrounded by a court of suitors waiting to carry you away on their white horses?
Maybe your fantasy didn't take you that far, but still many girls dream of wearing a billowing ballgown for their special event, be it prom, wedding or even a military ball. After all, what's more handsome than a soldier in his dress uniform with his stunning wife in her elegant ballgown.
Often, a bride envisions herself floating down the aisle with hoops of white skirt surrounding her, trailing a train that glides along behind her and her distinguished father. At her reception, she spins around the dance floor with her newly minted husband, all eyes captured by her beauty, turning misty at the dreamy atmosphere of the perfect evening.
Of course, when we work with our young Latinas preparing for their quinceañera, the special 15th birthday party, we understand that the bigger and frillier the ballgown the better. These gowns reach billowing proportions that most girls never even imagine. All variations of ruffles and floral designs in the layers of chiffon also grow in popularity.
What has continued to amaze us each year are the number of prom girls who long for the poofy, but not too poofy, ballgown to fulfill their own childhood fantasies.
Ballgowns have followed many of the trends over the past few years, now featuring the illusion shoulders or the off-shoulder sleeves. Some also feature long sleeves sparkling with the beading of the bodice.
Another change many parents are relieved to see is the old wire boning in the hoop petticoats has evolved into the plastic materials that allow the skirts to swirl while dancing but collapse when sitting, eliminating that fear of the skirt flying up and exposing the garments beneath.
What would be your fantasy dress? Come share your vision and we'll see how we can make it a reality.

Tracking Tuxedo Trends for 2018

In looking back through our blog archive, which it's hard to believe goes sporadically back to 2009, we've never given much consideration to what our guys are wearing. And we are pleased to be able to provide a full line of tuxedo rental and sales service, plus accessories, for men (of course, women are welcome to don tuxes, as well).
So as we get back into publishing a regular blog (shooting for every Thursday, if you want to follow), we decided it's high time the guys get a little attention. There's no better place to address men's fashion as we head into prom and wedding season than to look at trends in men's tuxedos. For the moment, let's look at two trends that have jumped out:

Fit

A couple of years ago, we started receiving requests from our younger customers for a tighter-fitting tuxedo, especially the pants. Admittedly, with their adjustable style, tuxedo pants can offer some pretty baggy fits for slender gentlemen.
Initially, tuxedo pants came in two basic fits, pleated pants and flat-front pants. Pleated pants offer a little more room when sitting but still lay nicely when you are standing -- perfect for the bigger guys. But at that point the thinner fellows only had the flat-front option, which still offered ample room in the seat.
Several years back, more modern tuxedos started coming with the modern slim-fit pants, which eliminated some of the baggy complaints. The slim-fit pant gives a more tapered look, but with the advent of the skinny pant in ready-to-wear fashion, many younger men still didn't feel this look was slim enough.
Last year, Jim's Formal Wear began providing us with an ultra-slim pant that seems to satisfy the quest for a truly skinny look. If you're not familiar with this style, you can expect the pants to hug your thighs and taper to the ankle, where they need to be hemmed above the shoe top as they are not wide enough to drape over the shoe. The cut of the seat also means the waist rides lower than traditional tuxedo pants, so you get a completely different look with an ultra-slim pant.
Jackets also have become more snug fitting from the slim fit to the ultra slim. You can expect an ultra-slim jacket to strain across the stomach when you button it.

Color

The tuxedo purist might say the only true tuxedo is a black tuxedo or maybe white, but grays and blues have been gaining a greater share of the tuxedo market in recent years. (No, we're not talking about the sky blue tuxedos of the 1970s.)
Last year's addition of a steel gray option to the Michael Kors Wedding Suit lineup from Jim's (a tux that debuted in 2016 in black and navy) proved popular in both prom and wedding tuxedo rentals.
Shades of gray have been strong choices for wedding parties for several years. But it's hard to pin down a favorite as Jim's offers options in steel gray, medium gray and heather gray, each of which draws fans. A heather gray suit from Allure Men has been added to the Jim's catalog this year.
Blues also have been gaining ground the past few years, to the point this year it has been our most requested color for the guys booking their wedding tuxes early. While the navy wedding suit seems to be the leader so far, Jim's has added an indigo blue tuxedo from Ike Behar this year to add a fourth blue option (cobalt and slate are the other two).
No matter your preference of fit, style or color, ETC boutique is happy to work with you to find the perfect look for your wedding, prom or any other special event. Our extended hours in the mall make it easy for you and the members of a wedding party to make it in for measurements and fittings.
You can preview the entire line from Jim's Formal Wear on their website, where you have the option to build your tux and book it through ETC boutique.

Something New from Something Old

A real fashionista knows that as soon as you clean out your closet, those old styles you're giving away to charity will be coming back into fashion. Whether it comes back as retro or returns as something brand new most likely will depend upon how long it's been out of fashion.
One trend that's been making a comeback the past couple of years as something brand new is the off-the-shoulder look. Off-the-shoulder blouses and dresses permeated the fashion scene in summer 2016 and the trend has carried onto the prom dress runway for Spring 2018.
Off-the-shoulder dresses are everywhere, from gigantic ballgowns to slinky fitted jersey dresses. They are adorned with jewels or stripped bare. They vary from skinny straps to straight across long sleeves. They drape or hug the arm.
While they have adorned the red carpets and filled the racks of your favorite ready-to-wear outlet, off-the-shoulder styles have not come without controversy. This is largely because the original off-shoulder looks were in Victorian fashions of the early 19th century, representing the restrictions women faced, not only in their fashion choices, but in their very movements. These pesky sleeves would only stay put for women who performed no tasks more rigorous than sipping tea or embroidering.
As women gained a place outside the home, they needed sleeves that allowed them to work and move with comfort and convenience.
But each time the off-the-shoulder sleeves come back, they appear to do so by sending a message from women that they can be strong and sexy. And exposing those bare shoulders provides that hint of allure that is perfect for the prom season.
As Brooke Jaffe, fashion director for women's ready-to-wear at Bloomingdale's, told the Washington Post, “I don’t know many women who hate their shoulders.”
If you're looking to show off a little shoulder with a fun off-the-shoulder dress this prom season, come see all the various options our designers have for you.