pick your choose

i'm having a bit of a love affair and her name is madina vadache. from russia seattle, with love. this russian-born local designer uses the lightest silk fabrics to create simple silhouettes, and i love the unexpected use of lace in a lot of her pieces. not only that, but she's very flexible and can customize a lot of her pieces. want that a-line made into a mermaid? sure thing!


the turquoise silk sash i added to the dress is the most unbelievably rich color i have ever seen.



her work is carried at voletta in seattle and bellevue, wa, as well as la belle reve, a relatively new salon in bellevue run by some lovely russian ladies where i tried on all these dresses yesterday and my consultant happily helped me take photos (bonus!). i had so many photos of my bridesmaids trying on dresses that i was worried the bees would think i was my MOH, but lately i've managed to either find shops that allow photography, or have a bridal consultant that was so preoccupied with something else she'd leave me alone, clamped helplessly into a dress for 5 minutes at a time. i'm hoping my posts serve as a window into what dress shopping is like for those of you who haven't made appointments for the adventure yet. i need to write a post entirely devoted to "prepping for a day of bridal dresses," because i inhumanly squeeze two, sometimes, three stores into one day (which is strongly advised against by most brides because it gets exhausting). but i'll leave that for another post.

something about this one makes it my favorite. number one, it's a pink. number two, i love what's going on with the shoulder!
number three: look at that back!


while i admit that this dress didn't look all that flattering on me - i love the concept! yay for cap sleeves and soft lace!


here's another clean silhouette:




and here are some of these dresses on women that are 6 feet tall so you can at least compare the look to real life:


i first fell in love with madina vidache at that salon in west van, that one that never told me the names of the designers i tried on *grumble grumble*. the owner also made a comment about my beautiful MOH's weight - which is ridiculous since she fit into every dress they had beautifully and well-without a tummy or anything else unsightly showing through. and then she had the audacity to make a comment about my weight. never piss off a bride that is looking at your $10,000+ dresses after you've already dissed her best friend.

back to ms. vidache. i later discovered it was her that created the gorgeously unique dress i'd tried on at that salon when stumbling upon some photos at chris+lynn, vancouver photographers.


here's another favorite of mine, i'm sorry i don't remember the designer.




and a crazy pronovias dress that basically filled up the entire dressing room it was so astronomically huge and glorious. i think i've seen it in ads. i'm super short (5'2"), so i outlawed ballroom gowns a long time ago, but if i were the height i was standing on the pedestal, this dress would be so stunning! it reminds me of the st. pucchi dress from a previous post, which coincidentally also happens to be that same blush bridal post!