Letter from a Reader: Designer from Hell - Take 2

Bridal Gown

Entourage Member's Gown

Mother's Gown

Images courtesy of Fashion PULIS reader

In this supposed merry wedding month of June, we are again hearing horrible stories, often dubbed as wedding nightmares by the hapless victims. Here we'll feature the latest victim of this torment and her alleged tormentor. As is usual, the culprit is the wedding designer whom we will refer to in this story as Mr. R.

The Mother of the Groom MG never expected to have problems with her son's wedding ( set on June 18) because she had the services of one of the best Wedding Planners WP in the industry. But that was not to be so. Here's the sequence of events that led to such a nightmare:

Last February, before going for her trip abroad, MG asked her soon-to-be-daughter-in-law DL and Her Mother HM to meet up with WP so that he could introduce them to professional and trusted designers who would make a nice wedding gown for a pregnant bride and her entourage. But it did not happen, as DL and HM decided to engage the services of designer Mr. R on the strength of recommendation (or hard sell) of DL's cousin. MG gave in to them even though she wasn't exactly in favor of their choice.

MG, although committed to shoulder the expenses for the wedding, wanted to defer to DL's family especially when it came to her wedding gown. Why was MG not in favor to hire Mr. R for the job?

First off: First impressions last. For such a big project, Mr. R chose to meet them at the mall, as he didn't have a shop/atelier. MG already raised her concern about this bit and Mr. R said that he normally does his fitting in the homes of his clients and that it worked perfectly in the past.

On that meeting at the mall, Mr. R beautifully sketched the designs of the gowns, to the delight and satisfaction of DL and HM. Afterwhich, he asked for a 50% downpayment, purportedly to buy the materials needed.

On the same week, MG and Mr. R agreed to meet at MG's bank located in a mall. It was there that the next alarm bell started to ring again for MG. Mr. R made her wait for three hours!

MG called up DL to tell her that she could not work with such an unprofessional designer who didn't respect and value the time of his clients. Yet once again, and contrary to MG's better judgement, DL told MG not to worry and to go ahead with Mr. R as her cousin was confidently vouching for him.

After giving him the 50% downpayment, MG then agreed on the date (March 9 ) for Mr. R to go to their house to take the measurements of the whole entourage and discuss details of the materials to be used. But on that day, Mr. R just sent his staff instead to do the measurements because he said he was busy with the Little Miss Earth contest. MG was about to blow her top at that point.

Then nearing Good Friday, without anything to show in terms of work progress, Mr. R was again asking for an advance payment, which MG objected to at the start.

But again, DL meddled and appeased MG once more and she relented, gave Mr. R additional Php 10,000, raising the total amount to Php76, 500 that was advanced to Mr. R.

All this time, MG and family have not seen any single finished gown at all. Worse, Mr. R cancelled another fitting set April 28/29 just before MG and family were to leave for Europe.

On MG's arrival from Europe by the 3rd week of May, for the nth time, Mr. R cancelled another scheduled fitting. At this time, DL and HM were already worried, but apparently trying to mask it from MG for obvious reason - they were the ones who were insistent on engaging the services of Mr. R.

On the last week of May, Mr. R came up only with the linings made of Gina silk, so horribly made that members of the entourage (MG's nieces) cried. DL was trying to contain her obvious worries as she was ashamed of MG, who although fuming mad, had to accept (not really believe) Mr. R's promise that he would make good his commitment to deliver finished and well-made gowns on time.

At this point, MG was hell-bent on looking for another designer. Unknown to MG, WP had been quietly working in the sidelines much earlier, doing her best to look for one. MG asked DL to make the decision on this, but again DL stood by her cousin's word that Mr. R was really going to deliver.

All this time, all DL was trying on was lining upon lining of fabric because Mr. R convinced her that in her pregnant state, her gown had to be finished at the last minute as her tummy was getting bigger. DL was gullible enough to believe him.

On June 10, just eight (8) days to the wedding, Mr. R delivered MG's nieces' gowns, so outrageously done with plastic beads and ugly appliqués ( totally different from his drawings). Right there and then, MG made a decision. She commissioned her Own Designer OD to be the one to do her nieces' gowns ( all 5 of them). OD was also the one making MG's terno and her 2 sisters' gowns.

Even up to that time, MG was hoping against hope that Mr. R would redeem himself so she sent him a Viber message telling him that she decided to have someone else make the gowns of the five (5) members of the entourage so that he could concentrate on the remaining entourage members AND the bride DL. MG even added that she was still going to pay Mr. R for everything as long as he made a beautiful gown for the bride.

Four days before the wedding, the flower girl gowns were delivered - all so sloppily done. MG had OD repair them. (OD did not charge her for this).

Two days before the wedding, MG could sense that DL was not happy. She was not looking forward to her wedding but she did not tell MG. All DL said was that she thought she looked like an elephant in her gown and that her bridal veil was yet to be delivered and her secondary veil looked like it was purchased from cheap tiangge.

MG called up WP who suggested to her to request DL to take a picture of herself in the bridal gown in all angles. When DL sent the pictures, MG almost had a heart attack! The bust area was not aligned, the color was a dirty beige, the cut hideous. It was to MG the most hideously constructed bridal gown she had seen in her entire life.

MG sent the pictures to WP who immediately talked to OD who was gracious enough to agree to make a bridal gown from scratch in 36 hours!

But that wasn't the end of the story.

In the afternoon before the wedding, MG got a call from DL saying that the zippers of HM's gown and that of the maid of honor and three bridesmaids were all broken and that they were trying to find someone to fix them.

MG once again called WP who begged another one of her designer friends, this time a staff to help them. It turned out, the zippers were the least of their problem. All the gowns looked horrible, so sloppily done. They had to have the beadwork totally changed and the construction of the gowns adjusted to make them wearable, at the very least. All of these are documented in pictures by MG and WP.

MG's exact words: " I can't believe this horrible ordeal happened to us. I thank God I had WP who defied all odds and helped us make the wedding a beautiful affair after all. I am writing upon the suggestion of WP so that this Mr. R who almost ruined my son's wedding may hopefully get his comeuppance and not be allowed to ruin somebody else's wedding in the future. "

Indeed, in this day and age when con artists and double-dealers have become commonplace, to be vigilant is our only armor.

" A lie may take care of the present, but it has no future. " ~ Unknown

Please abide by the GUIDELINES in writing comments if you want them to be posted. Initials and comments that are too explicit will not be accepted.

Follow @FashionPulis on Twitter for the latest update. Please continue to send your juicy stories to michaelsylim@gmail.com. Thank you very much for loving Fashion PULIS!

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