Is the Two-Piece Still a Thing?

When two-piece dresses began appearing on the prom runaway several years ago, we knew it would take a year or two before our Kansas girls would be willing to follow the trend.
But now the two-piece dress has become a fixture for prom, and it doesn't appear the trend is going to fade away anytime soon. Even though it's only fall, girls already are talking about the kinds of two-piece dresses they will be hunting for Prom 2019.
Because Kansas can be rather conservative, we knew the two-piece dresses would first have to pass the Dad test, or maybe the Grandma test, and for the most part they do. Most are not too revealing and some are actually downright modest when compared to the plunging necklines some of the single-piece dresses are adopting.
Let's look at some of the variations you can expect to see in the two-piece lineup for Spring 2019:

Tops

Of course, a two-piece dress is going to have two components – top and skirt. The ideal for retailer and customer is the option to mix and match tops and skirts, but that's a bit of a nightmare for manufacturers to outguess customers and keep the right inventory, so in most cases you'll need to be content with top and skirt that come together.
Tops will vary by color and the amount of bedazzling, but you'll find just a few basic styles:
• Halter: With a strap around your neck and a strap across mid-back, a halter will give you plenty of back exposure, if that's the look you desire.

• Choker: This style normally features a triangle shape coming up from the bodice, either in front or front and back both, with a bejeweled choker wrapping around the neck, leaving the shoulders exposed. This style appears to be very popular for 2019.
• Strapless: These normally feature a heavy bodice with strong boning to hold the top up. As with most strapless dresses, these are not too common right now.

• Illusion Straps: These mesh straps, with or without beading, provide stability and allow the corset to be less ridged, so they continue to be popular.

• Off the Shoulder: These continue to be a popular style as they give some of the security of straps but leave the shoulders exposed.
You'll find many tops that overlap these various styles, but these cover the basics.

Skirts

Two-piece skirts tend to follow the mold of the one-piece dresses. One thing to remember about a two-piece skirt is that they are designed to be worn at the narrowest point on your waist, so expect them to ride higher than, say, your blue jeans.
Here are the basic looks you can expect to find:

• A-line: Typically, this style will be made of chiffon and is designed to flow over your hips and down. It's probably the most common style for two-piece dresses, but as such, designers are trying to stretch beyond this style.

• Ball Gown: These fuller skirts flare out wider than the A-line and feature layers to tulle to make them as big as you'd like. The fabric normally is a chiffon or organza outer layer, but taffeta also has made a big statement the past couple of years. Taffeta is popular because they stiffness also allows the designers to include pockets. The chiffon ball gowns seem to be making a bigger statement for 2019.

• Mermaid: The mermaid style features a taffeta or jersey fabric that stretches over the hips and then drapes to the floor. Some of these skirts have a higher waist that can add modesty.

• Fit and Flare: Like the mermaid, this skirt will curve rather tightly across the hips but then flare at the bottom with a layer or two of tulle. One note of caution about the mermaid and fit and flare: You may think you want your skirt to be hugging tight across the hips, but you also want to consider that you will need to sit down at some point.
Whatever you dream about in a two-piece dress for your prom, we'd love to help you find the perfect dress.

Helpful Guide to Prom Dress Fabrics

Many factors will go into your choice of a prom dress – color, form, price and maybe even label. But the most basic choice you're facing will be the fabric of your dress.
When the sales person starts throwing out such terms as shantung, charmeuse or jacquard, you're eyes might glaze over or else you'll start looking for the easiest route to the exit, rather than expose your lack of knowledge about formal wear fabrics.
Rest easy. With this brief primer on fabric choices in prom dresses you'll feel a little more confident as you undertake your search for the perfect dress.

Most Common Fabric Options

Before we get into all the complexities you might encounter, let's cover the basic fabrics first, which is where your search is likely to start and finish:

• Chiffon: A flowy, empire waist dress, probably your most common option, likely will feature chiffon. Chiffon is lightweight, transparent fabric, normally polyester but it could be silk, that folds easily around itself and flows as you move about.
• Satin: A soft, smooth fabric with a sheen also creates a flowy appearance. Most chiffon dresses will have a layer or two of satin under the chiffon.

• Taffeta: A shiny fabric like satin, but one with more weight and stiffness to create the fuller look for a ball gown. An added luxury of the taffeta dress is that many designers are incorporating pockets into the taffeta skirts, as the fabric is stiff enough to hide bulges your contents might create.
• Tulle: This loosely woven mesh fabric creates your poofy ball gowns. Tulle can be lightweight and soft to create the outer layers of your skirt or the popular illusion tops or it can be heavy and stiff to give you skirt that great volume. Fortunately, your ball gown will feature a satin lining to protect your skin from the stiff, scratchy tulle layers.
• Organza: Falling into that middle ground between chiffon and tulle, organza has the transparent feel but with a stiffer body, making it a good fit for full ball gown skirts.

• Jersey: This comfortable knit fabric continues to gain popularity for fitted style dresses as it stretches and moves with you. Weights can vary from light to heavy so it's perfect to transition from warm to cold weather, too. An exciting option coming on strong for 2019 is sparkle jersey, which is just what it sounds like, a nice jersey fabric with shiny bits woven into the fabric.
• Lace: A delicate woven fabric with designs, often floral. At one point, lace was all handmade and therefore expensive, but machine-made lace has gained in quality and brought the price in line with other common fabrics. Some laces now are made of stretch fabrics as well, making them ideal for fitted dresses. 

Some Other Fabric Choices

Of course, designers are never content to stick with the standards, and as long as there are creative people out there, which we hope will be forever, you'll get other fabric choices and new choices coming along virtually every season. Here are some more choices we know you'll find available for 2019:
• Jacquard: This soft, silky fabric has a pattern woven into the fabric.
• Brocade: A type of jacquard, brocade is a heavier fabric with a raised woven pattern, often floral. Traditionally a fabric associated with royalty, brocade is making a strong trend pitch in 2019. (Just as a humorous aside, we noticed one manufacturer's line sheet referred to this is barcode for one dress, so we were envisioning a lot of stripes.)
• Damask: Another jacquard style that features typically floral designs woven into the fabric in the same color, creating a tone-on-tone look.
• Charmeuse: Similar to satin, charmeuse is lighter weight and often found as the lining.
• Velvet: A heavyweight fabric with a cut pile finish has been gaining some popularity the past couple of years, but is limited to a winter fabric by its heavy weight and warmth.
• Shantung: A middle-weight satin fabric is distinctive for its nubby texture.

We hope this guide will give you a little more confidence as you head out to look for your Prom 2019 dress. We also can lend our expertise in helping you choose the right fabric and right style to make you feel beautiful in your prom dress.

Is Strapless Dead?

The strapless formal dress is not dead yet, but it certainly appears to be on a dying trajectory.

Once a staple of the formal dress market, the strapless dress has fallen out of favor with the ascension of illusion tops and other strap styles over the past few years. Girls looking for a strapless dress are finding fewer options each season.
Illusion tops, in case you haven't been paying attention to the formal wear business, are those with mesh that span from wider straps to cap sleeves to full sleeves. The mesh can be plain or embellished with beading, embroidery or applique, but the sheer appearance provides the illusion of the strapless dress. Halters, chokers, traditional straps and off-shoulder straps also are taking a greater slice of the market.
Before we bid goodbye to the strapless dress, let's at least take time to examine the advantages and disadvantages of this once common style:

In Favor of Strapless

The primary advantage of the strapless dress has to be the opportunity for ladies to show off their shoulders and neck. No matter how women feel about their arms or their torsos, they generally are pleased with the shape of their shoulders.
The strapless dress, depending upon the length of the dress's torso, changes the proportion of the woman's torso to create the desired two-thirds effect, either shortening or lengthening the appearance.
A corset back also is a prominent feature of strapless dresses, allowing women to highlight their slender waists without the costly alternative of altering the waistline.

The Drawbacks to Strapless

Achieving the proper fit in a strapless dress is a primary disadvantage. Because every woman has a different shape – varying bust to waist ratio, different torso length, broader backs, etc. – reaching the perfect fit on a strapless dress required either the corset back or extensive alterations.
Because of this challenge of getting the proper fit, women often feel their strapless dress is falling down and must be adjusted constantly throughout the night. This issue also is a result of women never receiving the proper instruction in how to wear their strapless dress.
The illusion top gives the security missing from a misfit strapless dress, which probably explains its growing popularity. However, you likely will need some alterations on the illusion top as well as few torsos provide the exact fit.
If your dream remains to wear a strapless dress for your prom, wedding or other formal event, you still have options as strapless cannot be declared dead yet, but it does seem to have moved to the back seat in favor of the illusion top. 

Color Trends for Prom 2019

Tracking color trends for prom might be pointless for some girls, because they just want to go with their favorite color. But the fun thing about colors is you can play around with shades to wear a color you like, but also be a little different from what the other girls are doing.
And often with prom colors, it's those subtle color changes from season to season that might catch your eye. Trending colors also seem to hint at themselves a year or two before they really explode on the scene, so if you're the kind of girl who likes to set the trends, rather than follow the trends, you'll want to understand which colors are up and coming in 2019 and which ones are likely to explode.
We were keeping our eyes open during The One bridal and prom Spring 2019 show at Dallas Market Center earlier this month to make an educated guess about what colors were likely to catch on with our Kansas girls. 
Let's start with the colors you're most likely to see on the dance floor at your Prom 2019.

Deep Reds

Red always is a popular color for prom, especially for the girls who want to stand out. Burgundy was that color that began to creep onto the scene about three years ago and by last year was what you would consider an exploding color. And since a lot of girls saw it last year, they might be looking for it again this year. But you also are going to see some variations, which could be classified as a deep red, falling somewhere between true red and burgundy. You trend-setters might want to seek out a deep red.

Dark Greens

The deeper greens have been gaining favor the past couple of years and probably are due to explode in 2019. You'll just have to be aware of which direction that explosion might go in your school. The emeralds and hunter greens seemed poised to explode in 2019, so the designers looking to go beyond that were parading more teals and jades.

Dark Purples

Purple kind of disappeared from the scene for a few years (a challenge for a store like us located in a college town where purple reigns). As colors are wont to do after disappearing for a while, purple is cycling back, especially the deep purples such as eggplant and royal purple.

Black and White

You can never write about colors without tossing in a comment about blacks and whites, because black with always be the new black. And while many consider white a wedding color, it always makes a statement in a prom dress. What you are likely to see more this year is the black and white combo look — the best of the monochrome world.

What about Pastels?

You might be wondering if you're going to be able to even find a lighter-colored dress this year, if you don't want to look like you're showing up in fall colors for a spring prom. Lighter colors have been pushed to the back burner, but that means it could be a great way to stand out at your prom. Champagne and blush have been trending for wedding colors, so those dresses will be readily available, and mauve has been peeking from the corners.

Is It Time for Yellow?

Yellow seems to be one of those colors that struggles to find its place back on the runway once it fades, but like the seven-year cicada, yellow's time may be coming around. Designers are testing the waters this year with a few yellow offerings, so it will be up to those trend-setting girls to see if they introduce the color this year that could explode in a year or two. 
Whether you expect to be a trend-setter, a trend-follower or a who-cares-about-trend-anyway prom shopper, we will be happy to help you find your dream dress.

Previewing Prom 2019 Trends

During our recent trip to The One bridal and prom market for Spring 2019 at Dallas Market Center, we had the fun opportunity to see the trends that are taking shape for next prom season. Last week we looked as some of the trends in bridal gowns so this week we will focus in on prom dresses.

Sparkle

OK, we talked about this last week, but it bears repeating. Sparkle, shimmer, glimmer, whatever you want to call it, it's going to be huge for Prom 2019. Sequins certainly play a prominent role in the trend. You'll find dresses with the larger metallic discs, like an inch in diameter, dancing across the red carpet. But an even bigger piece of the sparkle trend is what the designers refer to as shimmer jersey. You'll enjoy the comfort of a jersey fabric, but with a shine that won't disappear.

Ruffles

These structured ruffles made an appearance that was so well-received for Prom 2018 they are taking a huge role in on the prom carpet for 2019. The flexible bands on these dresses create a flow that won't be squashed or rumpled as the night goes by. The ruffles are appearing in A-line and mermaid styles.

Geometry

We understand you don't really want to deal with mathematics while you're enjoying your prom night, but geometric patterns continue to rise in popularity on the prom runway. Straight lines, angles, circle and triangles will adorn dresses in all sorts of fabrics, but especially in the fitted jersey style.

Colors

If you're thinking about your prom dress, one of your first thoughts is going to be about color, but we saved it for last. Mainly because we're just going to tease you to come back next week to learn more about color trends for 2019. OK, just a one-word hint: yellow.
And thanks to Dallas Market Center, here's a little video peek at what we were able to enjoy.

Peeking Ahead to Spring 2019 Wedding and Prom Trends

September always is a month we look forward to at ETC boutique because we get to escape for a couple of days and preview the 2019 prom and wedding styles during The One market at Dallas Market Center.
The fashion show provides a quick glance through the coming season, from couture wedding dresses to fantastic prom styles and colors.
Today, we'd like to share a little bit about what we learned for Spring 2019 trends from the fashion show, then next week we'll touch on what we learned as we dug a little deeper visiting various showrooms throughout the venue.

Color

Of course, color is a vital piece of the prom preview for 2019, but color is making more inroads into wedding dresses these days, as well. The days of being limited to white and ivory as your choices for a wedding gown are fading in the rear-view mirror.
Champagne has been sneaking into the bridal market for a few years, but even bolder colors are entering the fray — can you see yourself in a taupe or even chocolate brown wedding dress?
Floral embellishments have expanded from offering a textural element to your all-white (or all-ivory) gown, to actually taking on the color of floral designs, especially in embroidered or fabric styles.
Next week we'll look at more prom color trends, but for now we'll move along into some style shifts.

Pants/Shorts

When is a dress not a dress? When it becomes a pantsuit or romper, maybe? This trend started creeping into the prom dress market a couple of years ago and now is making its debut onto the wedding scene.
Yes, a straight-out pantsuit from a bridal company, which looked like it could have been inspired by Hillary Clinton's closet, made its way onto the runway of the fashion show at DMC. More common is the pant or short option appearing beneath the flowing fabric of the bridal or prom gown. Some of these trains are detachable, allowing the wearer to dance away her wedding or prom night in the comfort of a summer romper.

Shimmer

The shimmer is back for Prom 2019 and even spilling over into bridal fashions. And by shimmer we mean sequins, small and large, plus what the designers are calling shimmer tulle and shimmer jersey. Not too many years ago, designers had to glue glitter onto their tulle or jersey fabrics to get a little sparkle, unless they wanted to sew on sequins.
Now the shimmer is woven directly into the fabric, giving you a glow that won't wear off as you party the night away.

The Meghan Markle Effect?

Maybe the trend of extreme cathedral veils and long trains would have taken hold by itself, but the royal wedding put the trend into hyper-drive.  It's hard to say at this point if it's a trend girls will want to introduce into their prom dresses, but it's certainly going to make an impression in the bridal market.

We'll be bringing you more of our Dallas discoveries in coming blog posts, but you also can gain extra sneak peeks through our social media accounts. And by mid-November, your 2019 prom styles will begin appearing in our store. We hope you are as excited as we are.

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.