Letter from a Reader: "Designer" from Hell!

Image courtesy of www.blindgossip.com

Dear Fashion Pulis,

Perhaps, this is the first time that you, and your readers will ever encounter a designer like Mr. DL, and come across a wedding story as horrible as the one that happened to my niece who was the Bride. I am writing in behalf of the Bride, the client of Mr. DL.

The Bride met Mr.DL at a wedding bazaar a few months before the wedding. Mr.DL may have appeared young, but he made quite an impression on the Bride when she saw his creations displayed at the bazaar venue.

The following were the accounts of the Bride and the series of events that took place between her and Mr.DL prior to the wedding date.

On August 14 and August 18, 2013, they both agreed on the following:

1. Mr. DL would provide ten gowns, namely one (1) for the Bride, one (1) for the maid of honor, two (2) for the parents, three (3) for the bridesmaids, and three (3) for the flower girls.

2. Mr. DL would deliver the finished gowns – a week or so before the wedding.

However, what happened was like a nightmare you wouldn’t wish even to your enemies. Mr. DL caused the Bride and her family embarrassment, panic and mental anguish on the day of the wedding itself.

If not for the collective effort and the presence of mind of the Bride’s family and friends, the wedding that took many months to prepare could have been totally ruined by this one single “Designer from Hell.”

1. THE GOWNS WERE DELIVERED LATE. Mr. DL was good in the beginning, but a few weeks into the wedding, he had been failing on his commitments i.e. fittings and delivery of the gowns. The Bride admitted to have erred in trusting him too much and Mr. DL clearly abused it.

After several postponements, finally, Mr. DL said that he would deliver the gowns to the Bride’s residence the day before the wedding.

But the gowns never came.

On the phone that night, he explained to the Bride that he got caught in the traffic, but assured her not to worry and that he would have his driver bring him (with the gowns) to the wedding venue in Tagaytay (wedding was at 4pm) and assuring the Bride that it would be a smooth-flowing transaction.

2. NOT ALL THE GOWNS WERE DELIVERED ON THE DAY OF THE WEDDING. Mr. DL’s assurance that he would have his driver bring him to the wedding venue did not happen. Instead, Mr. DL together with an assistant, arrived in a taxi at the Bride’s residence at 7:30 in the morning of the wedding day, with a big suitcase full of gowns that included that of the Bride’s, but EXCLUDING that of the three (3) flower girls’, one (1) principal sponsor, and the cape (like a shawl) for the mother of the Bride’s gown.

3. MR. DL DID NOT EXERCISE PROPER CARE IN THE HANDLING OF THE GOWNS. He left the gowns to the care of the Bride with a promise that he would follow to Tagaytay immediately to bring the rest of the undelivered gowns.

NOTE: The Bride’s gown was not even placed in a box but was commingled with the other gowns of the entourage.

4. MR. DL DID NOT TAKE RESPONSIBILITY FOR HIS DELAYS AND SHORTCOMINGS WHEN HE TOTALLY IGNORED CALLS/TXT MSGS ON HIS CELLPHONE. He failed to arrive at the venue at the time that he promised he would. He did not even take the calls and text messages from the very stressed Bride and family members and the wedding coordinator, asking him for his whereabouts and his exact location at that time.

Worse, he even turned off his cellphone! When he did answer his phone once, he made all sorts of excuses for his delays, such as traffic, etc. It was at this point when the Bride learned that Mr. DL was going to the venue commuting by bus!

5. THE GOWNS WERE NOT READY AT ALL. The Bride and family gowns he brought earlier inside the suitcase needed major repairs and were definitely not wearable. The materials used looked old, recycled, dirty, and deplorable.

* Mr. DL did not follow the Bride’s requirements on the designs of her gown and that of the entourage’s, including the type of embellishments that they agreed on.

* The embellishments and materials used by Mr. DL were cheap, substandard, demeaning for the wearer apart from the horrible quality of work done.

* Unfit and impossible to wear with sizes too tight, too loose, too long, etc.

Due to the unfinished gowns, the Bride, the parents of the couple, and her entourage had nothing to wear for the photo and video shoots, which had to be cancelled altogether.

Five (5) hours of supposed photos/video shoots (8am - 1pm) were wasted and not utilized. That meant thousands of pesos (in photographers’ fees) gone down the drain.

The scheduled pre-lunch wedding march rehearsal did not happen.

6. MR. DL CAME VERY LATE TO THE VENUE AND WAS OF NO HELP TO THE BRIDE OR THE ENTOURAGE. He came in thirty (30) minutes before the wedding started and was already of no help and relevance given the magnitude of the damage he had caused the Bride and her family and friends.

Before that, everyone spent many precious hours in panic, and fear that the wedding may not push through at all as all the gowns were still being rushed for repair. As a result, the Bride as well as everyone involved were in tears and in unspeakable mental anguish.

The big delay caused a domino effect on other matters that needed urgent and detailed attention as well, further jeopardizing what could have been a more organized and better executed wedding.

Family and friends from Manila who arrived hours earlier at the venue were at their wits trying to figure out how best to solve the problems given the very limited time and the lack of sewing skills of most of us. Compounding the problems were the lack of tools/materials ( sewing supplies like pins, thread, scissors, glue, etc). Thankfully, quick thinking and resourcefulness of family and friends amidst the chaos kept us sane throughout that long ordeal.

And of course, prayers helped tide us through.

Wedding Coordinator completely lost her cool on Mr. DL when he shamelessly told her to just be the one to do the work for him if people could not wait. Coordinator was aghast as her six (6) staff were busy rushing to finish sewing, gluing and ironing the gowns all the time when they were supposed to be running errands for the Bride and Groom and other stuff that needed to be done.

Because everyone's hands were full, nobody was able to check the final set-up of the catering (groom's and coordinator's assignment ). It turned out that there were still some details that needed to be addressed but were not.

As a result of Mr. DL’s ridiculous incompetence and unprofessionalism, the wedding ceremony was delayed for almost an hour (4:45 pm) because the repairs that had to be made on the gowns were just overwhelming.

But we thank God for His guidance and presence that miracles happened inspite of everything.

The wedding as a whole turned out well and memorable. The beautiful venue, the flowers, the food, romantic lights, the production and musical numbers, the presence of family and friends who mattered most, as well as happy tears and joy brought many happy memories to the Bride and Groom.

Were it not for the collective effort and presence of mind of these people, the wedding wouldn’t have turned out the way it did.

Fashion Pulis, I am writing to you to warn your readers of this man Mr. DL, who pretends to be a designer but seems like a vulture looking out for his prey. Do not even ever think of hiring the services of this person if you do not want a disaster of a wedding similar to this one!

We learned later on that Mr. DL was even seeking accreditation in the venue where this wedding was held. The nerve! What he deserves is to be totally banned from all wedding events such as bazaars so that he could no longer victimize unsuspecting clients/brides to be.

He claimed that he teaches fashion-related course at a big university in Manila.

PLEASE DO NOT BE SWAYED BY THIS POSER!

“ The only way for evil to triumph is for good people to do nothing. “ ~ Edmund Burke

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Disclaimer: The comments of the readers do not reflect the views and opinions of Fashion PULIS.

Busted zipper

Bridesmaid's gown's hemline

Flower girl gown

Lace up-close

Very poor material

Wrinkly gown strap

Stiff flower girl gown strap

Close up of strap

Flower girl gown waistline

Flower gown mid-section

The insides' workmanship

Up close

Flower girl gown very tight, had to remedy by using lace to close it at the back